Ben Leschensky
Reporter
It’s the end of an era. On Feb. 22, the French-based electronic music pair Daft Punk announced the end of their musical journey in a YouTube video titled “Epilogue.” The video was emblematic of the duo’s soft-spoken medida presence throughout their career. The video had no spoken words and showed the two men, dressed in their iconic robot helmets and suits, cryptically walking away from each other as a sign of their disbandment. Their song Touch played in the background – the lyrics, “Hold on, if love is the answer, you’re home.”
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are the men behind the masks. The Paris-based musicians formed Daft Punk in 1993 after their previous band Darlin’ failed to take off on the rock n’ roll stage. A critic called one of their Darlin’ sets “a daft punky thrash,” hence the inspiration for the name Daft Punk in their rebooted electronic career.
The duo are credited as being one of the most influential electronic and dance music groups in history, and their music continues to have an impact on the industry. Hit singles One More Time, Da Funk, Around the World, and Get Lucky all were incredibly popular when they were released, with Get Lucky winning a Grammy for Record of the Year in 2014. Random Access Memories – the 2013 album that “Get Lucky” is on – won Album of the Year that same year. As it turns out, Random Access Memories was their last studio album, although the musicians partnered with other artists like The Weeknd up until their recent split.
Daft Punk made more than just dance music during their time together. Disney film Tron: Legacy (2010) features their music – a blend of the electronic synths that made them famous and sweeping orchestral pieces. The combination of the two music types fit the movie’s video-game drama aesthetic perfectly, and was one of the film’s high points. The two men made an appearance during a club scene in the film; their futuristic helmets fitting in with the dystopian computer-generated world as they played electronic hit Derezzed.
Author’s Note:
As a longtime fan of Daft Punk, I’m sad to see the band end their musical tenure, but am grateful for all the great music they put out over the years. I have many fond memories of their music, including listening to Doin’ it Right from their Random Access Memories album on repeat during cross country practices and the Tron: Legacy soundtrack while studying. I don’t expect I’ll stop listening to their music anytime soon.
For anyone who hasn’t jammed to Daft Punk before, here’s my top ten songs to check out:
- “Giorgio by Moroder” (Random Access Memories)
- “Touch” (feat. Paul Williams) (Random Access Memories)
- “Encom, Pt. II” (Tron: Legacy Soundtrack)
- “Get Lucky” (Random Access Memories)
- “One More Time” (Discovery)
- “Digital Love” (Discovery)
- “Derezzed” (Tron: Legacy Soundtrack)
- “I Feel It Coming” by The Weeknd (Daft Punk wrote the song)
- “Give Life Back to Music” (Random Access Memories)
- “The Son of Flynn” (Tron: Legacy Soundtrack)
