Sometimes the film music tradition changes the "invaders" for the better

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

I've been listening to Daft Punk's latest album (it's streaming on iTunes for free right now, released next week), which is really quite good. I think it's my favorite of theirs. I noticed it was far less ELECTRONIC and very acoustic with electronic touches instead.

I'm not the biggest fan of them, so I don't really keep up with them, therefore I found this bit in an article/review in (I know, forgive me father for I have sinned) the Telegraph interesting:

French duo, Thomas Bangalter, 38, and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, 39, are among the prime architects of the Nineties techno-electro-club-pop sound that has belatedly colonised American pop. Yet the duo themselves appear unimpressed. Bangalter recently commented that “computers are not really music instruments” and it is “too easy to make the same music you hear on the radio”. Concentrating on movie soundtracks and live sets, Daft Punk haven’t released an original studio album in seven years.

I know after Tron: Legacy they commented on how they'd realized the orchestra had been around for hundreds of years while electronics just come and go with the latest technology. I didn't think the experience had affected them so much that their next album would be such a shift away from electronics as the centerpiece to more texture.

The quote is also very interesting, because when they first started on Tron: Legacy, Disney made them work with RCP. But that collaboration seems to have been a brief "trial run". They went with their own synths and sounds for the project and decided to collaborate with the likes of Joe Trapanese over Hans Zimmer and Harry Gregson-Williams (to Disney's dismay). So again, color me impressed. They've been true to their words from the beginning. (Source)

Good to see some positive impact from our little corner of the music world.

[Jay 37,352]

Ah sweet! It must be on Spotify too!

EDIT: Damn, it's not!

EDIT 2: and I can't seem to stream it from my iTunes app on my iPhone 3GS running iOS5

[Matt C 453]

Your thread post made me want to revisit Tron Legacy's score again.

So good...

[Datameister 2,042]

I haven't had a chance to listen to their album, but that's cool to hear. One of my favorite aspects of TRON: Legacy is the way it very successfully blends electronics with the orchestra. Both elements are clearly and distinctly audible, yet they feel inseparable from each other. The score is at its weakest (while still enjoyable) when it begins to neglect one half of the equation or the other, and at its strongest when both elements are working together in full force. I don't know if I could bring myself to buy a "normal" Daft Punk album, despite my respect for their musicianship, but if they released another album that blended their sound with that of the orchestra, I'd probably go for it.

[Jay 37,352]

Well you don't have to buy it to hear it, its legally streaming right now

[Quintus 5,399]

Tron Legacy was one of a handful of soundtracks to catch my ear in recent years. Then again I've been into Daft Punk for about a decade - their sound was always the ultimate ambience for gatherings and parties.

[Brónach 1,302]

I rather liked Tron: legacy, with the exception of some cues that went too far into the kind of music I don't like, the rest was delightful to me. I want now the whole score without edits etc. I remember particularly liking Sea of Simulation, Flynn Lives and some of the Outland cues, but I haven't listened to it in quite a while so I'm not sure about the track names.

I have to listen to the score from the original film.

I don't know if I could bring myself to buy a "normal" Daft Punk album, despite my respect for their musicianship, but if they released another album that blended their sound with that of the orchestra, I'd probably go for it.

Personally, I want MOAR.

[Jay 37,352]

Just finished listening to Random Access Memories. It's a good album! Good music to program to, as well, for the most part.

Thanks for the head's up Blume!

[Quintus 5,399]

Might be one for the car. I'll try to remember to check it out.

[Thor 7,495]

TRON: LEGACY is awesome...one of my most-played soundtracks in recent years. They combine the 8-bit sample approach they're known for with some really epic chords and instrumentation. Of course, it follows the tradition of the "Bourne riff" and Zimmer's BATMAN sounds, but adds their own spin to things, which I love. I've also loved Daft Punk for years, but TRON made me go back and re-appreciate their former studio albums once more.

[Jay 37,352]

What do you think of Random Access Memories compared to their earlier albums?

