Hello! My name is Chris!! I use by He/They/It pronouns and uhhh I like to draw! I am multifandom but I mostly post daft punk, both robots and unmasked.
-> Carrd <- -> Strawpage <-
All my art stuff is under the tag #my art!! I'm always open for small doodles if you want to request them as an ask!!
I have my gifs under the tag #my gifs if you want to check them out, and I always take requests for them too!
My scans can be found under #my scans!
Text posts and etc are under #misc!
Hope you like my blog and don't be scared to say hi!
Hidden behind robot helmets, the French duo inhabits a universe where disco, rock, funk, and techno—all from the 1980s—serve as the basis for electronic entertainment that breaks away from the automatic rhythm of machines.
By Camilo Rocha
One of the biggest events on the global electronic music calendar is the Winter Music Conference in Miami. Every year, for a few days, promoters, DJs, artists, club owners, record label representatives, and all sorts of other folks descend on the Cuban capital of the United States to close deals, listen to and promote new music, sell their wares, and party hard night after night. If a song “hits” at the Miami conference, it's a sure bet that it will be a worldwide hit a few months later.
Of course, Daft Punk couldn't miss it. Their album Discovery is not only one of the events of 2001 in electronic music, but also one of the most important releases in music as a whole. The British magazine Q, a reference in “serious” rock, declared Discovery the best album of the year. To give you an idea of the French duo's popularity, the British media gave this album more prominence than Radiohead's latest, the highly acclaimed Kid A. The reason for all this media hype is that, in early 1998, Daft Punk dropped a devastating bomb on a distracted planet. It was their first album, Homework, a collection of innovative beats and samples that redrew the map of electronic music. The sound was pop, but experimental, repositioning references such as classic house, disco, and funk to form a picture of the future. Out of nowhere, two unknown DJs/producers from Paris (and not London, Berlin, or Chicago) became big names in the world of beats, placed on the same level as the Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, and Underworld.
So, it was only natural that three years later, at the time of their decisive second album, everyone stopped what they were doing to listen to what Daft Punk was up to. The responsibility was therefore enormous. "We didn't feel pressured when making this second album, the media's demands don't influence us. The only pressure that existed came from ourselves. When we made the first album, no one knew us and the album was a success,“ says Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, one half of Daft Punk (the other is Thomas Bangalter), speaking from Miami by phone. ”So, the best way to make the second one was to create it the same way as the first. That is, to do what we wanted to do without paying attention to outside influences or other people's expectations," he continues.
(PHOTO) Thomas Bangalter and Guy Manuel (not necessarily in that order): why show your face?
In Discovery, Guy-Manuel and Thomas Bangalter show that rare (but necessary) pop skill of twisting the obvious until it borders on the weird.
INITIAL SHOCK
The appetizer for Discovery came at the end of last year, with the single “One More Time.” For many (like me), it was a shock: it was electro-disco-pop, with the vocals of cult house singer Romanthony electronically nasalized, but much more pop than anything else. It was a worldwide hit and a huge success on radio stations in São Paulo, among other places. The shock was because, without a doubt, it was the most accessible thing Daft Punk had ever produced.
Discovery isn't all like that, radio-friendly. It's full of pop moments, for sure, and is, overall, much “easier” than Homework. But Daft Punk has that rare (but necessary) ability in pop music to twist the obvious until it borders on the weird. These are details, such as distortion, an effect, or an unexpected sound, but they make a huge difference in the result. This also applies to the duo's image, as they practically never show their faces. After all, isn't it much more interesting to have two robot helmets made with visors that display messages to use in promotional photos than to try the same old poses?
Returning to the music, a good example of this approach is the new single, “Aerodynamic,” where the funky base suddenly gives way to a bombastic guitar solo, the kind you haven't heard since David Lee Roth screamed in front of Van Halen. And where did this crazy idea come from? "The idea for the guitar solo came naturally. You start a song and try different things to see what fits best,“ replies Guy-Manuel. ”We thought it would be really funny to put in this kind of guitar solo, which you don't hear anymore. It was both funny and the thing that fit best on this track. We like to experiment with lots of different sounds."
ONLY SINGLES
There are rumors, unconfirmed by Guy-Manuel, that Virgin wants to release all the tracks on the album as singles. In fact, they all have some kind of popular appeal, sometimes more for the dance floor, sometimes more for the radio — even the crazy “Short Circuit,” whose tones are reminiscent of 1980s electronic funk, in the style of Zapp and Cameo.
