Daft Punk - ‘Musique Vol. 1 1993 – 2005’ (Virgin) Released 03/04/06

 

On the back of their disappointing third album, ‘Human After All’, this compilation serves as a reminder more of the heady early years that were marked by a sound heavily influenced by a Chicago House and acid sound. Opening with the seminal second single ‘Musique’, a filter-tweakin’ track that established Daft Punk as the hottest name in house at the time and sparked a bidding war amongst the majors, we then get five tracks from their majestic ‘Homework’ debut, an album of which the neo-disco freshness of lead cuts such as ‘Da Funk’ and ‘Around The World’ was matched only by the quality of the videos by directors such as Michael Gondry, Spike Jonze and Roman Coppola.

 

By the time the follow up ‘Discovery’ had landed, the manic looped French sound had dance music by the balls.  Bangalter’s own side-project Stardust had destroyed both the charts and dancefloors with ‘Music Sounds Better With You’, clearing the way for DP’s own disco chop-up ‘One More Time’ to do the same. The selection from that album that we get here is a little odd, as the Prince-lite ballad of ‘Something Between Us’ gets the nod over the screwed-up rifferama of ‘Aerodynamic’ and the technicolour pop of ‘Digital Love’. By now, Bangalter and Homem-Christo were writing their own rules; it’s a bit of a surprise that this disc doesn’t choose to hammer that point home.

 

Three tracks then follow from ‘Human After All’ which - the Van Halen-esque ‘Robot Rock’ aside - do little to suggest that Daft Punk weren’t coasting a bit by the time they came to knock this one out in six weeks. The beats are bigger and harder, but somewhere along the line the charm and warmth seemed to be lost in the machines. Three remixes later and our story has somewhat fizzled out to a close.

 

In truth, ‘Musique Vol. 1 1993 – 2005’ could have been a much stronger representation of Daft Punk’s undeniably epochal achievement, but it still pisses all over some supposed dance scene leaders, such as Erick Morrillo or The Chemical Brothers. A special edition of the record comes with a DVD showcasing some of the celebrated promos that brought so many of these tracks even more to life. In 2006, we’re preparing ourselves for the second French Invasion with the likes of Justice and Digitalism and a third album from Cassius being whispered about amongst DJs in record shops from Paris to New York. All of these people owe Daft Punk a living.