Daft Punk

[Theta]

So, I picked up that Daft Punk "Greatest Hits" two-disc set that came out. Mostly, if I'm being honest, for a few songs and the DVD of music videos (they should have put the infamous "Workit!" by evilzug on there, but otherwise the DVD is solid.)

To be honest, I know they're repetitive but I like them despite myself. How 'bout you lot?

[BuckyO'harre]

I liked the Discovery albulm, and the anime vids made for the first 4 songs were sweet.

[Cpt Kirks 2pay]

I do love 'One More Time' actually, even though it's a personal thing as it marked my flight out of a dreaded time in Sydney over to New Zealand and into the arms of a nice old gal from Lake Michigan on a Kiwi bus. But with attention given to this song, it is a brilliant old track, the 3 or 8 minute version.

[Brocktune]

Daft Punk is the gnarliest paradox for me. i love LOOOOVE their music. i hate HAAAAAATE the vocals. i know its dance music, but im sorry, you cant think of at least one other line to alternate between everytime you say "around the world"? FUCK! and most of the stuff that i have listened to is the same. the vocals are always so boring and repetitive, but the music is like fucking ear candy when you are on pills. love them and hate them. but i hate them, because i want to love them so much more.

[wonkabar]

Yeah, Discovery was a great album.

[buster00]

Brock, I think you summed it up quite nicely. Daft Punk are Capital-E-Excellent for when you're totally losin' your mind in a chemical way. Ain't no shame in having as much Daft Punk as you can get your hands on.

[MrMadCow13]

The "Around the World" music video is amazing.

[wonkabar]

Da Funk ain't bad either

[ThisIsTheGirl]

I've loved these guys since Homework came out in 1997, and I'm still in awe of them.

They do a lot of stuff under other names too, and between them, those two guys have been responsible for some of my favourite Dance Music moments of the last 10 years. Hearing "Music Sounds Better With You" for the first time at Carnival with about 3000 gurning people being the best!

I really loved that Jane Fonda Workout-sampling tune when it first came out, but I gotta say, that Eric Prydz tune didn't float my boat at all, and the video, despite featuring loads of scantily clad women, was lame, IMO.

I produce dance music myself in my spare time (which means I've done fuck-all in nearly 6 months), and I can safely say they have some of the tightest production in the business, and they've got talented ears for picking out samples and getting the best out of synths etc, And their use of compression is second to none.

I understand the arguments about the lyrics, but I don't really see them as a lyricists - they use vocals to form part of the instrumentation, the actual words aren't really very important. And, y'know, they're French, so you've gotta expect a little cheesiness from them.

[AtomicHyperbole]

They made an anmimé movie I've still yet to see... Interstella 5555. Apparently it's cheesetastic!

[doglips]

I liked the Discovery albulm, and the anime vids made for the first 4 songs were sweet.

Videos were made for all the songs on the album......

Atomic has mentioned them above........check it out.....

[ThisIsTheGirl]

They made an anmimé movie I've still yet to see... Interstella 5555. Apparently it's cheesetastic!

I've not seen it, but it's £13.99 on Play.Com

I'm peeved to hear that they haven't put the WorkIt video on this new collection. I would certainly pay to own a DVD of just their videos. I've acquired a few online, but it's not the same without their boxart

[ZombieZoneSolutions]

I love the Leiji Matsumoto anime style videos, the music I don't care
for so much, but I must admit it is catchy and cheesy fake disco
fun.

[Theta]

I'm peeved to hear that they haven't put the WorkIt video on this new collection. I would certainly pay to own a DVD of just their videos. I've acquired a few online, but it's not the same without their boxart

"Workit!" is actually not official. I did hear that they know it exists and they love it, but there were just too many companies they had to get clearance from to officially release it. I know Atari especially is apparently quite pissy about the use of their sprites in Flash animation, so the appearance of Pitfall Harry didn't help things.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

Electroma, the Daft Punkers directorial debut!.

