Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Paris, France's own Daft Punk make their long awaited return with their highly anticipated, brand new studio album titled Random Access Memories. Their first proper studio album since 2005's Human After All finds the French electronic wizards paying homage to the late 70's and early 80's burgeoning music scene emanating largely from the Los Angeles area, and the duo do a masterful job of ensuring the sound of their music reaches a rabid audience who has been clamoring for new music from them for some time now, and the result is one of their best and most cohesive studio albums of their career so far.

We open things up with "Give Life Back to Music", a sensational and relaxing track that brings in Daft Punk's trademark electro tinged rhythms that run the gamut throughout the whole track, and kicks things off on a stratospheric level with top notch guitar rhythms finding their way into the track, and setting the bar pretty high on a groove laden opus heard here. "The Game of Love" is a mysterious, downtempo number that sees the duo venturing out into other areas with a sleek, soulful edge to this one that is almost romantic in nature, and makes for perfect love making music. "Within" starts off with an intricate, piano based melody that has light synthesized melodies that immediately put you in the mood right away and gives you an immediate shot of relaxation and comfort. "Instant Crush" features a guest appearance from The Strokes' Julian Casablancas, and he fits in comfortably with his voice hiding behind synthesizers that will put a smile on your face, and be glad that you're in the presence of such talented and eclectic musicians. Pharrell Williams of The Neptunes and N.E.R.D. fame makes the first of two guest appearances on "Lose Yourself to Dance" a high energy, intensely focused synth rock jam that immediately gets you out on the dance floor and ready to rock the night away with one of the most indelible jams on the disc so far.

The second half of the album gets into gear with my favorite track off the album, "Get Lucky" featuring the return of Pharrell who lays down an exquisite vocal appearance on a immensely melodic tune that never lets up from the moment it begins, and it will leave you in a constant state of motion and dancing until your feet fall off, an unbelievable track that begs to be heard again and again with each passing moment. "Motherboard" starts to get ready to close out the album, with downtempo beats and a calm, feathery feel with ambient instrumentation running through the mid drifts and allowing you to feel the full wave of music that has been coming at you steady for some time now. The disc begins to conclude on "Doin' it Right" featuring the stylings of Panda Bear on a dreamy, synth-laden quest that puts everything together in a musical blender, and concocts a frothy mixture that brings together all the musical elements we've heard together in one way or another, and offers up a terrific way to close everything out much like the same way it began. "Contact" ends it all here on a futuristic, high energy, pulsating track that puts it all into overdrive here as we zoom towards the finish line, putting it all out there for everyone to see and take notice of as everything wraps up here. I've only listened to Daft Punk in spurts here and there, but the first time I listened to them was way back in 2001 with "One More Time", and it was probably one of the most infectious dance tracks I've heard in quite awhile, and their album "Discovery" that came out around that time totally defined the EDM genre that seems to be permeating the scene with great fanfare these days. This new effort is on par with that aforementioned album, and is another groundbreaking effort for the duo.

Overall, an outstanding and highly creative effort from Daft Punk, who have crafted another sonic masterpiece that eloquently displays the band's highly infectious and unavoidable dance tracks that are primed for the dance floor, and ready to get you in that celebratory frame of mind. One of the top albums of the year in my opinion, buy this one right now!

                                                                                                                              Album Score: 4.5/5

Track Listing:

1. Give Life Back To Music
2. The Game of Love
3. Giorgio by Moroder
4. Within
5. Instant Crush (f/Julian Casablancas)
6. Lose Yourself to Dance (f/Pharrell Williams)
7. Touch
8. Get Lucky (f/Pharrell Williams)
9. Beyond
10. Motherboard
11. Fragments of Time
12. Doin' It Right (f/Panda Bear)
13. Contact