Homework is the debut album of French electronic music duo Daft Punk, first released on January 20, 1997. The album is considered a blend of house, techno, acid and funk.[1][2] It is noted for inciting interest in French touch music with several artists following the style.[3] Homework features the hit singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk".
Recording history
In 1993 Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo presented a demo of electronic music to Stuart Macmillan of Slam at a rave in EuroDisney.[2] The contents of the cassette eventually saw release on the single "The New Wave", which was released in April 11, 1994 on Slam's Soma Quality Recordings label.[4] The record also contained the final mix of the track "The New Wave" entitled "Alive".
"Da Funk" and "Rollin' & Scratchin'" were released as a single under the Soma label in 1995. The tracks were then utilized by The Chemical Brothers in DJ sets at The Heavenly Social in London. During the same year, Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons requested that the duo remix their single "Life Is Sweet" and open for The Chemical Brothers' tour in the United Kingdom.[5] The ensuing popularity of Daft Punk's singles led to their signing with Virgin Records in September 1996.[6] Their departure from Soma was noted by Richard Brown of the Glasgow-based label. "We were obviously sad to lose them to Virgin but they had the chance to go big, which they wanted, and it's not very often that a band has that chance after two singles. We're happy for them."[2]
Although Virgin held exclusive distribution rights over Daft Punk’s material, the duo remain the owners of their master recordings through the Daft Trax label.[1] Bangalter expressed that "To be free, we had to be in control. To be in control, we had to finance what we were doing ourselves. The main idea was to be free."[7] Daft Punk discussed their method with Spike Jonze, director of the "Da Funk" music video. He noted that "They were doing everything based on how they wanted to do it. As opposed to, 'oh we got signed to this record company, we gotta use their plan.' They wanted to make sure they never had to do anything that would make them feel bummed on making music."[8] In regards to the duo's creative control and freedom, Bangalter said:
| “ |
We've got much more control than money. You can't get everything. We live in a society where money is what people want, so they can't get the control. We chose. Control is freedom. People say we're control freaks, but control is controlling your destiny without controlling other people. We're not trying to manipulate other people, just controlling what we do ourselves. Controlling what we do is being free. People should stop thinking that an artist that controls what he does is a bad thing. A lot of artists today are just victims, not having control, and they're not free. And that's pathetic. If you start being dependent on money, then money has to reach a point to fit your expenses.[9] |
” |
Daft Punk worked to record other tracks, including "Revolution 909" and "Around the World". The album was mixed and recorded in their own studio, Daft House in Paris, France. It was mastered by Nilesh Patel at the London studio The Exchange.[10]
Virgin re-released "Da Funk" with the B-side "Musique" in 1996, before the debut of Homework. Bangalter later stated that the B-side "was never intended to be on the album, and in fact, 'Da Funk' as a single has sold more units than Homework, so more people own it anyways than they would if it had been on the album. It is basically used to make the single a double-feature."[11]
Structure
Daft Punk had produced the series of tracks without an initial plan to release an album. As Thomas Bangalter stated, "It was supposed to be just a load of singles. But we did so many tracks over a period of five months that we realized that we had a good album."[12] The duo subsequently set the order of the album's tracks with a two-disc vinyl LP in mind. As stated by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, "We had many tracks and we had to put them on four sides... there was no intended theme because all the tracks were recorded before we arranged the sequence of the album. The idea was to make the songs better [more listenable] by arranging them the way we did; to make it more even as an album."[11]
"Daftendirekt" is an excerpt of a live performance recorded at a Fuse Party in Ghent.[10] It served as the introduction to Daft Punk's show and is likewise used to begin the album.[11] The following track, "WDPK 83.7 FM" is considered a tribute to FM radio displayed in the United States.[7] The broadcast compression is one of the major influences in Daft Punk's music. As stated by de Homem-Christo, "Some people like the really good sound of a guitar, and we really like the sound of compression in general."[13] The repeated vocal phrase used in "Musique" also appears in "WDPK".
The opening skit in "Revolution 909" is said to be a reflection on the French government and its stance on the rave scene. When asked on the motivations of the stance, Bangalter presumed, "They pretend it's drugs, but I don't think it's the only thing. There's drugs everywhere, but they probably wouldn't have a problem if the same thing was going on at a rock concert, because that's what they understand."[11] "Revolution 909" is immediately followed by "Da Funk", which is considered to carry elements of funk and acid.[2] In Daft Punk's audio commentary for The Work of Director Spike Jonze, the duo stated that the "Da Funk" theme involved the introduction of a simple, unusual element that becomes acceptable and moving over time.
Bangalter felt that "Phœnix" is "an important track, but not any more important than any of the other tracks."[11] Daft Punk agreed that their concept for the piece was to create gospel-like potency in a house music track.[11] In contrast, "Fresh" is stated to be breezy and light. In the audio commentary provided in D.A.F.T., the duo consider its structure to be comical.