Apparently, Variety loathed it, but it looks kinda neat.

IMDB, "Follows the history of two robots, the members of Daft Punk, on their quest to become human."

[DerLanghaarige]

I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Daft Punk!
Fuck, I'm even one of the few only people who are able to enjoy their 3rd Album "Human After All"!!
Interesting is that all of their album sounds different:
Homework is a good old school house with a big slice of funk.
Discovery is french house (a.k.a. vocal house) and definitely their most commercial CD.
Human After All is ugly and mean electronic stuff!

I love them. Seriously! Especially for their ability to fuck around with vocal samples in the weirdest way!

P.S.: But I love Fatboy Slim and the Chemical Brothers still more than Daft Punk

[sleepflower]

I am yet to hear the album, will give it some consideration, being a compilation, as I can listen to it that way.

I have never been able to listen to many dance album al the way through, I get bored or annoyed. The only few I can think of are Chemical Brothers (dig your own hole) which is still quite rare for me to listen to as a whole or the AIR albums. The moon safari is possibly the greatest album of it's genre. The others are good, but in different ways.


Isit worth getting the whole Daft Punk best of, or is it better just to get a few tracks from download?

[unikrunk]

They are okay, but I would rather hear LCD Soundsystem's Daft Punk Is Playing at My House, any day of the week.

[King Psyz]

I just re-downloaed my copy of homework onto my zen, so I guess there's a lot of refound daft love.

I also started listening to the propellerheads album, deckdrumsandrockandroll lately too...friggin excellent.

[Keepcoolbutcare]

so, out of spite, obstinance, loved the singles yet never a fan of the albums as a cohesive whole syndrome, I studiously avoided "Alive 2007" even knowing that those in the know claim their live show to be amongst the greatest in the world, even knowing that, duh, since it's Live, they're probably going to be playing those singles I love so much...

my mistake.

It's awesomeosity knows no bounds, the re-workings of certain tracks work wonders, the flow is flawless, and there's no way in hell I'm going to miss them next time they come anywhere within a 100mile radius.

[Hermanator X]

ALive 2007 is indeed awesome.

For an mp3 of the tours opener at Coachella, go here
http://bassilisk.com/music/

Not as good quality as the official CD but still freakin awesome and different enough to enjoy. Especially the Close Encounters intro......

[Keepcoolbutcare]

thanks for that Herm...

[tapehead]

so, out of spite, obstinance, loved the singles yet never a fan of the albums as a cohesive whole syndrome, I studiously avoided "Alive 2007" even knowing that those in the know claim their live show to be amongst the greatest in the world, even knowing that, duh, since it's Live, they're probably going to be playing those singles I love so much...

my mistake.

It's awesomeosity knows no bounds, the re-workings of certain tracks work wonders, the flow is flawless, and there's no way in hell I'm going to miss them next time they come anywhere within a 100mile radius.

I'd been warned off this as the 'live' show is apparently VERY similar... but as there is little chance of me catching this tour now, I might as well.

[instant_karma]

Discovery is still their high water mark for me, but I'll be sure to check out Alive 2007.

Also, I'd suggest anybody who likes Discovery check out their 2003 re-mix album Daft Club simply for the version of Too Long by Gonzales. It's like Barry Manilow doing Daft Punk.

[TheButcher]

From The Playlist 3/04/2009:
A Good Look: Daft Punk To Score 'Tron 2'

"Tron 2" is honestly nowhere on our radar. We have zero nostalgia for the campy, and corny effects of the original, but the Disney sequel just made one huge step in the right direction by hiring French electronic maestros Daft Punk to compose the music, according to Upcoming Film Scores.

