I talk way too much about Daft Punk. I can hear myself talk about them and I cringe. I think to myself, “Really, Anthony. Again?”
Well here it comes.
What is a Daft Punk? It’s a fun/serious electronic musical duo that have songs that can be listened to over and over and over again. They have relatively been unknown in the U.S. until this past May when their latest album was released. Except they were only unknown by name. Nearly the whole world over the past 20 years has heard parts of their tracks or were listening to tunes that were influenced by them in some way.
How could that be?
Because they’re leaders. Â Silent robotic leaders.
Their new LP, Random Access Memories, is a great example of how they set their own rules. It’s funky, not too fast, very different from most things they’ve done, but you can tell it’s them.
The funny thing is I don’t know what they actually did on it. Every song is a collaboration of other artists, producers and electric magicians. The album brings back the days of funk and splices in the sound of the current era.
I was put off when I really started to think about it. Can they claim credit for a great album when every instrument, vocals, and production are provided from others? How can their name be behind it?
Because they’re leaders.
They knew the sound they wanted. Their spirit drove them to find the people to collaborate with, and take their industry in a new direction. They poured the foundation and found the best people to build the dream. They partnered with the biggest names that specialized in the music they were looking for, such as Nile Rodgers of Chic, Panda Bear, and Pharrell Williams.
This isn’t any different when launching a business. The founders job is to pour concrete, find the right builders, communicate the dream. The hard part is letting the dream become bigger than the team….even bigger than the silent robotic leader.
Random Access Memories will be release next Tuesday, but you can listen to the full album on iTunes through the preview button:
Search on iTunes DAFT PUNK, then click on Album Random Access Memories and then if u want to listen the full album for free just click on text(link) ”Daft punk” in left top corner then you will get in Daft punk albums preview -> click on album Random Access Memories and there will be in left part somewhere in middle picture of the new album and in this picture there is a button PLAY NOW and you can listen for free full 1h14m34s of this new album… PS sorry for my terrible english
The music for today is up there…in that quote. See it. It’s right there. Do it! It’s one of the only hours of your life you won’t want back. I’m listening to it right now and I’m on track 3:Â Giorgio by Moroder…so far so great (well I’m a bit biased)
Today, My White Whale has resurfaced to further tease about the up and coming album Random Access Memories. I could try and explain how friggin excited I am about the possibilities of a tour, but I won’t…I’m FRIGGIN EXCITED!!! Hopefully they tour. It’s the way my wife and I plan to end our honeymoon, which has been going for about a year-and-a-half, and start our family.
So whatever…this may be a leak or a fake of their new single, but I’m tired of waiting. I’m moving on:
It’s my white whale. It’s been 14 years in the making. My last chance was 2007 and I’ve been on the hunt for something that I was just a shy too late to experience. It was just out my reach. I just didn’t have enough jingle in my pocket to mingle. No more…I’m ready, prepared, and waiting. Now, let’s take a journey.
A journey back to 1999; when life of computing was on the verge of destruction as it approached Y2K; when Prince was played for weeks straight on the local 97.9 radio station; when a junior in high-school cruised in his ballin’ white 1989 Oldsmobile Cutlass Supreme with burgundy interior, with 2 of the biggest subwoofers $1oo could buy in the trunk. I’m that junior. I’m that balla and I’ve never stopped boomin’…not in my head at least.
Every morning I would pick up a neighborhood freshman on my way to school, pop-in my favorite CD, and on track 2 my favorite song would play. It would sometimes get obnoxious, but I would always come back to it. It asked to be played. During the next months my curiosity and love of this band I knew nothing about grew as I stumbled upon MTV playing an amazing video about a dog and a boombox that rocked my socks off. I just couldn’t get enough. Until my college years started and my musical taste made a pivot. I followed the trend of being untrendy.
In 2007 I returned to my roots with one of favorite jobs of all time, a door guy at a club where my sister was a dj. It was an extremely hard moment in my life emotionally, and some of the most awesome times. My sister and I were not very close and working with the same friends brought us together. It’s one of the best moves I’ve made and I thank Ryan and Jason for taking a chance on a prep kid running the door at their indie club. Sometimes you discover how much harder, better, faster, stronger you are when you’re covered in sweat and dancing your tail off until early in the morning. Especially when your sister drops the music. I wish those times were still around, but I’ll save this for a deeper post. While working one night I heard a slight mention of something that I remembered from my past. I think Vegas was in the conversation and  an awesome show was going on out there. Yeah, that band that boomed in the Cutlass was going to be there, but they’ll make their rounds to other cities. Right? Right?
I missed it. I’ve had to relive it through YouTube. I saw what it was like to be there and watch the music live. That’s not enough. I wanted to be alive too.
I made it a point that a live experience was now a bucket list item. My obsession grew more and more to the point of infesting much of my 2009. It’s attached itself into a weekly habit of constantly keeping a watch out for tours, new albums, or even small appearances in movies. No matter how small their part, they make everything better. I’ve put a watch on SongKick.com. I’ve been saving for a trip. I’m waiting and I’m ready…just give me a hint of a sign.
SXSW ’13 started today. My wife and I were trying everything we could to go, but it would of taken nearly 1/3 of our savings to make it happen and it’s so BIG! There is so much that you feel like you’ll almost miss everything. We decided that it’s not for us this year, but maybe another year. No problem then. Today is just a basic Saturday. Let me just make my weekly search.
Wait…wait…I need to adjust the “Search Tools” to search only the latest in the last month. Ok, it’s working now. Oh hmmm that’s cool.
Wait! What? What’s that? There it is! There it is!!!!!! Samantha! There it is! The words I’ve been waiting for! And they’ve been waiting for me for nearly 4 days and I didn’t know it. The talk of something new. Not based on a movie. Not based on an assumption. But crap your pants proof that something is coming. It’s an article about posters going up all over SXSW. Maybe not exactly “crap your pants”, but pretty damn close. It’s proof! Something is happening! Why am I not at SXSW!!!?
Then I find out about an SNL ad that ran during last weeks episode… I’ve just crapped my pants. Where have I been these last weeks!? Why do my parents who watch SNL every week subconsciously know about this and I don’t. They probably didn’t even see the ad. They probably were looking down at their dogs who just pee everywhere. Don’t waste your ad there. Waste it on me!
I’m so excited. While writing this I put on a YouTube playlist and just let it run. Oh man my hopes are so high, and hate having high hopes. You don’t want to set your heroes up to fail. Nobody wins. This is why I refuse to watch movie trailers. Nothing ruined, no expectations. They’ve blown my expectations out of the water every time. They’re so beloved by so many groups including the groups that hate “main stream” and these guys ran an ad on SNL. They’re last  shows have been seen as some of the best in the world and I just want to be apart of it.
