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I was expecting the album to be lackluster based on the Pharrell track that came out earlier and after 1 listen it certainly lives up to that mark... Giorgio is the only song I really liked or felt was interesting at all. Honestly a lot of the songs really melt together because of the repetitive and uninspired funk guitar loops. I'll reserve further judgements for after I get a chance to digest it (but it doesn't seem like there is much to it). edit: I think the most positive thing I can say about it is, like most mid-tempo music, it would make good background music for cleaning/studying/programming/other tasks along those lines... thathonkey fucked around with this message at 23:57 on May 13, 2013 |
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May 13, 2013 23:53
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Spacebump posted:I think a lot of people who don't like this album didn't read much about it beforehand. Could you elaborate? Were there a lot of interviews along the lines of "hey, we are trying to make our most unsubstantial album to date. We hope you'll think so too." ?
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May 13, 2013 23:59
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Wario In Real Life posted:Discovery came out 12 years ago. Most actual DP fans are into their 30s. More like late 20s but yeah. I agree that it probably wont sell that well. I mean their main feature is Pharrell...
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May 14, 2013 00:30
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Blast Fantasto posted:And if Pharrell is known for anything, it's being on albums that don't sell well! Uhh yeah did you forget what year it is?
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May 14, 2013 00:39
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Alfajor posted:Can we talk for a minute about the brilliance of the pre-listen? Here's a good article about it: http://techcrunch.com/2013/05/13/daft-punk-album-stream/ which basically says: If nothing else, it at least mitigates the "this leak has to be a fake. this is not Daft Punk" or "this leak is clearly incomplete/rough/low quality" denial conspiracies that usually fill forums out whenever a hugely popular group releases something lackluster or polarizing.
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May 15, 2013 04:33
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It does seem like a smart idea/the best strategy available but I think in this case it has probably driven a lot of would-be purchasers to cancel pre-orders/plans of buying. It did that for me at least. But once you do that, there is no way of determining what effect it has on sales, if any.
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May 15, 2013 04:37
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I tried listening to the stream again today and I honestly can't make it through any of the tracks in their entirety. Kept skipping ahead to find something more interesting. It's not that the album is bad... but adjectives like mediocre, lame, and lacking substance definitely come to mind. I like the point a lot of people have said about a group like DP deserving extra scrutiny when they have such a long lag between releases and meanwhile are putting out promotional material where collaborators further propagate the inherent hype and then those are the best adjectives I can think of to describe the end result  I think for me it will work best as background music, which is definitely a need that I have in my day-to-day listening but never something I would expect myself to think about DP.
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May 15, 2013 22:10
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Albeit a departure from other Outkast albums, The Love Below/Speakerboxxx is a really high quality and critically acclaimed album so that comparison probably won't hold up. It did outrage some fanboys when it came out though I'll give you that. edit: \/\/\/ I dunno, when Big Boi drops "I Like The Way You Move" at a concert people flip the gently caress out and "Hey Ya" is oft-considered to be one of the most infectious pop songs of all time. But this is getting heavily off-topic. You're right, those classic Kast albums will probably have more staying power with Kast fans just because they are the style that made them fans in the first place. thathonkey fucked around with this message at 02:37 on May 16, 2013 |
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May 16, 2013 02:13
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KingAsmo posted:Sorry Dad, I go to large warehouse parties in Los Angeles pretty much every weekend, and they aren't playing Hey Ya. That's really cool. Why are you so intent on discrediting Hey Ya? It isnt going to work dude...
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May 16, 2013 04:02
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Bown posted:I feel like I'm missing something when people describe the album as dull and then call Doin' it Right a highlight. It's the most uninteresting, useless track on there by a pretty wide margin, imo. I agree Doin' It Right is not that good. I dont really like any of the songs yet but ill probably keep trying for a while cause I dont really have anything else to listen to atm... 2013 has been slow so far
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May 16, 2013 13:30
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Pitchfork has named a second track for RAM as "best new music" - Doin It Right. I think this album will get the de facto 8.0-8.3 that they give mediocre albums which they feel obligated to score highly either due to their own prior endorsements or because they're being paid to do so.
