Random Access Memories – Daft Punk ★★★★

Year	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
2013	Random Access Memories	Daft Punk	★★★★	86	Electronic	Dance-Pop	Disco

I remember listening to Random Access Memories the night it came out in 2013 and being blown away. One of the most acclaimed electronic groups of all time — in putting out one of the most anticipated electronic albums of all time — decided to rely more heavily on real instruments (or at least high-quality digital instruments), real vocals, and loops of pianos and strings.  

The album starts with an explosion of vibrant sound — pianos, electric guitars, swelling keyboards and building drums — that transitions into a funky Nile Rodgers guitar riff that’s played over a flawless bass line and chiming keyboard. The synthesized vocals singing “Let the music in tonight, just turn on the music, Let the music of your life, give life back to music,” works as a perfect thesis statement  for the entire album. 

“Georgio by Moroder” is a clinic in how to construct a song, how to add in layers and create different variations on the same theme. What starts off seeming like a goofy little interlude with Giovanni Giorgio Moroder telling a story switches to a simple little electronic disco theme. Then they add in soft pulsing electric organs and some jazzy keyboard notes. Then the theme returns in dueling octaves, then with an added bass line, and then a guitar before the beat switches to more of a dance construction. The song transitions to an orchestral section, a section with DJ scratches and a heavy, funky base, and then a classic rock section where the scratches are replaced by a drum kit and the stings are replaced by guitar, before it’s all finally brought back together at the very end. 

“Within” is a somber piano ballad. “Instant Crush” is a sad indie track that’s carried by Julian Casablancas. Pharrell and Nile Rodgers’ contributions on “Lose Yourself to Dance” and  “Get Lucky” bring some soul, some funk and some heart to the record. Panda Bear’s hypnotic “Doin’ it Right” is repetitive, but warm and lovely. The upbeat “Fragments of Time”  is probably the closest you’ll get to Discovery here, with its  friendly vocals that remind me of “Face to Face” or “Too Long.”  And “Touch” — with its bouncy piano, swelling violins, joyous trumpets and clarinets, and theatrical vocals — feels as if a Broadway show tune was hidden into the middle of the record. 

Is it a perfect record? No. “Beyond,” “Motherboard” and “The Game of Love” fall flat compared to the other highs on the album, and for all the lush production on some songs, others are a little sparse and lose some steam. And, like with all Daft Punk records, the lyrics and vocal performances are intentionally a little corny or over the top (half their albums are sung by two robots after all).  But every track reflects on people’s relationships with music and each other, creating one of the most human albums of the 2010s.