Review: Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

It's been almost ten years since their last studio album, 2004's Human After All, and with the massive 2007 pyramid tour and the mass-marketing surrounding this album, it's hard to contextualize RAM without being influenced by hype and expectation. Or is it? Get a couple of listens out the way and you'll find your mind becoming a little more open to the idea that this is not Discovery or Homework, their two best known (and best) albums.

'Give life back to music' doesn't so much breath life as it seems to rely on a respirator, which, as an opening track is probably the point. However, if you thought it was a prelude to a thumping bassline of a second track, you're wiring needs a look over. 'Game of love' is a languid grower, a sort of sleepy ballad Hot Chip would crank out, but with the added bonus of the warmest vocoder work you'll ever see.

'Giorgio by Moroder' is an early highlight, working as both a short introduction to Moroder himself and a strong example of why his synthesized sound swept the world so rapidly in the late 70's/early 80's. Similar to 'Game of Love', 'Within' finds Chilly Gonzales laying down a sweet piano loop that is pretty throughout but never hits any significant heights.

Julian Casablancas floats through for 'Instant Crush', which seems to happy to coast on it's effortless cool and becomes wearing by the second verse. 'Lose yourself to dance' is the first time we hear Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, on a song that builds to an enjoyable Spoon-like strut whilst never losing it's groove.
The eight-minute mini opera that is 'Touch' traversesa few genres and does so confidently. It's another song that requires a few listens to lock in, but Paul Williams frail vocal is an instant gratifier. First single 'Get Lucky' follows, showing that a good melody and strong bassline never goes out fashion.

'Beyond' and Motherboard' are a couple of impressively strident instrumentals, something lacking in the slower tracks on the albums. It's followed by the Todd Edwards guesting 'Fragments of time', a track that sounds like it's been excavated directly from the 70's, in a good way.

'Doin it right' is most contemporary track on the album, and it's also the best, which bodes well for future releases, if Daft Punk chooses to move in that direction. The simple lyric  from Panda Bear "If you lose your way tonight, that's how you know the magic's right" transports the listener to a different place than the rest of the album. I wish I'd been taken to that place a little more.

The simple concept of robot becoming human, or trying to at least, haunts the album. I think if we'd heard more of the beating heart and less of the yearning to have one, the results would've been more engaging and little less distant.

'Contact' finishes off the album and it feels like an album finisher. It also feels more contemporary and more lively than any song besides 'Giorgio'.

In an early 2013 Rolling Stone interview, Daft Punk said that they made this album for themselves and that they didn't know what they were thinking releasing it, and you can understand what they are getting at. If you're not on their wavelength, you're going  to have a hard time locking in with at least a third of the album right from the start.

To give yourself the best chance of enjoying this album and appreciating for what it is, lose yourself to it and give a few spins.

Stream: Janelle Monae feat Erykah Badu - Q.U.E.E.N.

Janelle Monae released her last album in 2010, and so has taken a little time off to craft her latest LP The Electric Lady.  Here's the first single, it's pretty darn funky.

Listen to it HERE

Video: Jimmy Fallon clucks the Lumineers

Happy Easter!

Video: Justin Timberlake - Mirrors

The video for Timberlake's 'Mirrors' features three couples at different stages in their lives and gives the song a little more context. Timberlake also confessed the song was a tribute to his grandparents and their long-standing marriage.

Stream: The-Dream - Tron

The_Dream has another great new track, which is all good news with his new album coming out shortly.

Tron is one of most rap type tracks that he has made, and he means business

Find the song HERE

Essay: Dance, it should be fun

I’ve just returned to dance classes this year after a long lay-off.

I’ve noticed that I feel better about what I’m doing now more-so than when I was younger.

The insecurities that used to plague me are gone. That’s not to say I’ve improved, I’m still months away from returning to even the middling level of ability that I used to have, but I am enjoying it more, which means I’m more likely to stick with it this time.

I’ve always felt that that zen-like state you feel when you dance a piece well and in time was unattainable, that it was never more than a fleeting joy, like a great day on the golf course.

But maybe I have it wrong. Maybe the zen-like state is just that, a state of mind rather than a momentary feeling that you’ve bridged the gap between dance and soul.

Can you be satisfied with just being at class, just enjoying it, unburdened by the weight of expectation that we tend to put on ourselves?  Or do we have to have a goal to work towards, and should we embrace the uncomfortable feeling of under-achieving because it’s the world’s way of telling us to do better?

Surely, if you’re having fun at an activity, and you’re self-aware enough to know that you’re not embarrassing yourself totally, then you should improve, and rapidly enough that it makes it worth it not to stress too much.

Besides, if I’m enjoying myself, I’m more likely to practice at home.  And at the club.  And in the car.  And in the shower.

Stream: Justin Timberlake - Suit and Tie (Four Tet Remix)

Did you like Justin's new single but felt it lacked a little pace and urgency?  This should fix it.

