DISCOVERY
Daft Punk
(Virgin/EMI)
Don't think Discovery. Think Disco. Very. This long-awaited followup to Parisian progressive dance outfit Daft Punk's smash debut Homework lives up to its sly title in a myriad of appropriately sly ways.
The faceless duo of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo -- they seldom appear without masks or makeup -- obviously did their homework on the origins of '70s dance-floor culture. Unlike the neo-electronica of past hits like Da Funk, cuts like One More Time and Digital Love hustle you back to the days of Studio 54 with their four-on-the-floor platform-stomping beats, synthesized Mr. Roboto vocals, squirty Moog solos and sweeping, I-will-survive-to-dance-the-night-away aesthetic.
A few songs even start with old disco loops to set the tone before the Punks kick things up a notch with their knob-twiddling production and free-wheeling antics.
Like a lot of parties, it gets dull after a while -- later instrumentals like the spacey Voyageur and the Herbie Hancockish Short Circuit feel like filler, and the 10-minute Too Long is aptly named.
Be on time and leave early. (More on Daft Punk)
Track Listing
1. One More Time
2. Aerodynamic
3. Digital Love
4. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
5. Crescendolls
6. Night Vision
7. Superheroes
8. High Life
9. Something About Us
10. Voyager
11. Veridis Quo
12. Short Circuit
13. Face To Face
14. Too Long