It’s a big day for a lot of dance music fans…
A day that’s been tentatively salivated about since the first teases trickled out from Nile Rodgers’ blog last summer.
A day that’s been so heavily PR’d since January, the album really ought to come with a free bar of gold if it’s going to live up to the industrial strength hype.
Daft Punk: An act so universally loved and massively influential that even in our D&B bubble we’ve been affected by the recent hype. Leaked last week, now officially available, their HUGELY anticipated album Random Access Memories has generated more online opinion than any general election, FA Cup final and Lady Gaga outfit put together. So here’s our tuppence worth:
NEEDS MORE D&B!
Not just Random Access Memories but we reckon the whole Daft Punk back catalogue could do with some 170BPM beef. In fact, as far as we can tell, they’ve never commissioned an official D&B remix.
So we’ve done some digging and unearthed the very best Daft Punk drum & bass overhauls. Seven to be precise. From household names to young pretenders who’ve bagged their first cracked copy of FL Studio, there are heaps of remakes out there. Some are pretty stunning. Others, less so…
So sit back, enjoy the best of the massively unofficial Daft Punk D&B crop and imagine what life would be like if they’d invited Dillinja or Ed Rush & Optical to the studio to co-lab on Random Access Memories instead of Nile Rodgers.
BUT BEFORE YOU DO… Don’t forget there are other albums out this week. Equally, if not more, massive albums in our opinion. Here are three of the best:
Get Lucky – TC Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2StNnpz1ItA
Kicking off with the freshest re-rub going courtesy of TC. Warning: contains traces of Zane Lowe.
One More Time – Cyantific Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8m5qbJtA7SA
Who can deny One More Time’s massive disco hook? In a word: rampant.
Something About Us – 95 Royale Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNAA3Wojf7A
Largely recognised as one of Daft Punk’s most beautiful, touching moments, 95 Royale have upped the tempo while maintaining most of the soul. Nice work.
Harder Better Faster Stronger – Drumsound & Bassline Smith Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7W2ydRwUNiM
An epic overhaul from the unstoppable Drumsound & Bassline Smith. This lives up to its name in every way. Just listen to those weighty kickdrums on the drop!
Aerodynamic – Specimen A and James D’Ley Re-fix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uUYm3rq7i6A
Drumstep alert! Air guitar alert! Banger alert!
Derrezed – Outsource Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFGMrUp6KMU
Taken from their Tron OST, what starts off as an electro number soon turns into a dramatically dark roller.
Harder Better Faster Stronger – Dexcell Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKm0qxzk8dM
Dexcell seem to run a fine line in bootlegs. This is one of their earliest. Funkier than Drumsound & Bassline Smith’s. But nowhere near as heavy.
One More Time – Stare Remix
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9cCWZXqfuo
A popular Daft Punk tune in bootleg land, Stare stretches out the groove for a seven-plus minute adventure of unashamed D&B fun.