Why "Random Access Memories" is a MASTERPIECE
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 22 มิ.ย. 2023
- Daft Punk’s “Random Access Memories” was released in 2013, and it 2021 they announced they they had disbanded - but listening through this album - it’s clear that, this was ALWAYS going to be their last album. While their 2001 album “Discovery” has a ton of samples, and comes to a head on the song “Face to Face” where they’re essentially playing like 8 different sampled as it’s own instrument - Random Access Memories mirrors that with Daft Punk sampling… humans.
I know that “Sampling Humans” sounds like a horror movie, but stick with me, we’re gonna unpack this ENTIRE album, all 14 tracks - YES 14! There’s a bonus track that you may not have heard - and see how this album is a masterpiece about love, music, humanity, robots, looking back on their career, and blasting off into new… Horizons.
Take a seat and relax, we’ve got a LOT to talk about. Let’s start from the top.
Stream the Spotify Listening Guide: open.spotify.com/playlist/4iW...
__________________________________
► JOIN THE DISCORD - / discord
► Follow me on Instagram: bit.ly/3KJmbG0
► Follow me on TikTok: bit.ly/3uJc12q
► BONUS CONTENT AVAILABLE AT www.diggingthegreats.com
__________________________________
SOURCES
www.npr.org/sections/allsongs...
www.rollingstone.com/music/mu...
Giorgio Moroder talking about the recording process: • Daft Punk wouldn't tel...
Omar Hakim Interview: • Drummer Omar Hakim: Ge...
www.billboard.com/music/music...
NME article: imgur.com/a/bjnDB
BBC Interview from this year: www.bbc.com/news/entertainmen...
anthemmagazine.com/the-work-of...
__________________________________
Topics Covered
Daft Punk
Random Access Memories
10th Anniversary
Breakdown
Analysis
Thomas Bangalter
Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
Nile Rogers
Omar Hakim
Pharrell Williams
Paul Williams
Todd Edwards
Panda Bear
Julian Casablancas
Giorgio Moroder
Nathan East
John Robinson
Samples
Sampling
Robot Music
Breakup
#daftpunk #randomaccessmemories #musichistory
I love Daft Punk
Same 🤖
Don't we all?
Did you guys notice how similar the beginning of *Give Life Back To Music* to Christopher Cross' *Ride Like The Wind* is?
Shut it
@@Asterkool2 you must not like daft punk
My man, THIS is what I come onto the internet for. Your content is grade A, wellll-researched, knowledgeable, humourous, and fantastic. Keep up the great work.
🙏🙏🙏
Same here. 1000%
*This* is the exact reason I wanted to fight the people who bullied me throughout school who said that there was "something wrong with me" if Daft Punk was my favorite artist. Everything they make goes SO much deeper than what the majority of people hear. I am a choir girl who was classically trained and will forever be a music nerd whose favorite genre is house music. Those two concepts seem completely opposite (human vs robot) but they actually make more sense together if you examine further (Daft Punk).
Also, it makes me feel better that they got their name from a "bully" music critic. They made something truly beautiful out of it
Yes - music is music 🔥
Well said. I'm proud that you stood up for yourself.
@@Ustaleonestill, it's annoying to have people giving their judgement as if they were superior.
Imagine being bullied for loving Daft Punk. What kind of fucked up country did you grow up in?
I thought everybody loved Daft Punk. Some people just don’t get it. RAM is a top ten album of all time for me
Bro this is criminal that you don’t have millions of subscribers, this content feels like it should be paid to watch
🙏🙏
He’s on his way. Let the man cook 🤷🏽♂️
Paid comments
Thanks for doing this and explaining WHY it’s a masterpiece. I feel like it’s so underrated EVEN though it won Grammys, it’s still underrated. It’s so conceptually deep yet accessible so I feel like people don’t get past the first layer.
They aren’t just playing you songs, they’re TELLING you a story through music. It’s sharing a journey
Exactly 🔥
I love this album so much, but I just wish we had one more record, it really took them 8 years to announce their breakup 😭😭
That came as an unexpected blow for sure
Indeed.
