Hi-Fi Sci-Fi: Five Favorite Daft Punk Moments
Formed in 1993, Daft Punk consists of the French duo, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who have continued to don dapper futuristic personas, shielding their faces from the public by wearing gleaming robot-inspired helmets. In one sense, this allows a focus toward the sci-fi sound of their music, while, in turn, it works as an inventive marketing strategy that balances professional familiarity with personal anonymity.
“Around the World,” from their 1997 debut album, Homework, celebrates the cyclical, from the song title itself (the track’s only lyrics on a synthesized loop) to its therefore mostly instrumental, intentionally repetitive retro-funk sound. Even its video embraced spherical visuals: dancers, assigned to designated riffs, beats and blips, moving on a concentric circular stage, plus there’s colorful backdrop of porthole lighting. Daft Punk made going around in circles more desirable than dizzying:
Four years later, they released, Discovery, which featured the fitting “One More Time”; “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” which would later be heavily sampled by Kanye West on his 2007 track, “Stronger”; and “Digital Love.” Remember this commercial for the GAP, with the actress and singer, Juliette Lewis? (The jeans—and the video quality itself—are shall we say, vintage.)
From Madison Avenue to the movies: In 2010, they created the 24-track score for the film, Tron: Legacy, creating a mood to match the gloom-and-doom world that exists inside a cutthroat video game, with “Recognizer” starting out as intensely ominous, then suddenly becoming one of the most hauntingly beautiful tracks:
On 2013’s electro-disco, Random Access Memories, it was filled with inspired collaborations, most notably with Pharrell Williams and Chic’s Nile Rodgers on “Get Lucky” and “Lose Yourself to Dance.” In 2014, the album won the GRAMMY for Album of the Year:
And finally, their work on the 2016 album, Starboy by The Weeknd, in particular on the synth-R&B title track, and on the sexy, soulful bop of a ballad, “I Feel It Coming.” The bass riff that rolls in before the second verse is something for which to wait:
Will there be more good things from Daft Punk in the future, that sound like the future? I feel that coming too.
The Best of the Worst: Plan 9 From Outer Space
Plan 9 from Outer Space, starring Bela Lugosi, is the 1959 campiest-of-campy “spooky” movie about snippy, snarky extraterrestrials resurrecting the dead on Earth. Who they couldn’t resurrect: Lugosi himself, who had died three years earlier. The director, Ed Wood used footage of Lugosi from another project they worked on earlier together, The Vampire’s Tomb, and a Lugosi lookalike (sort of) when needed.
Que Bela!
Lugosi in brighter days, ironically: 1931’s Dracula.
Universal Pictures. Cinematographer: Karl Freund.
Tor Johnson and Vampira co-star as slow-moving zombies (28 Days Later or World War Z this is not) and needless to say spend most the movie just walking around aimlessly. It’s good ‘50s fun, and if one is looking to veg out on possibly the best worst movie ever made, this very well could be it. Alien divas and ray guns; hollow graves and hollow acting… sounds like a plan.
For “Star Wars Day,” Keep Your Ion This Scene
To honor Star Wars day (May the Fourth… be with you), here is one of the best scenes from Episode Five: The Empire Strikes Back. It’s unlikely, but in case you’re not familiar: After the Empire discovers the whereabouts of the rebel base on the ice planet of Hoth, rebel leader, Princess Leia orders alliance members to board transport shuttles in order to evacuate the base. The surface-to-space ion cannon has been set to fire upon the approaching imperial cruisers, allowing the transports to get past the distracted blockade.
Whether you fly your “nerd flag” high or not, keep your ion this scene, which works wonderfully for many reasons:
Its use of ominous orchestral music, followed quickly by the quiet tension in the base, moments before the ion cannon is fired;
The propulsive force of the cannon firing is a stellar example of Star Wars’ effective use of sound in film;
The shift to triumphant orchestral music, reminiscent of ones used in swashbuckler films of the 1940s, starring Errol Flynn;
The celebratory “Hooray!” from the rebel pilots after they learn “the first transport is away,” with Luke Skywalker once again taking on the hero role, the “every man,” leading a band of intergalactic misfits to stop the imperial ground attack;
Lastly, it celebrates a common Star Wars theme: the proverbial David outsmarting Goliath, in order to live (and fight) another day. (Goliath, not just in the form of the Empire, but in the next scene, Luke, piloting his snow speeder, takes down a towering AT-AT walker by wrapping a cable, his slingshot if you will, around its legs, sending it crashing into the snow.)
Space Jam: Jack White’s “Connected by Love”
The musician, Jack White recently released the powerful single and video for “Connected by Love.” Haunting synth evokes a sci-fi Kubrick film, or a Blade Runner score that would make Vangelis proud. Quick to follow are hints of the Stones in the ‘60s: the gospel feel of “You Can’t Always Get What You Want”; soulful backing vocals reminiscent of Merry Clayton’s on “Sympathy for the Devil.” The experimental sound of the ’70s courses through too (passionate rock-opera-inspired vocals by Mercury and Daltrey come to mind). As already noted, “Connected” feels sci-fi cinematic; its accompanying video similar in part to the 2011 Lars Von Trier film, Melancholia, about the complex relationship between two sisters, as a planet sets out on a collision course with Earth.
With White threading together various musical styles, he blends the past with the present, and the (futuristic) video highlighting the unconditional bond between parents and children from all walks of life, while White’s character sits alone in a hotel room with his regrets (”What have I done?/I have pushed away everyone”), the importance of connection, plays a starring role.
Zoot Suits: Kylie Minogue Fits Well on Zoot Woman Track
“Still Feels Like the First Time” from the band, Zoot Woman is another prime example of meditative pop. The band, consisting of Johnny Blake, Adam Blake, and Stuart Price (mega-producer of Madonna’s near-perfect Confessions on a Dance Floor and Kylie Minogue’s fierce and mighty Aphrodite), has been known to embrace a synthpop sound, and “Still Feels Like…” is a three-minute escape to the sci-fi future. With Kylie on guest vocals, with some affected intentionally to create a robotic distortion, the duet is gorgeous and gentle; lovely, light and airy, full of heavenly harmonies.
Kubrick in Color
This montage highlights some of the director, Stanley Kubrick’s boldest, most iconic movie shots, color by color. Needless to say, it’s an absolutely brilliant look at his distinctive style and his fearless use of hue as visual cue, for example, to convey emotional tone or plot foreshadowing.