Daft Punk
Around the World

It's time for old school, guys.

Today I'm bringing back a track that made history in French techno music, the so-called French House, a track by Daft Punk from 1997. In a way, they were pioneers of the genre and made it famous worldwide.

It's the most famous single by the Parisian duo (after Get Lucky?), and all of us, at least once, have probably seen that music video directed by Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Be Kind Rewind), a true psychedelic gem from the late '90s (you can find it here). What immediately catches the ear of someone listening for the first time is the repetitiveness of a single phrase, which is "Around The World" for over 6 minutes (although it was shortened in the radio edit).

The almost obsessive repetitiveness of the choruses and individual or multiple phrases is a trademark of the duo, which almost always draws inspiration from the funky and dance sounds of the '70s while also adopting the "robotic" style of Kraftwerk, the godfathers of almost all modern electronic music. A relevant example as famous as this track? Da Funk! It's a funky riff lasting over 5 minutes with a music video featuring a talking dog wandering through a city at night (???) directed by Spike Jonze.

Around The World is influenced by "Popcorn" from 1969, an instrumental by Gershon Kingsley, which became popular in 1972 with the version by Hot Butter. With this single, Daft Punk truly hit the mark: the typical House sounds of that period are fused with Dance samples from the '70s, creating a catchy and enjoyable instrumental, danceable yet NEVER banal or tacky... quite the opposite! As mentioned above, the duo is considered "pioneering" for today's electronic music: however, what sets these two robots apart from almost all today's electronic musical trash is their willingness to change their sound from album to album. From the French house of "Homework" to the synth-pop of "Discovery", the more modern proto-dubstep techno of "Human After All" and the dance revival of "Random Access Memories".

About the music video, I can only say that Gondry is simply a genius. The idea was to associate each dancer with a specific musical instrument: the robots spinning in a circle represent the vinyl and robotic voice, the athletes the bass line, the mummies the rhythm of the drum machine, the skeletons the guitars, and the swimmers the keyboard.

It is not the group’s first commercial success: years earlier, in 1994, "New Wave" was released, the embryo of "Alive", included in "Homework". In '95, the aforementioned "Da Funk" was released, making the duo particularly appreciated and well-known. Around The World was their definitive consecration in the market, along the same lines as the Prodigy (of the breakbeat and drum and bass type) and Fatboy Slim (trip-hop and big beat). Over the years, the duo has also spawned unnecessary musical clones, like Modjo (do you remember them? Neither do I!), yet, for better or worse, they left an indelible mark on dance floors worldwide (staying on the theme Around the World).

One last curiosity about the song: the Tre Allegri Ragazzi Morti, a rock group from Pordenone (therefore from my area), covered the song in their style in 2008. I'll leave it here if you're curious.

Thanks to Galensorg for the inspiration. Goodbye and see you next time.