Discovery is on my unskippable album list for me but this is also a good listen
@@9theomo Discovery is my favorite album of all time
My biggest regret in life is that I never got to see Daft Punk live. *If* they ever do tour again, idc if the only show is on the damn moon, and I’m 80 years old I’m there.
00:54 - Give Life Back to Music
04:41 - The Game of Love
07:53 - Giorgio by Moroder
10:24 - Within
11:06 - Instant Crush
12:14 - Lose Yourself to Dance
13:02 - Touch
15:05 - Get Lucky
16:26 - Beyond
17:05 - Motherboard
17:43 - Fragments of Time
19:45 - Doin’ It Right
21:03 - Contact
22:35 - Horizon
He forgot pee is stored in the balls
You made me realize that I inadvertently play Daft Punk in all of my DJ sets. When you have tracks like One More Time, Voyager, Face to Face, Get Lucky, Lose Yourself to Dance, Robot Rock, and Around the world, It makes complete sense. All party jams. Amazing video!!
So many classics!
@diggingthegreats All of them. Thank you. This video is truly needed today.
Girl Talk agrees lol
@@DJAUDIO1let's goooo
If you're going to deconstruct albums, An Evening With Silk Sonic is musical reference heaven :)
🔥🔥
A lot of references to The Dramatics and The Stylistics.
YESSSSS
Absolutely
you're comparing shit to glitter.
I’m only 1 song in and you’re already changing the way I understand not only the album, but Daft Punk in general, way better than I used to.
This is why I keep singing your praises for making maybe the best music analysis/history/education channel on YT.
🙏🙏thank you, this means a lot
Right?!? I NEVER thought this album told a story like Discovery did!
Biggest Daft Punk fan here (and absolutely freaking love your channel, it is always gold).
Amazing take on that masterpiece! Very good references, soundtrack choice, and very knowledgeable input as usual.
A few more cool anecdotes:
1) Horizon (the Japanese Bonus Track), uses Machine Drums at first and then transitions into organic Drums in the middle of the track.
2) I've always felt like Contact was their spaceship launching (pretty obvious metaphor) and Horizon was them floating in space.
3) Giorgio Moroder, when seeing the 3 microphones from 3 different eras in the Studio, reportedly (from his own admission) asked the sound engineer: "Who the hell will hear the difference between the 3 microphones". The sound engineer answered: "Oh, nobody! But they will." ("They" being Daft Punk, obviously).
4) Pharell came up with the lyrics from Get Lucky's hook while tipsy/drunk: he was tired from the jet lag.
5) Human After All was made in a rush (a few weeks), based on the famous dystopian novel 1984 by George Orwell (Bangalter's words IIRC). It was meant to represent the fear of Technology (hence the purposeful rush in creating the album).
6) The people at NASA were reportedly super stoked to share samples with the Robots.
7/ The 1 million it cost to record RAM was self-financed by the band, so they had no obligation to release anything.
8/ They recorded the sound of a busy restaurant by placing microphones in front of the forks of a group of people and the effect of dripping water recorded on a soundstage.
9/ Give Life Back to Music is the first track for a reason:
When RAM was released, Bangalter and Guy-Man went on tour in French radios, explaining that they were tired of "Electronic Music consisting of remixes of remixes of remixes" and wanted to go back to something "more organic".
RAM is also a way to give organic material to sample for future generations of musicians: a way to pay it back.
10/ On that note, after RAM was released, Nicolas Jaar and Dave Harrington (the band DARKSIDE) recorded an entire Remix Album of RAM, under the name of Daft Side.
It's called "Random Access Memories Memories".
"Beyond" and "Give Life Back to Music" from them are two of my favorite all-time Daft Punk remixes:
Beyond is very Pink Floydish/trippy. An LSD trip under the milky way in the desert.
if "Pink Floyd and Daft Punk had a child", it's that song.
Give Life Back to Music is very experimental but hands-down the BEST EARGASM I've ever had.
I'd pay good money to live that first time again, but beware:
- You need to put on good headphones and close your eyes.
- Keep the volume as up as you can humanly handle.
