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Daft Punk Information
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'Daft Punk' is the collective name of Paris musicians Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo (born February 8, 1974) and Thomas Bangalter (born January 3, 1975). The duo have released five albums, thirteen singles and are considered one of the most successful electronic music collaborations of all time, both in album sales and in critical acclaim. The name Daft Punk was inspired by a review in the British music magazine Melody Maker, which dubbed their first collaboration, the Beach Boys-inspired guitar group Darlin', "a bunch of daft punk."
Notable recordings
Daft Punk's debut single "The New Wave" (Soma, 1993) was followed by their first commercially successful single "Da Funk" (1995). The album Homework (Virgin, 1997) was regarded as an innovative synthesis of techno, house, acid house and electro styles, and is widely acknowledged as one of the most influential dance music albums of the nineties. "Around The World" was the most successful single from Homework. "Homework" may be a reference to the album's focus: house music, although it more likely refers to the fact that the album was recorded in the duo's home studio.
2001's Discovery, with its more commercial, synth-pop-oriented style, disappointed some fans of Homework. Nevertheless, it sold very well, making second place on the UK charts, and its single "One More Time" was a major club hit, inciting a new generation of fans mainly familiar with the sophomore Daft Punk release. Some have interpreted the title of "Discovery" literally as "very disco", as much of the style of the album hearkens to the disco era. In an interview with Daft Punk in Remix Magazine Online, the group said that the album was conceived as an attempt to re-connect with a playful, open minded attitude associated with the discovery phase of childhood. This helps explain as well the heavy use of themes and samples from the late '70s to early '80s era on the album.
Use of visual components
Daft Punk are noted for their use of visual components associated with their musical productions. The music videos for their singles from Homework featured memorable characters and were directed by cult video producers, including Spike Jonze and Michel Gondry. The album Discovery subsequently became the soundtrack to the anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, which the group co-produced with Leiji Matsumoto. Many US fans were introduced to Daft Punk through a special presentation of their videos on Toonami which aired on Cartoon Network on August 31st, 2001.
The duo is notorious for donning custom-made robot masks by legendary special effects supervisor Tony Gardner for all publicity shots and interviews, stating, "...we are Daft Punk and we don't need to show our faces to get on a magazine cover or sell shitloads of records!" Very few photos of the faces of the duo exist.
Trivia
Thomas Bangalter had a major club hit with "Music Sounds Better With You" in 1998, collaborating with Alan Braxe and Benjamin Diamond under the name Stardust on his own Roulé-label. In 2002 he produced the motion picture soundtrack for Gaspar Noé's Irréversible. Bangalter teamed up to create Together with DJ Falcon, who subsequently released the club smash "So Much Love To Give".
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo operates his own music label, Crydamoure.
"Technologic", from the 2005 album Human After All was used by Apple Computer for its iPod commercial campaign. Along with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", the track is somewhat popular as background music for YTMNDs.
Discography
Albums
* Homework (1996) #150 US, #8 UK
* Discovery (2001) #44 US, #2 UK
* Alive 1997 (2001)
* Daft Club (Remix LP) (2003)
* Human After All (2005) #98 US, #10 UK
Singles
'From Homework:'
* "Da Funk"/"Musique" (1996) #7 UK, #31 Australia, #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
* "Around The World" (1997) #61 US, #5 UK, #11 Australia, #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
* "Burnin'" (1997) #30 UK
* "Revolution 909" (1997) #47 UK, #2 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
'From Discovery:'
* "One More Time" (2000) #61 US, #2 UK, #2 Canada, #10 Australia, #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play, #2 Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Single Sales, #27 Rhythmic Top 40, #33 Top 40 Mainstream, #32 Top 40 Tracks
* "Aerodynamic" (2001) #50 Australia
* "Digital Love"/"Aerodynamic" (2001) #14 UK, #9 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
* "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (2001) #25 UK, #3 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
* "Face to Face" (promo) (2001) #1 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
* "Something About Us" (Love Theme From Interstella 5555) (promo) (2004)
'From Human After All:'
* "Robot Rock" (2005) #32 UK, #30 Hot Dance Music/Club Play
* "Technologic" (2005) #40 UK
* "Human After All" (2005)
VHS/DVD
* D.A.F.T. - A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes (DVD/VHS, 1999)
* Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem (Movie, DVD, 2003)
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