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May 17, 2013 01:10
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hatelull posted:Not to derail this thing to a Pitchfork discussion, since I know this is neither the time nor the place, but do you really think Pitchfork would give a rating based on cash deposits? I don't think it is anything as overt as a record label saying "here is $X for Y rating" but I wouldn't be surprised if a sponsorship or the promise of being able to book Daft Punk at the Pitchfork Music Festival could influence their rating, especially if it was just +1.0 points in the scale (from 7.0 to 8.0).
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May 17, 2013 03:52
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Blast Fantasto posted:What? In what world would Daft Punk ever play Pitchfork? Maybe that was a stretch but w daft punk declining in relevance and p4k fest rising in popularity and scope each year it doesnt seem impossible
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May 17, 2013 04:41
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AwwJeah posted:Do you live on a planet where RAM isn't the most anticipated and (arguably) most significant release world-wide for the music industry in the summer of 2013? I guess I do. I think you need to gain some perspective.
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May 17, 2013 14:35
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Was discussing RAM with a co-worker today and I said that I don't think they are very good at writing songs (in the sense of like... pop songs, not orchestral composition [which I also think they are not so great at]) and got told that I "know nothing about music." 
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May 17, 2013 18:39
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Hobelhouse posted:gently caress the haters, this is a great album. It's no Discovery but nothing will be. I was distinctly underwhelmed with it up until Lose Yourself to Dance (seconding whoever said Giorgio speaking in the middle of the album was a bad idea) This is a great album... If you start in the middle and ignore XYZ. Great point.
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May 17, 2013 19:12
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Im not going to be listening to it either way because it is mediocre music no matter whose name is attached to it. But that is just me. I dont think the "bait and switch" aspect helped curb any backlash though. Also the run time and feature list just screams "self-indulgent has beens get together to wank for far too long"
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May 17, 2013 19:48
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Not being good at dancing covers like at least 95% of the population and it has never stopped anybody before.
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May 17, 2013 22:21
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AwwJeah posted:I really don't want to pick nits, but I think it would be neat if you elaborated on how Daft Punk have become/are becoming irrelevant. Saying I don't have the right perspective or whatever the gently caress is a pretty lame cop out, buddy guy. I'm sure you meant to say "Daft Punk have become bad." Since they are quite obviously as far away from irrelevancy as any band could possibly be. In fact, I can't think of a band who is currently more relevant to the industry at large than Daft Punk. Theyve been made less relevant by factors like age (ie aging fan base) and other popular artists in the edm space displacing them (skrillex et al) but also because their last two albums have been lackluster people are starting to lose interest in general. Obviously they still have fans that love them but outside of their immediate fanbase theyre losing relevance. Edit: i can elablorate more when im not on my phone but if you cant see that daft punk peaked in popularity around ~2007 and has been on the decline since HAA then i dont know what to tell you partner, im not your buddy guy thathonkey fucked around with this message at 03:38 on May 18, 2013 |
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May 18, 2013 03:33
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Ok well this argument isnt going to go anywhere. you guys want to believe theyre the most important thing in modern music still fine but i am not using "irrelevant" as a synonym for "bad" - i dont think theyre bad. We can see what happens once the album comes out.
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May 18, 2013 03:51
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I never said they were irrelevant by the way, I said they were losing relevancy. Do you disagree that they have peaked years ago?
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May 18, 2013 05:04
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hatelull posted:Would this create the potential of other artists remixing their remixes? The ultimate form of recursive music: daft punk remixing remixes of their original mixes
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May 18, 2013 18:32
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This thread is the best distillation of denial and strained rationalization ever. So much "well if you would just rearrange these tracks" and "if you ignore these ~5 songs" and "right but I think what they were going for was..." and "it will be great when the remixes come out I swear!" and "BUT THE CONCEPT!" and "the production is real smooth though" that it kinda warms my heart how far out of their way dedicated fans will go to enjoy something. In a way, it is actually kinda beautiful.