- The first part is purposefully overly saturated.
It's normal, it's uncomfortable, it will be painful.
But you need that first part to enjoy the second.
- DON'T turn the volume down before the drop.
Go through these 2 minutes and 52 seconds of pain and discomfort.
It's worth it.
Trust me.
You'll thank me later:
th-cam.com/video/bgaCNGZ2wJA/w-d-xo.html
I honestly didn’t know about Daftside, thank you for this.🙏
@@troychipampe341 My pleasure! 😉
This is my favorite album ever, thanks so much for improving my enjoyment of it!
Thank you so much for the support 🙏
Man, you really know how to break down anything and everything. And it makes me want to go back and listen to anything you cover. Thanks for doing the research and giving us a music class we didn't know we wanted or needed.
Thank you 🙏 Definitely give this another listen through! Check the Spotify link in the description for a playlist of every song mentioned in this video in order
my god man, you have NO idea how long i've been waiting to see such a deep, accurate, and understanding video of this album to be made. i hope all fans of daft punk, new and old, get to experience this well thought out, and considerate masterclass of a video, as its some of the most insightful and entertaining takes on daft punk ive ever seen ♥
Yeah it really is great.,
Holy shit, I really underappreciated Random Access Memories back when I was in high school.
Few days ago, I rediscovered Daft Punk again and listened to their whole discography excluding Tron ones, and I really really adore them now. RAM for me was a bit weird since it includes a lot of "natural instruments" and "human voices" as you say, but when you say they're sampling humans, it just clicked.
And you took an 8/10 album for me into goddamn MASTERPIECE.
Did you give Tron a try? It's kinda cool :)
Aaaa you must listen to the tron ones! It's a different to their usual style but honestly it's their best imo! Really brings me back when I was a child haha
@@banarnya I will, eventually! I'm starting to collect their whole discography on vinyl records so I will listen to it
Tron soundtrack might be some of their best work
I thought they did an excellent job scoring Tron, but I never found the music all that enjoyable to listen to on its own.
This video demonstrates that this album is more than just really well recorded groovy funky and soulful music, but it's a journey of humanity and emotions, has a wonderful arc, and has a wonderful lesson in learning to just let go and be free and alive. The album and this analysis has touched me deeply. You could say it opened the door behind the door. Thank you.
This channel has the best music history dives I've found. Shit I've wanted to know about for years, and a ton of stuff I never knew I wanted to know.
RAM is a absolute classic of an album and you totally matched it's greatness with your analysis!
Their love of "Phantom of the Paradise" runs so deep. Referencing "legend of the Phoenix" and bringing in Paul Williams feels like a culmination of their passion for the film.
Good call. Phantom is so overlooked. Love it.
@@T_R_O_Y_McClure gendy tartakovsky apparently loved the film too. There's an entire episode of Dexter's Lab based around it, including a guest role for Paul Williams *as he looked during the film*.
Discovery is my favorite. The samples on face to face and aerodynamic 👌 And the disco part mixes so well with there sampling technique
When was 13 I suddenly realized I loved music but had no idea what genre I like. Aerodynamic was my first "favourite" song ever. I regard it as finding my musical path! It's like they sent me on it ❤
And I can't get off my mind that the frenchiest vibe of the album is definitely "touch"... If love is the answer then how could they not think about the place they grew up in ? Music is the way to hold on to these past feelings. The random access to these memories. Gives me the goosebumps each time I ear it.
I love the drums in the last album so much that when they announced they were releasing the Drumless edition, I was like, what?? I hated the idea.
I gave it a try. And now I understand why they did it. Everything is so clear and the quality is top notch.
The fact that they decided to retire is heartbreaking, they are such geniuses.
honestly i belive if they were still here it wouldn’t be as good , we have tones of music from them i think it’s fine there gone
Man, 10 years ago I listened to this album and loved it. But DANG! Never thought about all these connections you just dropped.
You are a true professor, sir. Thanks you!
Giving RAM another listen tonight, and forevermore with all this new insight!!
This is one of my favorite albums, but I didn't realize how conceptual this album was. Great in depth video!