This still doesn't mean we'd probably pay to see the film, but anything Daft Punk soundtracks is absolutely worth listening to and it'll probably mean we're at least curious to see the picture (those who haven't heard one-half, Thomas Bangalter's "Irréversible" claustrophobic score; run don't walk). It's being touted by UFS as Daft Punk's first proper feature-film score, and while that's technically true, the band have dabbled in all kinds of soundtrack work (they even made two films, though the later, "Electroma," admittedly does not contain any of their music).

"Tron" the original did have something going for it, electronic music legend Wendy (originally Walter) Carlos' weird and moody score. "Tron 2" will star Garrett Hedlund, Olivia Wilde, Jeff Bridges and Beau Garret and is evidently being pegged for a 2011 release date if IMDB's information is correct. Thanks to Russ at Chud for the head's up.

From Vulture 7/24/09:
Is This Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy Theme?

From Spinner Mar 10th 2010:
New 'Tron: Legacy' Trailer Features New Daft Punk Score

Daft Punk - Tron Legacy Theme (Basic Slack Midnight Cheap Mix)

[TheButcher]

Electroma, the Daft Punkers directorial debut!.

Apparently, Variety loathed it, but it looks kinda neat.

IMDB, "Follows the history of two robots, the members of Daft Punk, on their quest to become human."

Daft Punk - Electroma

A Scene from Daft Punks: Electroma .

Music : Todd Rundgren - International feel

I love that song!

[TheButcher]

Daft Punk’s Tron Legacy Soundtrack to be Released November 23

[Brocktune]

do we have a birdy nam nam thread?

[TheButcher]

You can hear samples of six tracks here.
After the intro loads,a player pops up in the upper right corner under the search bar.

All six can be heard here.

Thanks!

[TheButcher]

From io9:
Get a taste of Daft Punk's official Tron Legacy score

From /film:
Tron Legacy Soundtrack Website Launches

[TheButcher]

TRON: LEGACY - Daft Punk's "Derezzed":

[TheButcher]

From /film:
‘Tron Legacy’ Director Joseph Kosinski Talks Extensively About Daft Punk’s Score

[TheButcher]

‘Tron: Legacy’: Daft Punk’s music hard-wired by 1982 heritage

WELCOME TO THE MACHINE: On Dec. 17, the Disney film “Tron: Legacy” picks up the story of the 1982 movie “Tron,” which was neither a critical nor commercial success but somehow still echoes in pop culture as an early signpost of the digital era’s glowing frontier. “Tron” is remembered more for its ideas and images (and its namesake video game) than for its story or characters, and that is a challenge presented to this new film, which is directed by Joseph Kosinski and stars Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund and Olivia Wilde. We’re counting down to the release date and today, Randy Lewis takes a look at the heritage of the film’s music.

Daft Punk’s mission in creating the music score for “Tron: Legacy” is doubly imposing. First, the French electronic music duo is charged with creating soundscapes to help director Joseph Kosinski guide audiences convincingly into the inner dimensions of virtual reality. In doing so, Daft Punk members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo also face the challenge of delivering a worthy successor to the work of one of their key influences and one of the true pioneers of the entire field of electronic music: Wendy Carlos.

“Creatively, we all wanted the same thing,” Kosinski recently told KCRW-FM program director Jason Bentley, who also is the music supervisor for “Tron: Legacy.” “I knew we wanted to create a classic film score that blended electronic and orchestral music in a way that hadn’t been done before.”

That’s what Carlos did when she composed and performed the score for the original “Tron” film in 1982 for director Steven Lisberger, bringing to the project her technological and compositional innovations that in the late 1960s and ’70s significantly helped transform electronically generated sounds into bona fide music.