"Around the World" is believed to carry influences of Gershon Kingsley's hit "Popcorn".[2] Michel Gondry likewise compared the track's bassline to that of "Good Times" by Chic.[14] The track "Teachers" is an homage to the pioneers in the Detroit techno and Chicago house scenes and acknowledges (among others) future collaborators Romanthony, DJ Sneak and Todd Edwards. The song "Oh Yeah" features guests DJ Deelat and DJ Crabbe, otherwise known as David Girier-Dufourier and Pascal Esposito.[10] As one half of Jess & Crabbe, the latter created a remix released on the album Daft Club of the song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger".
"Indo Silver Club" features a sample of "Hot Shot" by Karen Young.[10] Prior to its inclusion on Homework, "Indo Silver Club" was released as a single on Soma Recordings as two parts.[15] The single lacked an artist credit in the packaging[15] and was initially thought to have been created by the nonexistent producers Indo Silver Club.[16] The final mix of "The New Wave" ("Alive") was included on the album as the fifteenth track. Finally, "Funk Ad" is a reversed portion of "Da Funk".
Reception
Daft Punk felt that the majority of pressings should be in vinyl, so only 50,000 albums were initially printed on CD. Upon its release in 1997, overwhelming sales of Homework caused distributors to accelerate production and satisfy demand. The album appeared in 35 countries throughout the world and sold over two million copies in a few months from release.[1]
Homework featured singles that had significant impact in the French house[3] and global dance music scenes.[1] This includes the acclaimed “Da Funk” and “Around the World”, which peaked at #1 on the Billboard charts for Hot Dance Music/Club Play.[17] The album itself peaked #150 on the Billboard 200. As a result of sales, Homework was certified Gold by the RIAA as of July 11, 2001.
The album is noted in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. In it, critic Alex Rayner states that "Homework served as a bridge between more established club styles and the burgeoning eclecticism of big beat. And it proved to many club-goers that there was more to dance music than pills and keyboard presets".[18]
A sample of the song "Daftendirekt" is featured in the Janet Jackson song "So Much Betta" from her album Discipline.[19]
Track listing
All music composed by Thomas Bangalter & Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.
| 1. |
"Daftendirekt" |
2:44 |
| 2. |
"WDPK 83.7 FM" |
0:28 |
| 3. |
"Revolution 909" |
5:26 |
| 4. |
"Da Funk" |
5:28 |
| 5. |
"Phœnix" |
4:55 |
| 6. |
"Fresh" |
4:03 |
| 7. |
"Around the World" |
7:07 |
| 8. |
"Rollin' & Scratchin'" |
7:26 |
| 9. |
"Teachers" |
2:52 |
| 10. |
"High Fidelity" |
6:00 |
| 11. |
"Rock'n Roll" |
7:32 |
| 12. |
"Oh Yeah" |
2:00 |
| 13. |
"Burnin'" |
6:53 |
| 14. |
"Indo Silver Club" |
4:32 |
| 15. |
"Alive" |
5:15 |
| 16. |
"Funk Ad" |
0:50 |
References
- ^ a b c d RFI Musique - Biography - Daft Punk rfimusique.com. Retrieved on March 3, 2007.
- ^ a b c d e Matthew Collin, "Do You Think You Can Hide From Stardom?" (August 1997) Mixmag. Retrieved on March 6, 2007.
- ^ a b James, Martin. French Connections: From Discotheque to Discovery. London, United Kingdom: Sanctuary Publishing Ltd., 2003. pg 292. (ISBN 1-8607-4449-4)
- ^ The New Wave at Discogs. Retrieved on April 7, 2007.
- ^ Daft Punk (2001) djtimes.com. Retrieved on May 5, 2007.
- ^ Musique Vol. 1 Site archived from May 25, 2006.
- ^ a b Alan Di Perna, "We Are The Robots" Pulse!, April 2001, pp. 65-69.
- ^ The Work of Director Spike Jonze companion book (2003).
- ^ http://music.yahoo.com/read/interview/12053561
- ^ a b c d Daft Punk Homework liner notes (1997).
- ^ a b c d e f Jennifer Warner, "Interview with Daft Punk". DMA, archived at About.com. Retrieved on March 30, 2007.
- ^ James, Martin. French Connections: From Discotheque to Discovery. London, United Kingdom: Sanctuary Publishing Ltd., 2003. pg 269. (ISBN 1-8607-4449-4)
- ^ Bryan Reesman, Daft Punk interview mixonline.com. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
- ^ The Work of Director Michel Gondry companion book (2003).
- ^ a b Indo Silver Club at Discogs. Retrieved on April 9, 2007.
- ^ Personality punks montrealmirror.com. Retrieved on August 3, 2007.
- ^ Homework Billboard information Allmusic. Retrieved on March 30, 2007.
- ^ 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. New York, NY: Universe, 2006. pg 812. (ISBN 0-7893-1371-5)
- ^ Janet Jackson Samples Daft Punk Stereogum. Retrieved on February 21, 2008.
External links
