Daft Punk - the future of music?

[Ian Thumwood]

I meant to post this earlier but I caught about 40 minutes of a recent documentary on BBC 4 regarding the French duo "Daft Punk." This combination is one that I am constantly reading about and my curiosity was sufficient to watch the programme. It was fascinating but more for the issues they seemed to raise, some of which I think are quite problematic.

The whole Techno thing is, in my opening, probably the most negative developments in music. Essentially, really simple music made by non-musicians but it's pernicious influence is incredible and I think it has effectively driven a wedge between what might be considered to be "cutting edge" ( to use Jez's favourite phrase) insofar that this music is now being seen as at the front of where jazz might be going by some whereas the traditional "avant garde" has either been left in it's wake or seems like the last bastion of originality, depending upon your viewpoint. It is amazing, for example, how a musician like Donny McCaslin appears to have been taken in by this.

What is interesting is that Daft Punk represent a move towards the ide of music being produced in bedrooms as opposed to in studios with musicians. They have also done this by rejecting a the cult of personality by donning helmets and eschewing the kind of marketing regimes to promote records that was the norm. If you like, it is maximum income for minimum outlay. I was fascinated by the documentary but hugely depressed by the resultant music which is devoid of soul, sophistication and real interest. That's said, I can see that Daft Punk represent a fantastic business model even thought the aural results are more pollution than music. The results were hugely depressing and not worthy of the kind of status they enjoy. surprised to see Nile Rodgers involved with them but what do I know? Wondered if anyone else had an opinion.

[Beef Oven!]

I meant to post this earlier but I caught about 40 minutes of a recent documentary on BBC 4 regarding the French duo "Daft Punk." This combination is one that I am constantly reading about and my curiosity was sufficient to watch the programme. It was fascinating but more for the issues they seemed to raise, some of which I think are quite problematic.

The whole Techno thing is, in my opening, probably the most negative developments in music. Essentially, really simple music made by non-musicians but it's pernicious influence is incredible and I think it has effectively driven a wedge between what might be considered to be "cutting edge" ( to use Jez's favourite phrase) insofar that this music is now being seen as at the front of where jazz might be going by some whereas the traditional "avant garde" has either been left in it's wake or seems like the last bastion of originality, depending upon your viewpoint. It is amazing, for example, how a musician like Donny McCaslin appears to have been taken in by this.

What is interesting is that Daft Punk represent a move towards the ide of music being produced in bedrooms as opposed to in studios with musicians. They have also done this by rejecting a the cult of personality by donning helmets and eschewing the kind of marketing regimes to promote records that was the norm. If you like, it is maximum income for minimum outlay. I was fascinated by the documentary but hugely depressed by the resultant music which is devoid of soul, sophistication and real interest. That's said, I can see that Daft Punk represent a fantastic business model even thought the aural results are more pollution than music. The results were hugely depressing and not worthy of the kind of status they enjoy. surprised to see Nile Rodgers involved with them but what do I know? Wondered if anyone else had an opinion.

Ian, thanks for flagging this up, I'm quite keen on Daft Punk.

Perhaps it's just not your thing, no need to be amazed or surprised about Donny McClaskin and Nile Rogers. They certainly haven't been "taken in" by anything - maybe t's just that you just don't like this stuff.

It might help if you avoided thinking about value judgements as if they were facts "...music which is devoid of soul, sophistication and real interest.... even though aural results are more pollution than music..." you might understand it better.

You might like this Daft Punk number, a little more.........

[Ian Thumwood]

Beef

I was hugely disappointed in the music on the programme. It would be good to find "something" in contemporary pop music and I thought that Daft Punk might have actually been sufficiently "outside" to merit a listen. All in all, the hype I had read about them didn't seem justified and whilst I was prepared to not like the results that much, I was a bit shocked a just how limited the music seemed. McCaslin's efforts in this field are a huge disappointment - small wonder that I am increasingly drawn to the more orthodox approaches to the "avant garde."

Felt like I was overdue for a controversial thread !!

[Beef Oven!]

Beef

I was hugely disappointed in the music on the programme. It would be good to find "something" in contemporary pop music and I thought that Daft Punk might have actually been sufficiently "outside" to merit a listen. All in all, the hype I had read about them didn't seem justified and whilst I was prepared to not like the results that much, I was a bit shocked a just how limited the music seemed. McCaslin's efforts in this field are a huge disappointment - small wonder that I am increasingly drawn to the more orthodox approaches to the "avant garde."

Felt like I was overdue for a controversial thread !!

In what way is the music 'limited'? I'm interested in your answer.

Btw, I edited my previous response with a vid that might be more your cuppa.......

[Beef Oven!]

[MrGongGong]

The whole Techno thing is, in my opening, probably the most negative developments in music. Essentially, really simple music made by non-musicians but it's pernicious influence is incredible

Utter nonsense i'm afraid (putting it politely) I think the same about "Jazz Singing" BUT I wouldn't suggest that my biased opinion is any more significant than what colour socks you are wearing today.

