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MUSIC FEATURE

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DAFT PUNK HOMEWORK In AlbumTales, Bryget Chrisfield hits you with some juicy nuggets of wisdom surrounding classic records.To celebrate the upcoming vinyl reissues of Daft Punk’s first three studio albums and two live albums viaWarner, we’ve gone back to where it began: the duo’s 1997 debut, Homework.

Year 1997

Homework was completed in around 160 hours During an interview, Bangalter

that they paraphrased it to name their next musical venture.

Grammy-winning electronic pioneers Daft Punk –Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, when sans helmets – initially intended to drop a string of stand-alone singles before realising they had composed enough bangers to instead release a debut album. Created in Paris but emulating Chicago house and Glaswegian techno, Daft Punk’s disco-influenced Homework catapulted underground electronic dance music into the mainstream. And, let’s face it, if this French duo’s percolating, chart-topping single Around theWorld didn’t score high dancefloor rotation in its heyday, you obviously frequented dud clubs. One of the most influential acts in dance music history, Daft Punk announced their split via a video titled Epilogue in 2021, but they truly cemented their place in pop culture back in 2010 when they starred alongside R2-D2 and C-3PO in a StarWars-themed Adidas commercial.

explained that Homework’ s title referred to “the fact that [they] made the record at home, very cheaply, very quickly, and spontaneously, trying to do cool stuff”. The pair spent no more than eight hours a week over the course of five months – so approximately 160 hours, then

Major club hit Around theWorld Possibly the catchiest dancefloor filler ever, Around the World – which has been sampled and covered by everyone from Jojo to Snoop Dogg – features an early example of Daft Punk utilising the Heil talk box to produce robo-voices.

(!?) – creating the record. Bangalter humble-bragged at the time: “We have not spent much time on Homework . The main thing is that it sounds good…We have no need to make music every day.” What show-offs!

The song’s only lyrics are the phrase “Around the

world,” which is repeated 144 times in the album

version. Around the World ’s awe-inspiring accompanying Michel Gondry-directed music video features five sets of dancing characters,

With helmets, 1997

A journalistic sledge inspired Daft Punk’s name

each group depicting a different musical instrument – robots (vocals), athletes (bass), disco girls (keys), skeletons (guitar) and mummies, of the preserved dead variety (drums) – and physically embodying their respective instrumental parts via dazzling choreography, executed on a circular surface representing vinyl. From black bags to robot helmets During Homework ’s promo run, Daft Punk started protecting their visual anonymity by wearing black bags over their heads, and then Halloween masks before going Full Robot. Previously, nothing-to-hide photos of the fresh-faced pair were attached to their press releases. Of their decision to mask-up, de Homem- Christo has explained: “We’re not performers, we’re not models – it would not be enjoyable for humanity to see our features, but the robots are exciting to people...”

Bangalter and de Homem-Christo are Beach Boys fans (Brian Wilson is one of the musical influences namechecked in Teachers ) and named their first band – a rock trio rounded out by future Phoenix guitarist Laurent

Brancowitz – Darlin’ after a track from the legendary Cali band’s 1967 album Wild Honey. Writer Dave Jennings dismissed the work of Darlin’ as “daft punky trash” in a review, which tickled les hommes so much

FUN FACT: For Daft Punk’s live

shows, their custom robot helmets contained built-in air conditioning and communications systems.

Daft Punk playing live in 1995, L-R: Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo,Thomas Bangalter

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82 FEBRUARY 2022

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