The score for “Tron” featured a trailblazing integration of traditional orchestral music with the sweeping, atmospheric synthesized sounds Carlos had introduced to much of the world in 1968 with her groundbreaking “Switched-On Bach” album. “It was a chance to work with a big orchestra and a fairly big electronic ensemble and wed the two together before synths had gotten to the stage where they could be used in the same room with the orchestra…”

THERE’S MORE, READ THE REST

– Randy Lewis

[TheButcher]

Daft Punk Make Red-Carpet Debut in Balenciaga at 'Tron: Legacy' Premiere

[TheButcher]

Daft Punk immersed in 'Tron' score - Music grew from a supporting player to a starring role

Originally intended as seasoning sprinkled modestly throughout "Tron: Legacy," Daft Punk's adventurous score quickly grew from a supporting player to a starring role, with the finished film featuring wall-to-wall music.

First-time director Joseph Kosinski's "vision initially was to have (the music) be more of a minimal thing, have greater spaces," music supervisor Jason Bentley recalls. "The way it turned out, it worked better if there was more of a prominence of music. That revealed itself in the process."

With its electronic, futuristic synthetic sound, Daft Punk -- the French duo composed of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter -- seemed the perfect fit for the sequel to the 1982 cult classic, "Tron."

"They've been trading on the aesthetic of 'Tron' for some time," Bentley says of the space-age, helmet-wearing pair, who did not respond to interview requests, maintaining their air of mystery.

The twosome were Kosinski's first choice for the movie, but it took a fair amount of courting to convince them. "They're just really careful and meticulous about their process," Bentley says. "They really took their time. But it was worth it. It was a huge commitment for them. There was no touring and no recording" during the two-year process.

Once Daft Punk signed on, Bentley took them around to meet with top composers, including Hans Zimmer and John Powell, to see if they wanted to combine efforts, especially since other than a small art house film scored by Bangalter, they had never composed for a film before, much less orchestrated one.

"It would have been legitimate if they'd said they wanted to partner with Hans or John -- they would have probably put Disney at ease -- but Daft Punk said after all these meetings, 'We want to do what these guys do. We want to build a studio and not miss a minute of this process.' They were like sponges," Bentley says.

The music supervisor then surrounded them with all the resources they needed, including music editors, tech support, an orchestrator and a conductor. "They all served the vision and ideas of Daft Punk," Bentley says.

The studio's confidence in the musicians grew as Disney witnessed the Internet excitement over Daft Punk's involvement. "It was interesting to see Disney coming (around) to see who they had on their hands," Bentley says. "Initially they were quite nervous. A simple Google (search) that came back with as many things about Daft Punk (scoring) as about a sequel was an indication it was a pretty good decision."

Instead of scoring to picture per usual, Daft Punk began submitting demos to Kosinski as he was shooting. He and the story editor would take the music and fit it to specific scenes.

"Daft Punk didn't have the picture until quite a bit later," Bentley says. "Once they did, they were able to finish things." Kosinski had music so early he never used a temp score. A side benefit: He played Daft Punk's cues on set to help get the actors into character.

Daft Punk's music complements the sound effects, weaving out of scenes like the all-important flying memory discs and roaring lightcycles. "(Kosinski) set up meetings before the film was shot and was making those introductions so the composers and sound designers at Skywalker were communicating," says Bentley. "It goes to the point of having 'Tron: Legacy' be an immersive filmgoing experience."

[TheButcher]

From THR:
Daft Punk Pull Back the Curtain on 'Tron: Legacy' Soundtrack

Few musical groups have the power to bring worlds together like robot helmet-wearing French beatmasters Daft Punk. In the ‘90s, they merged the disparate worlds of techno and rock; the following decade, they created a dance-floor quake that was part disco, part heavy metal. Now, Daft Punk has bridged the gap between fan-boys and technophiles with their ambitious soundtrack and orchestral score for Tron: Legacy.

The duo of Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, as they're known sans headgear, provided the pulse-raising beats that drive the sequel to the 1982 original. In fact, as only their fourth studio album in nearly 14 years, news of the soundtrack prompted electronic musicians around the world to make their own fake Daft Punk tracks, anticipating what a futuristic vision coupled with the group’s cutting-edge electronic stylings might sound like. But with all the bogus "leaks" onto the internet, the real Tron: Legacy soundtrack explores an entirely new sonic direction for the electro maestros, juxtaposing their drum machines with the lush textures of a full orchestra.