A good part of the songs on the album refer to the pulsating electronic disco music of artists such as Lipps Inc., Giorgio Moroder, Donna Summer, Gino Soccio, Voyage, and Sylvester. It's something that comes naturally, since Thomas Bangalter's father was a virtuoso composer of disco hits, the best known of which was “D.I.S.C.O.” with the Ottowan project. In fact, Discovery's more disco-pop trend had already been foreshadowed by a side project of Bangalter's — Stardust — which, in late 1998, took the world by storm with the catchy groove of “Music Sounds Better With You.”
Guy-Manuel assures us that the inspirations behind the album go much further. "There wasn't a specific type of music because we are open-minded about sound. So Discovery is influenced by classical, funk, techno, disco, and rock. These are basically things we listened to when we were kids or teenagers in the 80s. The idea is to bring that kind of mentality, of listening to everything, to our music today. But nothing was planned, we were just making the sound and these things kept popping up. Then it was like, ‘Wow, this reminds us of something we used to listen to when we were kids’."
CLUB PASSWORD
The album, which according to Guy-Manuel took two and a half years to complete, was made in the same way as all good electronic music albums (in fact, just like all albums, regardless of whether they are good or bad): in a cramped home studio. “The album was made in the same place as the first one: a small room with basically the same equipment, several guitars, keyboards, and classic synthesizers from the 70s,” he explains.
What's the point of another side? “Since the cost of recording is very low, we can spend a lot more money on the visuals, the videos, our robot helmets, our website, and the idea of the Daft Club. If we were to make the album in a big studio, it would cost a fortune per day to record.”
The Daft Club is a brilliant idea. Each purchaser of Discovery receives an individual card with a password, the Daft Club Card, along with the album. With the password, the person can enter an exclusive part of the official website www.daftclub.com and listen to or download exclusive Daft Punk tracks. "That's why, this year, we're not going to DJ or tour much. We're going to focus on making new music. The idea is to have a new track on the website every week." Yes, you read that right: a new track every week! That's right, you can accuse Daft Punk of anything except being lazy.
Available only on their website, Daft Punk will become a totally virtual group, at least throughout 2001. It was a way found by the band to get around programs that allow music to be downloaded from the internet at no cost. According to Guy-Manuel, the duo has nothing against Napster. “Anyone who wants to can get the songs from the internet instead of buying the album. But people who do that won't get a Daft Club card or be able to access the new sounds on our home page,” he explains.
In other words, Punk will live forever.
(PHOTO) A love for futuristic icons doesn't stop the duo from revisiting past decades
LE GROOVE C’EST CHIC
Electronic music saved France. This fact is so official that even the country's authorities agree. About two years ago, shortly after the first Techno Parade in Paris had managed to get 300,000 revelers dancing through the city streets around colorful electronic trios, politicians and government officials came out publicly to express their support for club and rave culture. They even asked local radio stations to make more room for electronic music.
Open-minded, right? Well, some people think it's not quite so idealistic. DJ and producer Laurent Garnier, the number one veteran of the French scene, hit the nail on the head: “It's all about business.” You begin to understand his argument when you realize that Daft Punk, Cassius, Air, Bob Sinclar, Dimitri From Paris, and a few other globally renowned electronic artists were responsible for an injection of enthusiasm and money into the French music industry that had not been seen since “Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus” (by the unattractive bard Serge Gainsbourg) and Charles Aznavour. Daft Punk sold 2.5 million copies of their album Homework, the record that opened the floodgates for the French invasion. The champagne kept flowing at the last Midem, the global music industry mega-convention based in Cannes.
Did you miss this story? No, you just weren't well informed. In fact, few people know that, for example, the hit “Lady,” which even appeared on a Som Livre compilation, was written by Modjo, a duo that is as French as baguettes and the Arc de Triomphe. And they're close friends with Daft Punk, too.
The big difference between the hits of today and those of yesteryear is that, while the latter were the height of tackiness, French music today has credibility, and there's no need to be ashamed to say you like it. This is the case with the ultra-cool Air, who last year composed the soundtrack for Sophia Coppola's film The Virgin Suicides. It is also the case with Daft Punk themselves, Garnier and Cassius, as well as many artists who remained underground, such as Scan X, Etienne de Crecy, Bertrand Burgalat, and Ludovic Navarre.
Even the most pop hits, the most blatantly accessible ones, such as “Lady” and “Music Sounds Better With You” by Stardust (by Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk), project an aura of finesse that only those who learned from childhood to choose a good wine and taste a dessert cheese can have.
It's even funnier to see how history repeats itself: who would have thought that one day we would see English records trying to imitate the French sound?
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