Four Tet strips away the lush orchestration and lays Timberlake's gorgeous falsetto over a pulsing, spartan four/four beat. As he starts singing over and over himself, Timberlakes voice becomes hypnotic and more frenetic with missing a step, like James Bond jumping trains without creasing his Tom Ford suit.

UPDATE: And stream his whole album HERE

Stream: Drake - 5am in Toronto

October's very own Drake continues his winning ways. Produced by Bo1-1da and Vinylz this production builds upon his languorous discography, this time sprinkling a twinkly keyboard loop atop a confident low-end bass with the subtle bonus of some ratatat snares.

However, the key here is the facial raps. Drake raps like he walked directly into your comfort zone and has no problem staring you in the eye and spitting some hilarious truths (the line 'thats why hip-hop sounds like Drake featuring Drake' is a standout).

Drake is cranking out extremely listenable tunes at a very dependable rate at the moment, and the thematic consistency of his first two albums likely means that he's aiming to make sure his next album is once again an end-to-end winner.

Cant wait.

Stream: Rustie - Slasherr

Rustie hasn't released any new music since 2011's genre-destroying Glass Swords, a bombastic records that pre-empted the 2012 trap scene that Rustie himself captured so succinctly on his BBC Essential Mix from early last year.

I love Flume right now, but if Flume's music comes up and flails around in front of you, then "Slasherr" is a fist to the jaw.  Banger doesn't really do it justice, it's Olympic stadium large with enough BPM's to get your heart racing in anticipation.  Turn it up.

Video: Lyrical Jazz Thursday Class (Miguel - Candles in the sun)

Hi guys, here's the awesome track from Thursday's Lyrical Jazz class.  If you don't know Miguel, I've written about him a little and about his fantastic album from last year, Kaleidoscope Dream.

I've also included his amazing Grammy performance from last week.

Video: Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z - Suit and Tie

JT and Jay-Z loungin' it up in Justin's new video for 'Suit and Tie, directed by David Fincher (Socaial Network, Fight Club).

Essay: My parents don't like my music!

At some point in everyone’s lifetime, we stop liking new music.  It’s inevitable.  Even if it’s because you’re hearing aid can’t adjust to Skrillex’s harsh bass drops. 

But why?

When we’re young we suck up any and all music available, and reason we do is because we’ve never heard it before.  Whether you’re a 2 year old encountering the Wiggles for the first time, or you’re a tweener hearing you’re first One Direction song.  You are hearing something you’ve never heard before, and it’s awesome.

Then a funny thing happens.  You start developing your tastes, seeking out other music with new sounds.  Your mental catalogue of sounds builds and changes with every prevailing trend. 

This is great when you’re young and have time on your hands, but it won’t always be this way, especially if music is something you use to pass time.  When you get older and gain more responsibilities (jobs, kids), then time is something you have less and less of, and you the time you do have to yourself gets spent on the things you value the most.

If music is not one of those things, you can find yourself quickly falling out of touch with the Top 40. 

For people in this position, you’ll find yourself turning on the radio and hearing something both foreign and familiar blaring back at you.  It’s foreign in that its music you have not heard before, but familiar in that the beats and structure of the songs sound somewhat like the same music you heard when you were young.  These two states conjure up two feelings; fear and anger.

You ask yourself, why don’t I know what this is and why does it sound like the bass-line from ‘Billie Jean’?

It’s at this crucial point where the desire for new sounds that defined your youth morphs into an artless future in which you constantly repeat the phrase ‘whats this crap?’, and then head to your bedroom to listen to the Foo Fighters on your Ipod.

I’ve painted a pretty bleak picture, but it doesn’t have to be this way.

New music is awesome and it always will be.  This is a fact.  Once you are comfortable with this strange thought, it makes it easier to accept new music forever, even if you don’t get it the 1st, 2nd or 10th time.

If you find that you’re getting pressed for time in your life, utilize the amazing power of the internet.  There are some thorough sites out there these days that promote all types of new trends and great music.  Bookmark them and check them when you have a few minutes to spare.  It takes nothing to go to _ pitchforkmedia.com or complex and set their new music players running.  Streaming services like Spotify make that job even easier.

You don’t have to be the loser parent whose kid laughs at them because they don’t know who Bieber is.  You can be the cool adult who puts them up on all the great new music and then tells them Bieber is crap*.

Enjoy awesome music forever.

Young Jeezy jumps on a 'Rack City' beat with 2 Chainz and in his own words "kills the club".  I won't doubt that.

Stream: Justin Timberlake feat. Jay-Z - Suit and Tie

A new track with a new album 'The 20/20 experience' coming later this year.

Stream the new single 'Suit and Tie' featuring Jay-Z HERE

Stream: Destiny's Child - Nuclear

If you haven't heard it already, here it is...