The Hollywood Reporter recently met up with the Grammy Award-winning musicians at Henson Studios in Hollywood to discuss their first venture into film scoring, philosophies on the future and what happened behind the scenes on the set of Tron: Legacy.

THR: How did you get involved with this film?

Thomas Bangalter: We first heard that their people had tried to contact us without really succeeding, so we got back in touch with them. That was quite a long time ago around fall of 2007. I think we were really approached by [director] Joe Kosinski in the early process of the early research and development of the film. It wasn’t greenlit yet, and there wasn’t really a script per se. We were on tour at that time, and it took almost a year to decide whether we had the desire and the energy to dive into something like that.

THR: What made you think that this film would be good, even though you had no script and the production hadn't started?

Bangalter: You never know whether something will be good, but the interesting thing for us was that Joe was concurrently working on this film with Steven Lisberger, the director from the first one, for which we have great admiration and respect as a human being and the legacy of that film. Having Jeff Bridges on board helped too.

We were interested in the relationship between society and technology, and how the place of technology in the world had changed so much. The first movie in 1982 was a very colorful, hopeful, naive look at technology, and the power of the computer. Thirty years later, this new movie would be a dark and not-innocent look at technology. It was in common with how we feel about technology, which is this love-hate relationship with it. It can be wonderful and terrifying.

THR: How did you feel about all the fake Tron tracks that were being passed around on the internet?

Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo: As long as we’re putting out better music than what’s out there, then it’s not hurting us.

Bangalter: There’s a lot of expectations and fantasizing of what we are and what Tron is, and it can be an exciting thing and everyone can have their own different thoughts of what they would like it to be.

De Homem-Christo: And it has to do with the fact that we don’t do music very often and these big expectations of what Tron could be.

THR: What was your first experience seeing Tron as a kid?

De Homem-Christo: We didn’t go to the movies much as a kid, but I remember going with my parents, and my brother and me. We saw the posters, which got us excited. I was 8 years old.

THR: How did that first experience of seeing the original Tron influence the style of Daft Punk today?

Bangalter: I think Tron is a good example of minimalism. That’s what we liked with the direction of the new film. It can be huge film, but there’s a lot of negative space, so there’s this certain minimalist approach, that "less is more" feel, that we appreciate artistically.

There is also a timeless quality to it. In the first Tron, one thing that really resonates with us was the influences that it carried from the past. It almost looked like Georges Méliès silent film, Voyage to the Moon or Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. It was shot in black and white, and then animated, but also it was the first film that had computer graphics. This bridge of being something that looked like it was being made in the 1900s as much as something that looked like it was 20 years ahead of its time is always something that we really liked in art.

THR: There is an anachronistic feel to the soundtrack too. There are electronic elements, but there are rich textures to the strings as well. It’s got a Lawrence of Arabia feel to parts of the score.

Bangalter: It’s funny you mention Lawrence of Arabia, because when we started to look at that concept art, we actually started putting music together before we had the script. We thought of the digital world as being like a desert. Jeff Bridges' character almost looks like the Ten Commandments. We liked this idea of taking classic Hollywood scores and try to clash it against electronics and 1970s science fiction soundtracks with a much darker feel, like John Carpenter.

THR: Tron: Legacy deals with the idea that technology helps us create another doppelganger in the digital realm. With social media and interactivity as it is today, we all have another persona. How do your costumes reflect this idea of embracing another persona?

Bangalter: We really feel like The Wizard of Oz sometimes; we’re the guys behind the curtains pushing some buttons. We like this idea of stimulating the imagination and blurring the lines between fiction and reality. But technology is actually making this thing harder. In the same way that you’d have a magic trick 30 years ago, the same magician who does the same magic trick today in the digital age, it’s much more complicated to keep the secret, and to make the trick happen, because of this access.

