Posted 19 May 2013 - 11:30 PM
Well I’ve listened to RAM several times over the weekend and... it’s a concept album. It’s a sort of celestial voyage back through time and space. And by ‘celestial voyage’, I’m referring to the audio-visual mix of that name by the Dawele boys on their Radio Soulwax site.
First off, the album sounds like a straight throwback to 70’s Disco and 80’s Groove. Secondly it sounds like the kind of stuff you would hear on that Soulwax mix. Music that was meant to sound like futuristic space music at the time, and which now sounds a bit naff, a bit kitsch if you will. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, Daft Punk have always had a slightly kitsch, cheesy vibe about them.
Taking a look at the little teaser promo on page 7 of this thread (Random Access Memories Unboxed) reinforces my opinion. The DP boys are in some sort of space ship, but take a look at the flashing lights and buttons. The more you look at them the naffer and clunkier they look, like something out of the ’77 Star Wars rather than anything as hi-tech as a 2013 Sci Fi in digital 3D. It’s a wonder they’ve even made the album available on itunes, as vinyl is clearly the state of the art medium on these boys’ ship.
That doesn’t mean I dislike this though. I neither love it or hate it, well actually… maybe a little bit of both. It certainly intrigues me.
Give Life Back To Music starts the album off as a pretty straightforward disco album (as if acid house had never happened as Chops said). Not great, not terrible, but it sets the groundwork before things go a little more leftfield.
Game of Love features a melancholy vocal fed through a vocoder. The emotionless machine sound seeming to be at odds with the doleful human vocal. This reminds me of the sort of stuff that some American R&B artists were doing in the mid to late 80’s. I just can’t tell you who as I’ve always tried to avoid that stuff. The recurring melody motif between the vocal parts keeps this listenable.
Giorgio by Moroder. Ah here’s the stuff that might appeal to us Chems fans. Again a reference back to the 1970’s; the time that Moroder made his biggest impact. I Feel Love really did sound like the future at the time, as though someone had completely reinvented disco with electronics. So it’s appropriate he should feature on this LP (yeah I said it; LP). And perhaps it’s a testament to Moroder that at least some of this track sounds contemporary(ish), though I imagine it could fit on ‘Celestial Voyage’ quite nicely . But what the hell is that jazzy bit doing in the middle?! I’m baffled by it, in a bad way. After the jazzy bit though, it’s all good again – arpeggiated synths, and strings, mmm. A real highlight.
Within. Back to introverted vocoder stuff. This is very restrained which in itself is to be commended. There’s a melody and a thoughtfulness to this. Perhaps Wall-E would be singing this if he banged his head in Wall-E 2. But that doesn’t mean it’s a song I want to come rushing back to.
Instant Crush. Well something of a surprise for Stokes fans. Julian Casablancas normally has a louche, laid back New Yorker sound to his vocals. On this, he could be a French teenager who grew up listening to Chanson and Euro-pop. A catchy high pitched vocal that attracts and repels me in equal measure. I can’t make my mind up on this one, but at least it has an originality to it. It’s miles away from Last Night or New York City Cops; if only I could decide if that was a good thing.
Lose yourself To Dance. I was listening to this on Friday night after work. It sounds so basic, but as it progressed I found myself involuntarily nodding my head, and then the foot started tapping. And then I started imagining I was playing Nile’s guitar riff. Maybe because I had that Friday feeling I found a sense of joy and freedom whilst listening to this, and I kept coming back to it again and again. It might be too slow to dance to by today’s standards, but in the 80’s people really did dance to records this slow! I’m addicted to this like popcorn or Jelly Belly beans. It may not be good for me, but I can’t resist. Touch. Well if the musical ‘Hair’ had been made with a hint of electronics this may well have been the result. Paul Williams comes from the Broadway Musical and Barbra Streisand school of song writing. Not what most dance music fans are really into. Add in the fact that Mr Williams’ voice sounds every bit of his 72 years of age and this really was taking a risk. ‘The kids’ might not be too interested. But, with that lovely repeated chorus and added strings and effects (naff sci-fi effects of course) the DP boys have indeed turned this into quite a journey. A definite highlight.
Get Lucky. I can see why it’s a single. It’s a straightforward up-tempo tune. It’ll get played on the radio and I’d dance to this after a couple of drinks. But yeah it sounds like Chic. Studio 54 has reopened, and everything looks shiny and new.
Beyond. This could almost be on side two of Michael Jackson’s Thriller. I could see it nestling up against Human Nature and PYT. Except the lyrics don’t go “ooh girl…”. They sing of finding another world “beyond dreams”. Oh and there’s lap steel guitar in there I think. Not bad, but forgettable.
Motherboard: We’re in sci-fi instrumental land. I wonder if this was in fact left over from the Tron Soundtrack. A very pleasant electronic instrumental track. Doesn’t quite blow me away but it’s a nice little trip. One of the better tracks.
Fragments of Time. In the Billboard review they say it “sounds like the theme song to a classic 80s sitcom, which is a huge compliment”. No it isn’t! I say, if Back To The Future hadn’t been a big budget movie but instead been a mediocre 80's sitcom (‘Back to the Past’ as DP Might have it), this might have been the theme song. Which is NOT a huge compliment. This is horrible. This makes Huey Lewis and The News sound like fucking Mozart. God I hate this track. I found myself clawing at my own skin whilst listening to this. Please don’t ever make me listen to this song again! Get back in the time machine.
Doin’ It Right. So Panda Bear from Animal Collective is on vocals. I like Animal Collective, in fact I’m looking forward to seeing them next Saturday at Field Day in London. Also I like the intro; it’s promising. But the track never really gets going. It’s half an idea and it never fulfills its mission on this voyage. Disappointing.
Contact. Ahh Euphoria! Even this is stuck in the past though. An old track re-worked for the album featuring an even older sample from 1982 (it’s not all 1970’s!). It’s a shame that the good part of this track is only about five minutes long though. There’s a cool astronaut intro, then we hit the good stuff, then we get those fantastic drums and before you know it the spaceship is heading into hyperspace. The music changes to a soundtrack of harsh (rollin and scratchin) noises all too soon. Mothership Daft Punk has disappeared to who knows where…Come back, I was just starting to enjoy it!
inchemwetrust, on 18 May 2013 - 11:22 AM, said:
I would think years of being on this forum you would understand my statement, but I'll elaborate:
MultiQuote
Posted 20 May 2013 - 8:51 PM
