Daft Punk's "Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" remix is a Proper Chune
In the week since the duo bid adieu, I’ve decided their best album is not Homework or even Discovery – it’s Alive 2007
VANCOUVER – What makes a human human?
For the better part of three decades, that question functioned as the source code for popular French export Daft Punk, the dance music duo who, last week, announced their retirement via the short film, Epilogue. The clip, originally featured in the pair’s 2006 movie Electroma, shows the silver Robot asking the gold one to initiate his self-destruct sequence. The gold one obliges, leaving the silver one to detonate in hyper-stylized slow-motion. Like so many things Daft Punk, the scene is a surreal and cinematic exploration of quintessential human themes. Life and death, love and sacrifice, courage and perseverance. It’s also a reminder that even on the morning of their destruction, Daft Punk’s destiny was determined solely by Daft Punk.
While I could never claim to be the duo’s biggest fan, their impact on dance music, and pop culture is undeniable. Like the iPhone or Elon Musk, the Robots (AKA Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) frequently bridged the gap between geek and chic, for better or worse inspiring a generation of DJs – including dubstep mainstays Skrillex and deadmau5 – in the process. But while the aggressive WUB-WUB of their progenies often felt ripped from a Transformers fight scene, Daft Punk’s production seemed borne of two kinder, more enlightened beings.
Their singles alone showcase an incredible range or versatility. House (“Around the World”), disco (“One More Time”), rock (“Aerodynamic”), funk (“Da Funk”) – all downloaded, deconstructed, and rebuilt with a robotic precision. But while their albums explored humanity through the eyes of a machine, Daft Punk’s music never feels cold or listless. In fact, at their best, the duos songs feel warm and lived in, capable of processing and even producing complex human emotions.
That ability – to find the human spark hidden in wires and screens – feels depressingly relevant in the context of a global pandemic that has suspended, or even shattered, so many social structures. This longing for human connection has played out differently for everybody. But for me, and my group chats, it’s meant fantasizing about going to the clubs. Prior to the panoramic, nightlife had all but lost its appeal. I saw it as an expensive, annoying money grab that none of my friends would enjoy. Now, though, all I want is to feel the bass and drums reverberating through my teeth and into the deepest creases of my brain. I feel the heat of the crowd, and the shared anticipation of live music. I picture my friends dancing and singing to a soundtrack like Daft Punk.
In the week since the duo bid adieu, I’ve come to decide that, despite popular opinion, Daft Punk’s best album is not Homework nor Discovery, but Alive 2007. A document from their famous pyramid tour, which saw the pair playing arenas and festivals following a now legendary performance at Coachella, the record finds the Robots re-imagining their work in a live context. Like every Daft Punk album, Alive has its low points. But its highs are arguably the highest of their whole career.
Case in point: “Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” in which the pair fuse two of their most popular tracks into something practically radioactive. While I’m always skeptical of audience noise on live albums, the energy at Palais omnisports de Paris-Bercy is palpable, especially if you’re listening on good headphones or in a quiet room. To me, this clarifies any question around Daft Punk’s appeal. Their work can, at times, be cheesy – but the joy it creates is something that should be celebrated.
While every person reading this knows what it feels like to be human, it occurs to me that humanity is largely an exercise in classification. To be human is to be aware of all the other things that are expressly not human. This mindset has allowed us to flourish in a harsh and disorganized environment, but it’s also proven to be a perpetual weakness – one that alienates us from both our environment and other humans. By adopting their android exteriors, Daft Punk gave their audience an opportunity to see life on this blue marble for what it is, and for what it could be. “Creating those robot personas let them stay human,” said Les Inrockuptibles Jean-Daniel Beauvallet, in the 2006 documentary Daft Punk Unchained.
“They let the robots do the dirty work.”