Daft Punk - 'Daft Club' (Virgin)
4/5
By: Toby L
Remixes. The living contradiction to the phrase, 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'
Certainly, the idea of the massively influential, floor-filling Daft Punk having their second LP 'Discovery' reworked is a not-so-appetising prospect - yet one gleefully undertaken nonetheless by a massive slew of big names and the French duo themselves.
So, with 'Daft Club', thankfully, we're not burdened with a wreck of a work, or a distant cry away from the duo's prior opus. Instead, it's fourteen deep, fleshy dance-tunes tinged with electro-vox, and pioneering pop-thrills, reworked by some of the modern greats: Canadian fruitcake Gonzales, who successfully overhauls the dizzy 'Too Long', whilst the already-legendary The Neptunes denote an ultra-smooth soulful take on 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger', and Cosmo Vitelli jazz up the tinny percussive farts of 'Face To Face'.
Come the time Basement Jaxx plunder into a rollicking, carnival-y 'Phoenix', it's clear that this isn't so much a conventional 'remix'-record, as a series of hand-in-hand collaborations between the cult and notable with the key songsmiths behind the original works; a succession of eclectic, knobs-knowledgeable musos nodding heads in the studio and adding their own signature to proceedings, whilst not stripping away the core loops, beats and hooks of each rhythmically pulsed, charging piece of electro-pop that inspired their attendance in the first place.
Backed, well advisably, with the same version of album-highlight 'Aerodynamic' as previously exhibited amid 'Discovery' - flawless and untouchable a piece of noise as it is, with its scratching, guitar-like shimmies and build-ups and intergalactic wall-of-sound - and the easy-listening groove of 'Something About Us (Love Theme From Interstella 5555)', 'Daft Club' is another worthy addition to the snail-creepingly slow progression of the 'Punk's back-catalogue. And, rewardingly, though you'll swear you've heard it all before, trust us - you really haven't.
Artists in this article: Daft Punk
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