Daft Punk continue celebration of Random Access Memories with ‘Drumless Version’

Going on two-plus years since Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, better known as Daft Punk, announced their official breakup as a duo, the group continues to forge their own path forward and redefine the rules of dance music. Throughout 2023, the robots have been celebrating a decade since the release of their final album, Random Access Memories, and now they have shared a version that is completely devoid of percussion.

When Random Access Memories was first released a decade ago, the electronic dance music scene had exploded into the mainstream with artists like Skrillex, Calvin Harris, David Guetta, and more achieving pop star success that seemed to be confined to the robots in years prior. At the time of the release, Guy-Manuel famously discussed the growing impact of the music when he said, “I don’t know EDM artists or the albums. At first I thought it was all just one guy, some DJ called EDM.” While the quote quickly made the rounds on social media, it was indicative of the status and inspirations which the group has always thrived upon when creating.

While producers were becoming household names, citing Daft Punk as the influence and motivation for their musical path, the robots turned back the clock, delivering an album of live instrumentation that was closer to 70’s funk, soul, and disco than anything being released in the modern day house and dubstep genres. As usual, the style and production worked, with the single Get Lucky featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers becoming one of the biggest hits of the year.

Now the duo is once again rewriting the rules, rereleasing the album, but this time without the drums, a decision that is theoretically a cardinal sin in the electronic dance music genre. Being Daft Punk, the lack of percussion doesn’t really matter as the beautiful orchestrations, songwriting, and performances continue to shine through, allowing listeners to rediscover elements and arrangements of the release that may have gone unnoticed before.

The global devotion to Daft Punk continues as strong as ever despite the group hanging up their helmets and the release of Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition) is another strong example of why the duo continue to be pioneers in the genre.

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