[Brónach 1,302]

Of course, it follows the tradition of the "Bourne riff" and Zimmer's BATMAN sounds, but adds their own spin to things, which I love.

Batman? I don't really hear Batman in there.

[Thor 7,495]

What do you think of Random Access Memories compared to their earlier albums?

It's more about keeping the 'sound' of their collaborators, in a way (like the disco elements in the Moroder track). But there are still the 8-bit samples, poppy tunes, odd meters and funky grooves they've nurtured for years.

Of course, it follows the tradition of the "Bourne riff" and Zimmer's BATMAN sounds, but adds their own spin to things, which I love.

Batman? I don't really hear Batman in there.

I think there''s a lot of it. It basically follows the evolution from the Bourne riff and onwards. JASON BOURNE -> BATMAN BEGINS/TRILOGY -> INCEPTION -> TRON -> OBLIVION and so forth (there are obviously several other scores in the same style too [PRIEST, for example], and the Bourne riff also has other off-shoots into more urban action movies). Ostinato-driven with slight harmonic variations on top. The sci fi 'spin-off' also operates with huge interval leaps to make things more 'epic'.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

Where you say the "Bourne riff" came from, Thor? Sequenced EDM?

[Thor 7,495]

Where you say the "Bourne riff" came from, Thor? Sequenced EDM?

Definitely elements of that, yes.

[Brónach 1,302]

Of course, it follows the tradition of the "Bourne riff" and Zimmer's BATMAN sounds, but adds their own spin to things, which I love.

Batman? I don't really hear Batman in there.

I think there''s a lot of it. It basically follows the evolution from the Bourne riff and onwards. JASON BOURNE -> BATMAN BEGINS/TRILOGY -> INCEPTION -> TRON -> OBLIVION and so forth (there are obviously several other scores in the same style too [PRIEST, for example], and the Bourne riff also has other off-shoots into more urban action movies). Ostinato-driven with slight harmonic variations on top. The sci fi 'spin-off' also operates with huge interval leaps to make things more 'epic'.

I don't know what's the Bourne riff.

I like Priest but it doesn't sound like the same style, more like a reinterpretation by Young (it was temptracked by TDK).

But LEGACY doesn't actually sound like Batman, it sounds more like... itself, if that makes any sense. At least my favourite parts of it go into places the Batman scores don't go. The sound is less dull and overbearing, the electronics take pride in themselves, and the synthy sounds sound cooler than these in the Batman scores, and it has more lively, epic scope. I mean, 2:12 onwards in Finale? Not Batman, even though it'd be awesome in Batman.

[Sharkissimo 1,973]

I don't know what's the Bourne riff.

What rock you been living under man?!

Here it is at 0:12 played by cellos and basses in octaves doubled by piano.

The closest relative in the action/thriller genre would be Goldsmith's RAMBO ostinato.

[Thor 7,495]

But LEGACY doesn't actually sound like Batman, it sounds more like... itself, if that makes any sense.

Of course. It's its own thing (due to Daft Punk's idiosyncracies, in large part). But at the same time, it's also very much an extension of a particular sound (or soundscape) that had evolved for a few years, in which the BATMAN films and scores played a major part.

[Matt C 453]

It's a shame Zimmer's scores haven't tried new things with the electronics and blending the orchestra like Daft Punk's Tron Legacy has. I mean, really.

I think far less people would complain about Zimmer's work on The Dark Knight and Man of Steel if they were more akin to Tron Legacy quality-wise.

[Datameister 2,042]

It's interesting, because in some parts of the score, it's almost like they're doing Zimmer better than Zimmer does. The harmonic and melodic building blocks aren't really any more sophisticated or original than what you get in an average Zimmer score, but the production values feel so different. It's a very different philosophy of blending electronics and orchestra, where neither one is trying to sound like the other. They're used in a way that's more transparent, with their respective timbres shining through the mix quite distinctly, rather than blending together into a muddy mix as Zimmer has tended to do at times.