I have always told people that this album is my favorite. Every time someone asks out of all the good music out there. THIS. stands out.
You breaking it down like this now…man.
10/10 album 10/10 video. Thank you
@18:30 I was 17 a year after the release of 'Homework', and was the lone "techno" fan in a sea of rock and hip/hop fans, arguing that Daft Punk was the future of music and getting heaps of shit for the effort. Most of the bands that my friends would have claimed at the time to be the future of music were gone shortly after, and none of them, 100 years from now, will be known and remembered and will have their music still be remixed the way Daft Punk will. They will go down in musical history as one of the greatest ever, thank you for this truly excellent video on their work.
Dude, the Rock With You drum thing you did with your tongue. What the f***. That's an amazing party trick. (I guess it's not that hard, but it's surprising and I laughed.)
I believe De La did a similar approach to creating their last album. They had musicians jam and then sampled the jam sessions.
Trevor Horn Slave to the Rhythm. Same.
Pretty lights did a similar thing around this time too
man oh man... digging the greats, you are doing more for sampling, hip-hop and wider music culture than any other channel i've seen on this platform. When im running low on inspiration I listen to one of your deconstructions and you immediately remind me how beautiful and emotionally compelling music can be. Keep it up man, big love
One of the best albums of all time to me - and this channel is criminally underrated for the way you understand and break down the technical and emotional sides of great music. A+ keep it up!
this was an amazing vid Brandon. I was swept away by this album when it came out in 2013 - it hit me at just the right time in life. can't say I was a huge fan of DP before this album so it sort of came across my path when a friend recommended it to me on a whim because of the 70s and 80s undercurrent that ran through the songs. A decade later and I still find myself falling in love with this album over and over again but now I have an idea WHY. Truly an immense piece of work, it's interconnectivity and subtext is so subtle that it doesn't disturb the sonic journey that a casual listener would be on, it's just there to encourage you to look a little bit deeper.
Hell yeah. This came out during one of my hardest breakups and it always felt really appropriate for that part of my life. Such a great album. Amazing breakdown!
Great overview of each track, but I'm surprised you didn't mention the title. RAM is an abbreviation used in computers for "Random Access Memory", but in Daft Punk's world, they use random bits of their favorite songs as samples.
I miss videos like yours, so we can praise the albums we already love even more. Thank you so much for sharing your art with us
I couldn't put it into words why this is my favorite album ever but you just did. This is a great video, well done!
this video just blew my mind. thank you so much for working so hard putting all that information together. i’d love to see more of this for other DP albums.
Man. You are just the greatest. You’re a true musicologist. I just have so much respect and admiration for you brother. Every video I watch I think “me and this dude would be real good friends.”
@1:37 I’m basically already in tears with how masterful this album is. Thx for putting this together. the sound on your video is very well done btw.
I love that Daft Punk were not only skilled and clever musicians but also great storytellers and it's something you don't see a lot of.
The mashup I didn't know I needed so bad. Thank you! It confirms my love for Daft Punk and your channel! Just incredible incredible production.
Dude, I've been watching your videos all day because I found your Daft Punk sampling videos which I appreciate so much! I think you're freaking amazing
This is possibly the best upload I have ever come across on this TH-cam thing. Thx for adding layers and layers to my already immense love and appreciation for this work of geniuses...
Yes! I remember buying this album in college. It had a profound effect on me. Thank you for breaking this down, I learned so much about one of my fav albums!
Awesome video man, this ignited my love for RAM to whole another level. Basically giving me another context for the album to listen.
The edit, the aesthetic the old vcr transition and sound design. Just perfect 👌🏻👌🏻👍🏻
PLEASE do this for the rest of their albums! Hearing the history, and magic of the GOAT robot duo so fun, and your content is so well crafted together.
This is one of the best album analysis video essays I’ve seen on TH-cam. Thank you for giving me a newfound appreciation for one of my favorite albums of the 2010s
haven't had many people talk about the bonus track before, glad to see it get some recognition!
great video btw this stuff is amazing
Such a fantastically well made video!! You really pull out the stops with your editing, and it seems like your research is about as deep as is possible for each subject. Thanks for making quality, interesting content!