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May 19, 2013 00:01
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an skeleton posted:There are a LOT of albums that have skippable tracks within. Personally I think skipping "Game of Love" is heresy but people can listen to their albums how they want to. You are kinda contributing to my point...
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May 19, 2013 00:24
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an skeleton posted:Uh, that's just my favorite song on the album. I don't actually care if anyone skips it but I don't really get why they would either. It's jammin' Thats cool, you like what you like. Im more being critical of the people who cant just admit "yeah, the album is flawed or whatever you want to call it but i still like some of the songs" and instead insist on writing all these convoluted justifications for why it is "great" (which it clearly isnt) or how others are merely missing the point etc etc
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May 19, 2013 01:04
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How did some people get the vinyl already? Did preorders ship early? Im curious to hear the mastering on the LP. Is it really that much different?
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May 19, 2013 13:21
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nomapple posted:They did it with How To Destroy Angels. They premiered a load of stuff for them and then slapped a 6.2 on the album. Latest Radiohead album got basically the same treatment but with a 6.8 i think? I am really curious what theyll give this album now... I still think high 7s or even low 8s.
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May 19, 2013 13:28
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Sometimes artists will slap the CD mastering down on vinyl but not vice-versa. So for RAM there are probably at least two masterings: one for CD/digital, one for vinyl - which is good. But the MP3, even at high bitrate, will lose some quality compared to a CD or FLAC. Who knows what the iTunes stream is rated at. Sidenote: holy crap they play Get Lucky on the radio a lot. Was riding in the car with somebody last night who was flipping through radio stations and inside of 20 minutes across 2-3 stations we heard the song 4 times.
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May 19, 2013 15:15
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swmmrmanshen posted:As someone who does not read Pitchfork that often, my question for those of you who have stronger opinions about the site is: How much do the reviewers personalities impact scoring? Is it know that Mark Richardson is stricter/easier, is in love with particular characteristics in an album, or any other similar personal quirks? I remember reading a while back that the numeric score is an aggregated vote from multiple members of their staff or something (an average? I dunno) whereas the text of the review itself is authored by just one person. It kinda makes sense because sometimes the score is pretty incongruent with the written review (though I don't know if that is true in this case, I haven't read it yet). edit: after reading the review, it sounds more like the tone of one where the album scores in the 7.0-8.0 range especially because the reviewer basically dismisses the entire first half of the LP.
thathonkey fucked around with this message at 23:51 on May 20, 2013 |
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May 20, 2013 23:41
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Pitchfork reviewer called out probably my favorite song so far - lose yourself to dance - as "plodding" I can see that but honestly most of the songs on the album could be described that way. Listening to the 320kbps spotify stream in my car and w my headphones is making me like the album more and more though - i really wasnt feelin it at first based on the itunes stream but now i am considering a vinyl purchase... I am a little underwhelmed with my Discovery LP though. Can someone who has both compare the masterings?
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May 21, 2013 18:15
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I dunno, the album has no flow to interrupt imho that bonus track wouldnt have displaced the mood at all if you stuck it practically anywhere in the tracklist... As i start to appreciate more songs, the pacing and lack of flow still really bothers me. Im gonna stick to my own playlist i think.
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May 22, 2013 00:18
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Rageaholic Monkey posted:I think it has some sense of flow, albeit a weird one. But even if you don't, don't you think sticking that bonus track anywhere in the album would have bored you and turned you off, at least for a little bit? It'd feel out of place, even in album like this. I still think it's an alright song, but it doesn't belong on the album. It belongs where it is: a bonus track. True, maybe not placed anywhere. I think it works best as a denouement after Contact although the ending is fine the way it is too. It is a cool track and I wish it was at least included as a bonus for U.S. Re: album flow I think the biggest problems are the placements of tracks 2, 3, 4... Very odd indeed
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May 22, 2013 04:08
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One other weird thing... The chord progression/key (sorry not a music major) on Within and Instant Crush sound extremely similar to me... It almost had to be intentional to put them adjacent one another yet there is a long fade out and several moments of silence in between the two songs. It would have made a pretty awesome segue.