I hope this doesn't come off as mindless Zimmer-bashing; as I've said before, I quite like some of his work. But there's something special about what Daft Punk did with TRON: Legacy, and it took me by surprise.

[Thor 7,495]

I don't think Daft Punk's TRON would have sounded like it did without Zimmer's "new" sound (which again was born out of....well, BOURNE) -- especially in the BATMAN films. It would maybe have retained the 8-bit stuff and the like, but the big, dark, epic chord leaps, the "heavy-handed" ostinato (which is far heavier than anything previously in DP's output) and so forth owe their debt to all of that.

That being said, I prefer TRON over the BATMANs. The synth aspect is purer; the grooves are funkier; it feels overall more like a concept album.

[Brónach 1,302]

it feels overall more like a concept album.

Nah, it feels overall more like a cooler score.

[Thor 7,495]

it feels overall more like a concept album.

Nah, it feels overall more like a cooler score.

That too.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Listened to the iTunes stream of their new album. I know nothing about Daft Punk other than their big hits, and this to me seemed like a nice slow and easy ride of an album compared to their more upbeat stuff. May buy it.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Based on my mild liking for Daft Punk's Tron Legacy score, I decided to buy their Musique Vol. 1 1993-2005 compilation and give it a go. It was only ten bucks at JB Hi-Fi, so it was worth the risk. I started listening to it and found myself skipping through tracks and getting infuriated at its repetitiveness and irritated at its harsh aesthetic. These two idiots should stick to film scoring.

[Thor 7,495]

Ouch. Harsh words.

Not a lot of electronica fans in here, I presume.

[Ren 75]

Love electronica. Will have to check out.

[Jay 37,352]

Listening to this now on Spotify while I program away. Good stuff!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

So is this thread specifically saying Daft Punk was influenced by film scoring to move towards a more orchestral sound for their non-film music? Cause I honestly don't hear a connection that would seal that correlation. Plenty of bands use more than the basic guitar, bass, drums set up and utilize orchestral instruments.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

No.

[Jay 37,352]

I've just been using it as a thread to discuss Random Access Memories, I barely even read Blumes main post

[Quintus 5,399]

It happens.

[Faleel 5,346]

I barely even read Blumes main post

Fitting, or is that Ironic?

[Thor 7,495]

I've just been using it as a thread to discuss Random Access Memories, I barely even read Blumes main post

Same here. I'm just here to discuss Daft Punk and electronica....I find Blumes' original post and topic title too much on the prejudiced side (although it may have been tongue-in-cheek).

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

Well screw all of you.

[Faleel 5,346]

Ever since you stopped the caption contests, you have been on a downward spiral.

[BLUMENKOHL 1,068]

That falsely assumes I was actually up high enough to go down!

[Faleel 5,346]

2 feet, 7 stories its all the same.

[Quintus 5,399]

Having given this a good listen I'm disappointed and just unimpressed. The instrumentation and design is good, but unfortunately almost every track is lacking in melody, and I'm just tired of this band's synth robot singing. There are two tracks that I did like, although one much more than the other: "Giorgio by Moroder" was, after a very lengthy monologue from the the titular composer, a zingy ringtone of a dance track which threatens to stick in the mind for the rest of the day which might not be a good thing in this case; and "Touch" which opens with a load of nothing before an eventually excellent vocal from Paul Williams breaks the pointless indulgences with a beautifully articulate lyric which then segues into a pseudo orchestral epic ballet. That track was the only true highlight of an otherwise boring album. 2/5

[Jay 37,352]

I like this album a lot, just listened to it again the other day

[Thor 7,495]

Yeah, I've been playing that album on repeat ever since it was released. Such infectiously delicious stuff!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I was contemplating buying it, listening to samples, then thinking about buying their other CDs. Thinking about it more, then deciding not to. Then I find it shrink wrapped in my girlfriend's room. Success!

Not a huge fan of Daft Punk. Everyone revere's them for their originality when all they really did was bring back the funk disco sound from the 70s.

I mean, the first song off the album sounds just like this: