One More Time: 10 songs that showcase the musical evolution of Daft Punk


Saeed Saeed
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The pop music world is in mourning after news that Daft Punk are calling time on their stellar 28-year career.

The electronic French duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter leave behind a legacy that producer Mark Ronson described as "enviable but impossibly unattainable."

From house music and disco to funk, rock and soul, Daft Punk’s inspirations were far and wide. They released albums both sprawling and concise, and redefined multiple times our conceptions of dance music.

These robots may be turning their helmets in, but they leave an inspiring body of work to influence future artist to reach for the stars.

Here are 10 songs that best showcase their legacy.

1. ‘Da Funk’ (1994)

The perfect debut single not only in terms of quality but in setting out the sonic vision for what Daft Punk was about.

A heady marriage of disco, electro and funk, Da Funk is built around an ear-worm synth line and sampled vocals. The whole affair sounds as vintage as it does futuristic – twin features that describe Daft Punk's approach to a tee.

2. ‘Around the World’ (1997)

Early Daft Punk singles were relatively primitive sounding in comparison to the orchestral funk odysseys of last album Random Access Memories.

That said, there is a lot to enjoy in the early days.

Take Around the World for instance, a track that doesn't do much other than repeat a catchy hook embellished by a smattering of bleeps. The real star here, however, is the heaving bass line. Lean and forceful, you will be dancing in no time.

3. ‘One More Time’ (2000)

The New Year’s Eve party anthem of 2000, Daft Punk stretch themselves with a denser production that incorporates everything from blaring horns, synths, funk guitars and euphoric vocals by US singer and DJ Romanthony.

One More Time brought the group to the mainstream and topped the US dance charts.

4. ‘Digital Love’ (2001)

An underappreciated part of Daft Punk's legacy is their love songs.

Each album is home to tender vocals wrapped up in house beats. Digital Love is an affecting example. It's an electro love song with vocals (provided by the duo) exuding nostalgia, and features a gloriously bonkers keyboard solo that would have made producer Giorgio Morder proud.

5. ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ (2001)

The track which saw Daft Punk truly embraced their robot personas.

Built around a buoyant piano melody taken from funk singer Edwin Birdsong's 1979 track Cola Bottle Baby, the duo inject the track with house beats, funk guitar riffs and signature robotic vocals that tell us to work "harder, better, faster, stronger."

This all would have sounded dystopian if it wasn't for the infectious spirit coursing through the affair.

6. ‘Robot Rock’ (2005)

Disconcerted with the public and industry viewing them as a good time party group, Daft Punk threw a curve ball with this searing single.

Jettisoning the clubby sounds for gnarly guitars and cold, monotonous vocals, casual fans were aghast and wondered if the group was indeed trolling them.

They weren’t: even DJs want to rock out occasionally.

7. ‘Robot Rock/Oh Yeah’ (2007)

Some things sound better live.

With the brawny sounds of album Human After All not connecting with the masses, Daft Punk reintroduced many of the tracks as part of their Alive 2007 live album, taken from a Paris show that year.

The collection is widely viewed as the best live album released by an electronic group. The Robot Rock/Oh Yeah is the opening one-two punch of the set, once the thunderous riffs kick in around the two minute mark, it signals the beginning of an absolutely epic performance.

8. ‘Derezzed’ (2010)

Daft Punk proved they were equally adept at composing for the big screen with their sweeping score for 2010 Sci-Fi film Tron: Legacy.

But even in cinema, they couldn't keep their club roots away. Derezzed is a frenetic banger and is chockfull of serrated synthesizers and computer game style beats and bleeps.

9. ‘Get Lucky’ (2013)

This piece of funk-pop perfection became one the defining anthems of 2013.

From the skittish riffs of Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and Daft Punk's ebullient production, to Pharrell Williams's sly vocals, Get Lucky is three generations of pop music knowledge distilled in a joyful four-minute summer jam.

10. ‘Giorgio by Moroder’ (2013)

The emotional centre of their last album, the Grammy Award-winning masterpiece Random Access Memories, Giorgio by Moroder is pretty much a sonic biography of their music idol, German dance music pioneer Giorgio Moroder.

Fusing spoken word narrative, provided by the man himself about his early years and forging his sound, with matching dramatic and barrelling analogue synth riffs, Daft Punk conjure the energy Moroder’s pioneering quest and in turn, lay down their case as legends in their own right.

While you're here

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Director: Joyce Bernal

Starring: Sarah Geronimo, James Reid, Xian Lim, Nova Villa

3/5

(Tagalog with Eng/Ar subtitles)

THE LIGHT

Director: Tom Tykwer

Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger

Rating: 3/5

'The Ice Road'

Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Stars: Liam Neeson, Amber Midthunder, Laurence Fishburne

2/5

The specs

Engine: four-litre V6 and 3.5-litre V6 twin-turbo

Transmission: six-speed and 10-speed

Power: 271 and 409 horsepower

Torque: 385 and 650Nm

Price: from Dh229,900 to Dh355,000

Francesco Totti's bio

Born September 27, 1976

Position Attacking midifelder

Clubs played for (1) - Roma

Total seasons 24

First season 1992/93

Last season 2016/17

Appearances 786

Goals 307

Titles (5) - Serie A 1; Italian Cup 2; Italian Supercup 2

TEST SQUADS

Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.

Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.

Series info

Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday

ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23

T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29

Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com

Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.

Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.

Results

6.30pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (Dirt) 1,200m

Winner: Barack Beach, Richard Mullen (jockey), Satish Seemar (trainer).

7.05pm: Handicap Dh170,000 (D) 1,200m

Winner: Way Of Wisdom, Connor Beasley, Satish Seemar.

7.40pm: Maiden Dh165,000 (D) 1,900m

Winner: Woodditton, Connor Beasley, Ahmad bin Harmash.

8.15pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 2,000m

Winner: Secret Trade, Sandro Paiva, Ali Rashid Al Raihe.

8.50pm: Handicap Dh185,000 (D) 1,600m

Winner: Mark Of Approval, Antonio Fresu, Mahmood Hussain.

9.25pm: Handicap Dh165,000 (D) 2,000m

Winner: Tradesman, Pat Dobbs, Doug Watson.