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May 22, 2013 04:43
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incoherent posted:cribbing very hard. You mean the thing that Daft Punk does best?
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May 22, 2013 05:06
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Im actually baffled by the review scores this album is getting. I dont hate the album, but I also dont understand the almost universal critical praise. Also Contact is super tedious, grating, and builds to... A fade out :| edit: If somebody were paying me for my thoughts on music, I'd probably settle on a 7.5; above average, but not without flaws. I've read a ton of Pitchfork reviews over the years, had them pan a lot of albums I love, but their score is probably the most confusing. Sometimes they overshoot on big records though and rate albums on concept and artist status/context instead of purely artistic merit - see MBDTF's 10.0 - so I'm gonna chalk it up to that (not that albums shouldn't/can't be reviewed that way). thathonkey fucked around with this message at 13:32 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 12:44
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Intel&Sebastian posted:Ya'll should throw on todd edwards bbc essential mix, he put a house beat behind instant crush and it instantly turned into a major jam Is there a Soundcloud link for this or does it have to be listened to on BBC site? Either way link please 
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May 22, 2013 15:33
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Also Giorgio Morodor did a DJ set ('first ever DJ set'): http://www.rbmaradio.com/shows/giorgio-moroder-live-at-deep-space I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet but I figured people here might be somewhat interested. I guess this album has actually thrust him back into relevance somewhat (which is awesome)? het posted:plogo linked it on soundcloud 2 days ago but nobody paid any attention :/ Oops thanks Het and Intel!
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May 22, 2013 16:36
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Do you guys think the fan reception of this album would have been better if they released it under a different name (ie. as a side project)? Other artists do stuff like this a lot when they want to make something that is a departure from the sound/music that they're best known for (or that made them popular). I was just thinking it might be kind of cool (in concept at least) if Daft Punk developed an alternate persona for making "human"/live instrumentation music rather than the robot house/edm that made them famous. It would make the notion of Daft Punk remixing/sampling their live instrumentation that much cooler. thathonkey fucked around with this message at 17:03 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 17:00
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Jose Juan Carlos posted:Just finished my first listen through of the album. Daft Punk and Panda Bear need to just release an entire album together. 'Doin' It Right' was the only song I gave multiple listens to besides 'Get Lucky', but it's definitely more of an Animal Collective sound than Daft Punk. Yeah it is interesting that the song with Panda Bear sounds like an Animal Collective track and the song with Julian Casablancas sounds like a Strokes track (from back when they gave a poo poo). Pharrell doesn't have a distinct enough sound to compare his features on RAM to his normal stuff. I guess the closest thing would be the Neptunes sound? little munchkin posted:Can you please explain why he would thank himself because it makes no sense to do this, unless iTunes gives you a 128k mp3 or something. You would have to sit there recording the whole album, then break up the recording into tracks, and the result would be something that sounds exactly the same (at best), except there's one part in the new copy where you can hear Lechtansi's roommate stomp on the floor. Apparently the vinyl has its own mastering. Vinyl needs to be mastered differently to take advantage of the format's strengths but not every modern artist bothers to do this. Many plunk down the digital/CD mastering on vinyl and the result is that sounds worse than the digital counterpart. So yeah, the vinyl would sound different if it was ripped cleanly on a quality setup. Anyway, that is why a lot of people are talking about the vinyl release of this. Hope that helps... thathonkey fucked around with this message at 17:29 on May 22, 2013 |
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May 22, 2013 17:27
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Ripping vinyl accurately is really hard and depends on the turntable being calibrated correctly for speed etc. Dude who ripped your copy probably had a borked table that wasnt playing at exactly 33.3 rpm. I love listening to actual vinyl but rips usually suck unless you really trust the person who ripped to have done it right and on an exceptional equipment stack - which almost nobody has. Most turntables with usb out that are marketed as being viable for ripping are rather cheap and would most likely produce something inferior to the proper digital mastering anyway so whats the point even?
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May 22, 2013 17:46
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