THR: Would you ever do away with your costumes?

De Homem-Christo: This all existed before the costumes.

Bangalter: We feel like we’re building something aesthetically, so we like the idea of the evolution. So far, each piece of music or everything has been to expand it, instead of backtracking or trying to destroy what we have done.

THR: Are you working on any more soundtracks?

Bangalter: We never say never. We want to do more Daft Punk music. We’ve learned a great deal of things from this. We like the idea of having this addition to our palette. It definitely opened up some new possibilities of adding traditional instruments with electronic ones. We are trying to find every artform to express ourselves.

THR: What about a new Daft Punk record?

Bangalter: We just finished this thing, which was a challenge, and we’re now working on things to come.

De Homem-Christo: We like to keep things as a surprise. It’s always better like that.

[travis-dane]

The soundtrack is good stuff, listening to it right now, it is very similar to the Inception and Matrix soundtracks and I like that.
I hope they do a soundtrack for a good movie some day.

[TheButcher]

The Playlist Exclusive:
Joseph Kosinski Hopes Daft Punk Will Be Down For More Adventures In The ‘Tron’ Universe

Yesterday we spoke with “Tron Legacy” mastermind Joseph Kosinksi about a lot of things regarding his wild, $300 million video art installation that masquerades, quite handily, as a holiday season blockbuster.

And of course amidst the discussion was talk of French house robots Daft Punk and their significant contribution to the film: a glittery, awe-inspiring score which is so impressive that at the screening we attended in Manhattan, their name in the end credits was the only part of the film that elicited applause.

Kosinski told The Playlist that his intent was to create “a classic film score with classic themes and melodies but blended electronic music and orchestral music in maybe a way that hadn’t been done before, but also to blur the line between what is score and what is sound design.” If that sounds like a daunting task, it is. “We’ve been working on the music as long as I’ve been working on the movie,” he said.

We then asked if he’d want to work with Daft Punk on another film score.

“If we were lucky enough to get another opportunity to do another ‘Tron’ score, then I would absolutely want to do it with them again. I think they’ve kind of created the sonic template for this movie, so absolutely. I can’t imagine doing it without them.”

Kosinksi said the Daft Punk score/sound is so wed to the “Tron Legacy” universe that, while he wouldn’t necessarily want to import that style into something else that he’s working on (and we’ll have details on the dual projects he’s currently developing tomorrow), if he got invited back to do another “Tron” movie, then he would of course bring the robots with him. So does that mean more ‘Tron’ movies for Kosinski? The director does sound game. “It all depends obviously on how ‘Tron Legacy’ does,” he said. “And then if the fans demand it and Disney wants us to go back, we’ll start thinking about how to do that.”

Of course, the thing dictating the possibilities of a sequel are the first film’s box office. And we’ll find that out soon enough - “Tron Legacy” opens on Friday in traditional, 3D and IMAX 3D theaters. We suggest seeing it in IMAX 3D if you can. But that’s only if you like your mind melted.

[TheButcher]

TRON: Legacy Remix Album On The Way?

[Brocktune]

tron legacy soundtrack = ok but bleak. i was way over it in a mere few listens.

[TheButcher]

Daft Punk’s ‘Tron: Legacy’ Soundtrack To Be Remixed; Album Art and Track List Revealed

01 – The Glitch Mob: “Derezzed”
02 – M83 vs. Big Black Delta: “Fall”
03 – The Crystal Method: “The Grid/Game Has Changed”
04 – Teddybears: “Adagio for Tron”
05 – Ki:Theory: “The Son of Flynn”
06 – Paul Oakenfold: “C.L.U.”
07 – Moby: “The Son of Flynn”
08 – Boys Noize: “End of Line (Boys Noize Remix)”
09 – Kaskade: “Rinzler”
10 – Com Truise: “Enron Part II”
11 – Photek: “End of Line”
12 – The Japanese Popstars: “Arena”
13 – Avicii: “Derezzed”
14 – Pretty Lights: “Solar Sailor”
15 – Sander Kleinenberg: “Tron Legacy (End Titles)”

