Dissecting Daft Punk, Lorde’s Grammy-winning formula

AUDIO JUNKIE

“Random Access Memories” – Daft Punk

“Royals” – Lorde

Daft Punk (AP)

Taking home the coveted Album and Record Of The Year plum at the recently concluded 57th Grammy Awards, the French electronic dance music duo Daft Punk – DJ-musicians Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter – are already legends in the house and electonica scene, having been making musical noise since the late ’90s.

This isn’t the first Grammy win for Daft Punk, but it is certainly the biggest citation they have received so far. So what’s their secret? The Vision. Since the beginning, they’ve already been making the best groove-filled dance tunes since 1997. Practice makes perfect and their album “Random Access Memories” is just one in a long line of excellent sets.

Picking out the right personnel. As a leading act in their genre, you’d think that Daft Punk would already be a self-contained unit with no need of outside help. The “robots” sought out singer-songwriter Pharell Williams and legendary funk guitarist Nile Rodgers for “Get Lucky” for winning collaborations.

Their songcraft. From the vocodex-effected vocals of cool sounding “Instant Crush,” featuring The Strokes singer Julian Casablancas, to the equally funky and bluesy “Lose Yourself To Dance,” to the throwback sounds of “Fragments Of Time,” and the ’70s swing hued “Touch,” Daft Punk certainly knows how to craft melodic hooks.

The willingness to experiment, like in the dance instrumental “Motherboard,” and the mind-blowing “Giorgio By Moroder,” featuring (who else?) Giorgio Moroder. Daft Punk’s album is not just dance, funk, pop, it’s anything and everything.

And finally, the whole act. Anybody else in music going about dressed as robots? Yeah, we though so, too.

Lorde (AP)

Meanwhile, New Zealand native and 17-year old singer-songwriter Lorde likewise conquered Grammy night by bagging the Best New Artist and Song Of The Year plum for her whirlwind hit “Royals.” I personally thought that Song of the year should’ve gone to Pink’s “Just Give Me A Reason” which was hot all year round, as opposed to “Royals,” which came late last year. But then again, Lorde exhibits a fully-realized musicality and style unlike anyone of her age. More, she has the vision, the perfect song, the right creative support, the looks, which is to say, she has her act laid down.

Now that’s a music formula worth emulating.

Dissecting Daft Punk, Lorde’s Grammy-winning formula

Source: Mb.com.ph (January 30, 2014 at 10:40PM)

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