Album review

Daft Punk

Human After All/EM>

Paris 

18/03/2005 - 

The new Daft Punk album generated such a buzz that it virtually gained gold disc status before it was even released in France. And Human After All now looks set to follow in the chart-topping footsteps of Daft Punk's previous releases which racked up sales of several million. The French masked duo serve up a mix of guitars and electro beats, which fans will find fresh and spontaneous - and detractors will dismiss as dull and repetitive! RFI Musique garnered a mini-survey of international opinion about this eagerly-awaited world release.

Guy-Manuel de Honem Christo and Thomas Bangalter spent six weeks recording their new album, Human After All. Electro fans around the world had been awaiting the event for years and such was the interest in the album that internet pirates jumped on the bandwagon over a month before the album's official release date, circulating the duo's new material. Daft Punk's record label originally denied rumours of pirating, claiming the files on the internet were either fakes or simple "working tracks." But at the same time the label pulled out all the stops to bring out the album a week earlier than expected.

Now that Human After All has finally arrived in record stores, what do we find? A mix of jangly guitars, electro beats and obvious rock influences. A case of chart opportunism or a sincere attempt to get back to music basics? Daft Punk, the so-called "fathers of the French Touch", have produced a raw, unpolished album which sounds as if it had been recorded in a race against the clock. As for the vocal side of things, the term "song" can hardly be applied to the duo's new material, their voices having been whizzed through so many electronic blenders that they only serve as a rhythmic base to the music.

This approach is certainly appreciated by Michael, a presenter on Berlin's university radio station Uniradio. A committed Daft Punk fan, who claims he experienced his first electro epiphany thanks to the duo's debut album, Homework, recalls how "At the time I was totally entranced by their post-disco sound based on dance-oriented techno. These days, Daft Punk seem to have gone back to a much harder sound that's definitely a lot less commercial than (their second album) 'Discovery.' Michael admits he is disappointed by certain aspects of the new album, however. "The tracks all start off sounding great but once you get about ninety seconds into it, things seem to get stuck in a rut and start repeating themselves. There's only one track on the album which really stands out for me and that's 'The Brain Washer', an old-school burst of pure techno with really great dance beats. I think that's the only track I could play at a club night without feeling embarrassed."

Two-Man Hit Machine

True to form, Daft Punk have managed to come up with one brilliant idea per track (which is, admittedly, more than some artists manage on an entire album!) But you can't help wondering whether, in their sudden bid for spontaneity, the Parisian duo have not abused the "cut and paste" function of their machines. Take a listen to Robot Rock, the first single release from the album: drum break, rock guitar, a perfect synthesiser loop and you feel this is going to be huge … for about a minute! After that the format more or less repeats itself, dragging on the entire 4 minutes, 47 seconds. Alejandro Ramos, a DJ and presenter on the Argentine radio station FM Palermo (named after the nightclub neighbourhood of Buenos Aires), insists the repetitive nature of Robot Rock doesn't bother him at all. "Techno fans over here are party people," he says, "They like to get out there on the dancefloor and enjoy their music, but that doesn't mean they necessarily listen to electronic music at home. Robot Rock's a totally instinctive track. And I think it'll get more people out there on the dancefloor. It's not a problem if it's a bit too long – I'll just play half of it!"

Could all this sampling success have gone to Daft Punk's heads, we wonder? De Honem Christo and Bangalter have made copious use of samplers in the past on dancefloor hits such as One More Time and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. But on Robot Rock they appear to have upped the ante. What's more, the loop used from the beginning to the end of Robot Rock is a straight copy lifted from a track by Breakwater (a funk-rock outfit from the late 70s who have fallen into total oblivion). The unease one feels at such flagrant sampling intensifies on Release The Beast, where the Parisian duo have done little more than copy an original sequence, throw in a few drumbeats and a couple of nifty sound effects and voilà! Interestingly enough, French film-maker Claude Lelouch once described the "Nouvelle Vague" as a revolution staged by the chief cameraman. Does this make the French Touch a revolution staged by a competent sound engineer with a box of vintage LPs?

Sound and Vision

Over the Channel, this idea is dismissed with alacrity. Annie Nightingale, legendary music show host on BBC Radio 1, has a radically different theory. In her eyes, Daft Punk should be lauded for inventing a new form of audience participation! "I think (Robot Rock) is the catchiest track they've done in ages," she says, "When I listen to it I can see clearly in my head where you can insert breaks to make a remix. And I hope that's exactly what people will feel inspired to do – because I'm sure they'd get excellent results!" What's more, according to our London source, the Belgian duo 2 Many DJ’s are already on the case.

Perhaps it is the very simplicity of Human After All that will guarantee the album's success. After all, Daft Punk have proved themselves past masters at cooking up hit singles that lodge in your brain whether you like it or not! Dave Tripper, who works on Fusion Radio (based in Chicago, one of the pioneering hotbeds of techno, maintains he is already a big fan of Daft Punk's new album. "Their compositions have definitely evolved towards a more human touch," Tripper says, "Following on from 'One More Time', Daft Punk have remained attached to their synthetic pop, producing catchy tracks like 'Technologic' with its sequence of simple, addictive lyrics."

Daft Punk may have become more human in Tripper's eyes, but they are still treated like demi-gods in Japan where they are often to be found pasted up as larger-than-life idols, vaunting the merits of a certain brand of mobile phone. DJ Tsuyoshi, a Japanese DJ into techno trance, has taken a cursory listen to the new Daft Punk single and claims it left him cold. However, Tsuyoshi insists he will wait to see the video clip before pronouncing a final verdict. "Daft Punk are the only group I can think of who mix sound and vision so well, " he says, "The visual aspect of things is very important here in Japan."  Maybe Tsuyoshi's right. Maybe the new Daft Punk offering will only come into its own once the duo release a visual accompaniment. One thing's for sure, with its media-friendly gimmicks, Human After All should prove a big hit with TV producers. In fact, we predict it ends up as the perfect soundtrack for those annual end-of-year sports round-ups. Keep your eyes and ears peeled!  

Daft Punk Human After All (Labels) 2005

Ludovic  Basque

Translation : Julie  Street