[Tyrone_Shoelaces]

PREMIERE: Crystal Method Remix Daft Punk's 'Tron'

[TheButcher]

Watch: Emile Hirsch-Directed Video For Daft Punk’s ‘Alive’

Emile Hirsch has been keeping a low profile of late. He hasn’t been seen on screen since 2009’s “Taking Woodstock,” but he’ll be making his way back to screens later this year with the alien invasion flick “The Darkest Hour.” He’s also got the William Friedkin dark comedy “Killer Joe” likely to do festival rounds at the very least sometime this year. So what is he doing until then? Directing Daft Punk videos, it seems.

The actor revealed the clip on YouTube today and it’s…interesting. For any remaining “Tron: Legacy” fanboys expecting lightcycles, a campy Michael Sheen and skin-tight jumpsuit-clad Olivia Wilde you might want to look elsewhere. This is one pure bro-town with two dudes skating, pumping iron, taking vitamins and then facing each other in a dance off. So yeah, it’s a little strange but pretty fun in a demented way as well.

So turn up the speakers and let it go. No word yet if this is an official spot or some random thing Hirsch made on his own time. But either way, making a video for a song that’s 10 years old is sort of weird. [via Vulture]

Daft Punk "Alive" Directed by Emile Hirsch

[TheButcher]

From THR:
SXSW 2012: 'Rainbow Connection' Composer Paul Williams Working on Daft Punk's New Album

After writing hits for The Carpenters, Barbra Streisand and The Muppets, Williams is collaborating with the French duo on their follow-up to the "TRON: Legacy" soundtrack.

Although music listeners today are in many cases less familiar with him than his expansive body of work, Paul Williams is an iconic singer-songwriter responsible for many of the biggest pop hits of the 1970s and '80s. After producing hits for Three Dog Night ("An Old Fashioned Love Song"), The Carpenters ("We’ve Only Just Begun"), Barbra Streisand ("Evergreen," which earned him an Academy Award for Best Song) and The Muppets ("Rainbow Connection") among many others, he’s set to collaborate with one of this generation’s iconic artists: Daft Punk.

Following a screening of Paul Williams Still Alive, a documentary about his life and career which screened several times at the 2012 South by Southwest film festival, Williams revealed that he’s been working with the French duo on their follow-up to the TRON: Legacy soundtrack. “I’ve been working with Daft Punk, yeah,” he told THR earlier this week. “I’ve written a couple of tunes on their next album.”

Comparing it to his past work with writers such as Kenneth Ascher, not to mention icons like Streisand, he said of the experience, “It was working with another composer writing lyrics for them. But I don’t want to talk about the specifics of the album.”

Although Williams initially volunteered the information in a q&a after a screening of Stay Alive held earlier in the festival, he was reluctant to ooffer too many details about their work together. “I feel like I don’t want to talk about the stuff that I’m doing with them, because they want a press blackout on the album until it’s out,” he said. “So I should basically not be talking about it at all.”

“But I just think they’re an amazingly brilliant,” Williams added. “The way they explore the possibilities of sound. And I’m also totally attracted to the fact that they choose to do it anonymously. I think that’s fantastic.” After spending years as a staple on talk shows, Williams indicated he could appreciate their efforts to avoid the spotlight as celebrities. “They’re behind masks, and their true visual identity is something for the most part they’ve kept from the stage experience – which has its own appeal at this point of my life.”

Williams didn't offer any other details, but at the SXSW q&a he indicated that the album might run up in stores as soon as June 2012.

[TheButcher]

Captain Harlock Creator Knighted By France

Galaxy Express 999 creator's 59 year anime/manga career earns him a fancy French title.