This was already one of my favorite albums, but from now on I will appreciate it even more. Thank you.
Dude your videos are SO fucking good. Legit feel completely engaged through every second of them. Keep it up man!
Also, this album has become an all time favorite of mine looking back on it after hearing the breakup announcement. For 8 years I never knew how special this album really was. I’m super happy to be able to listen to it whenever I’d like, though it’s very bitersweet knowing that this is likely the last Daft Punk album ever. I’d love a sequel.
I break down every time I listen to this album, and once again broke down while watching this. Thank you for this video ❤
Dude, thank you so much for this in depth analyse of the album. There are so much things you can't even realize just listening to it. It shows how much involved they are in their music. Thank you for the excellent content you provide to us. Keep the good videos like this one coming. I'm waiting for them. Love and respect.
Amazing video man, I love all the musicians they pulled onto this album but never made the connection until I saw this video. You’re awesome, keep it up!
I've been waiting for for this video ever since I read the Sound on Sound article years ago. Great research. Great content. This is amazing. Thank you.
Your content is some of the most satisfying content I’ve found. Quality everything, production, ideas, presentation, persona, information, insight, everything. Thank you, it matters to us as much as it matters to you. I feel like I’m kickin it with a homie who is droppin knowledge when I watch your videos.
Man thank you for making me see one of my favourite albums from a different point, more complete point of view, Really really appreciated the content, thank you man!
You have such a beautiful voice, your editing is on point and your knowledge of music and the topics you talk about is so vast and precise while also giving your own thoughts and opinions on the projects you talk about!!! excited to see more from you in the future :)
This was a gift. I can feel your passion on all your vids🙌🏽🙏
So sick. Thank you for creating this! It’s bringing me a lot of joy to learn about one of my favourite albums in such depth. Also, love your delivery and energy!
I keep coming back to this video. I have ALWAYS freakin’ LOVED this album. And I really appreciate the journey that you take us on to tell the story of this album.
This album needs a movie to go with it, as they did with Discovery.
They have been releasing the lost tapes series kind of as this
You forgot to mention the reason "Doin' It Right" was discovered by many Daft Punk fans. It was because of a mashup the TH-cam user HydroDalek created using an HHGregg commercial and "Doin' It Right", retitled as "doin" and uploaded to TH-cam in 2015. "doin" currently has 1 million views on HydroDalek's channel.
THANKS FOR MAKING THIS VIDEO, I always wanted to take a closer look at Daft Punk's albums but I never could since I don't know much about music on a technical level, thanks to you now I see the albums with different eyes and I can enjoy them more deeply
Thanks for making this. I've always loved this whole album and the way it's really like nothing else I've ever heard. It's great to hear your various insights into the different songs, musically and emotionally and technically, just everything.
this is one of your best videos. thank you so much
Loved this album from start to finish; having this album on my phone I played it more than almost anything else I own. And it's good EVERY time. Like your favorite movie you can't get enough of. I never got the comments about it fairing off from what they where. The journey they were trying to portray was so obvious to me. And even if you didn't got that the whole vibe of it is amazing; the build up of every song, the story each song has in it, the sound effects that lead up to it. I remember putting the album on the morning after a good party with everybody slowly waking up; half of the people where floating away on it, the other half just didn't get it.. Which is fine, it doesn't need to be for everybody. Thank you for such a amazing break down of the album, came here from your similarly amazing break down of "discovery". Subscribed!
After this breakdown, amazing job, btw. I gotta go back and re-listen to this whole album.
This is an awesome Master Class! Thank you professor! Made me enjoy and appreciate more my favorite band.
This is an incredible cover of this album. I listened to it again immediately and it shed so much more light on this album and its absolutely magical. Great video!
Another amazing video!! I rarely comment on videos but I leave a comment on nearly every one of yours. I came to some of your perspectives by listening to it over the years, but this just gave me a whole new appreciation for an album that I already love so much. Thank you for the work you do!!