What is interesting is that Daft Punk represent a move towards the ide of music being produced in bedrooms as opposed to in studios with musicians. They have also done this by rejecting a the cult of personality by donning helmets and eschewing the kind of marketing regimes to promote records that was the norm. If you like, it is maximum income for minimum outlay. I was fascinated by the documentary but hugely depressed by the resultant music which is devoid of soul, sophistication and real interest. That's said, I can see that Daft Punk represent a fantastic business model even thought the aural results are more pollution than music. The results were hugely depressing and not worthy of the kind of status they enjoy. surprised to see Nile Rodgers involved with them but what do I know? Wondered if anyone else had an opinion.

"It might help if you avoided thinking about value judgements as if they were facts"

Why not listen and learn a bit about others working in areas of music you know little about?

And in answer to your question
"but what do I know?"

Not much matey

"I am increasingly drawn to the more orthodox approaches to the "avant garde." "

Erm isn't that a "tautology" ?

[MrGongGong]

try this

[jayne lee wilson]

I tend to watch BBC4 Rockumentaries in a bit of a post-dinner winehaze, which usually helps me get involved... but all too often I glaze over even more as the hagiography builds up...
...I was never a great fan of D-P even when I listened to Rock and Pop more habitually, tend to find their obsessive use of auto-tune/vocoder a bit tedious... and the robot-image, the (rapidly-dated) Gorillaz-style scifi cartoon vids, all seem to dominate the whole production as a media package over the music....and yes - maybe the sounds don't have the breadth & depth to take scrutiny, even the usual sort of not-worthy-not-worthy-oh-wow-love-to-work-with like this.

(Try a trawl through Discovery on youtube perhaps, saturate yourself for a while...? I find it hard to get to the end...)

As music, much better to dance to (in a crowd, and in more than just a wine haze...) than anything else, I didn't get much out of the music itself in this docu-context. And sure, it must have been a great night at Coachella etc., but watching other people telling you that.... not so much.
It seems a bit daft just sitting listening to this kind of thing anyway - but it didn't get me out of my chair, and who am I going to dance with - the cat?

(I still recall the BBC4 Jeff Lynne film with affection - lovely man and memorable music....)

[Beef Oven!]

try this

I've moved on to Supercodex.

[MrGongGong]

I've moved on to Supercodex.

Yes but this is one of the most +/- developments

[Serial_Apologist]

I always liked what Squarepusher was doing with his samples and Jaco-styled bedroom bass guitar. God, was it 20 years ago?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CZhfG7tRQo

Derek Bailey got missed out of last week's discussion here about jazz guitarists, probably because most in my community on here would agree with him that he wasn't one, but the stuff with Ninj was amazing - 20 years ago again! - here it is/was:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUgcKnwnTTE

I'd always thought of plinky-plong in association with Derek before this, forgetting some of the stuff with the Music Improvisation Company around '69-70 - almost alternative Hendrix.

The main think about drum'n'bass for me was that it extended the complexity of funk drumming by way of computer mathematics, and it was only when live bands and live drummers started "humanising" it by adopting the rhythmic patterns and fitting them in with spontaneous improv that it became interesting. Maybe from a jazz pov it held forth limited possibilities, though people like Pat Thomas have drum'n'bass samples in the keyboards they have themselves programmed.

I started looking into this kind of stuff 20 years ago when Mixing It was presenting it, then I kind of got diverted.

[Richard Barrett]

Of course there is no single "future of music". Ian yet again presents his prejudices as if they were facts, but that's been covered. What I wonder is how it can be reckoned that young people with no musical training making stuff in their bedrooms with (often) such a sophisticated sense of hearing and such preconception-free imagination is somehow a "bad thing". People said very much the same things about jazz back in the day.

[MrGongGong]

Of course there is no single "future of music". Ian yet again presents his prejudices as if they were facts, but that's been covered. What I wonder is how it can be reckoned that young people with no musical training making stuff in their bedrooms with (often) such a sophisticated sense of hearing and such preconception-free imagination is somehow a "bad thing". People said very much the same things about jazz back in the day.

One of the wonderful things about the spread of these technologies is that the creation of electronic musics has started to move away from the domain of big studios, rich rockstars and Universities to a more diverse (and often unencumbered by tradition or genre) group of creators.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

One of the wonderful things about the spread of these technologies is that the creation of electronic musics has started to move away from the domain of big studios, rich rockstars and Universities to a more diverse (and often unencumbered by tradition or genre) group of creators.

- one of the things about considering "futures" is to remember that, whilst we might know (like/dislike) what the origins sound like, there's no way of predicting what this will turn into (other than, perhaps, the prediction that it won't sound identical - and possibly not even similar - to what we hear now).

[Beef Oven!]

One of the wonderful things about the spread of these technologies is that the creation of electronic musics has started to move away from the domain of big studios, rich rockstars and Universities to a more diverse (and often unencumbered by tradition or genre) group of creators.

Like the Cabaret Voltaire and Throbbing Gristle?