Leiji Matsumoto, creator of the likes of Space Pirate Captain Harlock, Galaxy Express 999 and the fantastic Daft Punk music videos which formed Interstella 5555, has been made a Knight of the order of Arts and Letters by the French government. The Ordre des Arts et des Lettres recognizes individuals, including foreign nationals, who've made significant contributions to the arts. Matsumoto received the honor at the French embassy in Tokyo on Tuesday.

Matsumoto joins the likes of Shigeru Miyamoto, Peter Molyneux, and Akira creator, Katsuhiro Otomo, in the first rank of the order. Recipients of the rank of Commandeur, the highest the order can bestow, include T. S. Eliot, Sean Connery, Bob Dylan and Jean Claude Van Damme.

Matsuomoto will celebrate his 60th year as a mangaka in 2013. He's worked in numerous genres since his professional debut in 1957, but his epic space operas, particularly his take on Yoshinobu Nishizaki's Space Battleship Yamato, are regarded as his most popular and influential works. At 74-years-old, Matsuomoto is still active in anime/manga production. His most recent work, a post-apocalyptic action adventure called Ozuma, aired in Japan earlier this year.

[TheButcher]

HAS A NEW DAFT PUNK TRACK BEEN LEAKED?

The internet is buzzing with news that a previously unheard Daft Punk track may have been leaked.

A song called 'Emphazed' has made its way onto YouTube and it's being claimed that the track is a brand new jam from electro's most famous duo.

The authenticity of the tune has the Mixmag office split. Some of us reckon it's a right duff, while others think it does bear some classic Daft Punk qualities.

We couldn't get the boys on the blower but some fans aren't convinced. Top electro blog HarderBloggerFaster.com reckons: "The dude who uploaded it emailed it to me a couple of days ago - too generic for me. If real it would have been taken down by now."

So... What do you lot think?

Daft Punk - Emphazed (leaked version 2013)

[TheButcher]

Daft Punk Signs With Columbia Records
The highly influential French DJ duo has released three albums via EMI. A new album, their first in seven years, is expected this spring.

Sony Music is ramping up its dance music arsenal. Just three days after announcing a new strategic alliance with Ultra Records, a leading label of the EDM movement, news is emerging that Columbia Records has signed Daft Punk. A source confirms to The Hollywood Reporter, "It's a done deal."

The revered, reclusive and highly influential French DJ duo had released all previous recordings via EMI’s Virgin Records, now owned by Universal, with the exception of its most recent full-length, Disney’s Tron: Legacy, which Daft Punk’s Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter scored.

Prior to Tron, the last proper Daft Punk album was 2005’s Human After All. Signing the electronic music pioneers is a major score for the venerable 125-year-old Columbia, which also recently added Depeche Mode to its roster.

Confirmed details about Daft Punk’s forthcoming fourth album are few and far between, although producer/Chic co-founder Nile Rodgers recently hinted that it would be out in the coming months. Singer/songwriter/ASCAP president Paul Williams, veteran bassist Nathan East, Feist collaborator Chilly Gonzales and legendary disco producer Giorgio Moroder (via a spoken monologue) are among others who have reportedly collaborated with the duo over the past couple of years, although whether and what form their contributions to the album might take is unclear.

In a report Saturday, French newspaper Le Parisien seemed to affirm that an album is expected soon, reporting that it will be released in the spring.

Worth noting: although Daft Punk's name was not on the recently revealed Coachella lineup, an insider says the group was offered a "gigantic sum of money" to headline the California festival but ultimately turned it down.

A label rep would not return THR or Billboard’s request for comment.

Twitter: @shirleyhalperin; @jemaswad

[TheButcher]

Computerized - Daft Punk feat. Jay-Z

[TheButcher]

Tony's Theme (Scarface) - Giorgio Moroder


There’s A New TRON Game Coming, And Someone Very Cool Is Scoring It…


Daft Punk - Giorgio By Moroder