Thank you so much 🙏 and thank you for the ultra rare comments 🔥
De La Soul’s album The Anonymous Nobody was done the same way . They hired a bunch of musicians and had them play random stuff , and then De La Soul used it all as samples.
Pretty Lights did that as well. He recorded artists, pressed it to vinyl, and then sampled it:
th-cam.com/video/jCYmiJNrZZM/w-d-xo.html
Im proud of you and your channel...not that you need my words of encouragement, but its beautiful to see someone else with an open appreciation for music
Really dig your breakdowns man! Thanks for your work
Bro your channel came out of no where and it’s blowing up like crazy and I’m all for it this channel popped up at the same time that I been wanting to get into music and I love love love love LOVE Just learning what amazing arist have done in the past or just the history and techniques just wow I love it good shit bro
Love the video and the diggin! Thanks!
So excited to check TH-cam and see you have a new video up. I know it's usually hip hop oriented but I'd be super interested in other edm sampling videos. Drum and bass and the amen break perhaps?
Thank you for this awesome video!
I've been a big fan of Daft Punk since Homework and they are the reason I got into DJing.
I am very happy I got to complete my vinyl collection with the anniversary edition of RAM and thanks to this video I'll revisit it again with a cool new view on things.
AMAZING video AMAZING musical duo, thank you for your efforts in creating this
i already love them, but the way you break the tracks down makes me love it even more… i have a new profound love for the music…
Excellent video man. I discovered this album like yesterday and I'm searching for as much knowledge as I possibly can about it and you delivered!
This is gold content, the algo has once again gained redemption, thank you, deeply
What an insane exploration of this album. Truly truly a masterpiece, I love it to bits. Great video!!!
Awesome stuff, this is probably my favorite album and it's fun learning more about it and reading into the story in the lyrics. A little surprised you didn't include Infinity Repeating, but I appreciate your analysis either way. Subbed.
Woah i had no idea how small your channel is. After watching the discovery video a few weeks back i didnt notice it, if you had told me you got 3mil subs i would have believed you. Here take one more :)
Your production quality and analysis are crazy high quality. Also never noticed the theme that goes through the whole album. But makes a lot of sense now.
You are an amazing teacher. You really know how to connect with the people you educate. Your presentations are phenomenal. Thank you for this one. I didn't look into the full album that deep. Respect.
I already loved the album, but this gives a whole new perspective to it. Love the video, I am totally mind blown! Now I love it even more!
This album makes my heart sing. So much ingenuity and passion. Thank you for unpacking the goods!
Awesome/great/incredible job! This whole video - and also Daft Punk and RAM - is peak art at its best.
My man, I keep bumping into your videos for the past few months and after every single I think this one might be a fluke - no one puts so much work into making such high grade content. And then I'm pleasantly surprised when video after video I see the same awesome quality content.
I've given up and subscribed to you. Keep making this awesome shit - this is what I want the internet to be like.
You're channel is amazing. You've been releasing banger after banger.
you blow my mind......
often when im listening this album, i have many of the thoughts you mentioned in this really nice youtube content on my mind.
thank you for this enlightment !!!
i allways thought there is more than music with daft punk and overall this album
You opened my eyes and only now I realize why that album was always attracting me like a magnet. Thank you for sharing your interpretations of it, and it has given me loads to think about and to reflect. It's inspiring to see somebody going so deep exploring, and explaining, other peoples work and to show what a true masterpiece it really is.
This is amazing and it has touched me to a new level. Thank you so much.
Always bringing the heat and bringing me a deeper love to the music I already love so much
This was the best thing I’ve seen in a long while. Thanks!!
Your analysis is so on point! Now i appericate Random Access Memory more. Love your video.
For real, I love it even more now haha
Great content as per usual. Your passion and nerdiness really shines thru..
Such a great video. I'm a huge fan of this channel. Keep up the great work!
Aww yeeeah . Another awesome video to check out. Keep up the great content! Killin it
Watched this video like 5 times already, I can't stop.
This video is as much a masterpiece as Random Access Memories. A lot of the things I thought when I first heard this album make even more sense now. Thanks and congrats!