If you’ve been living under a rock for the past week, let me be the first to tell you that Daft Punk has a new album called Random Access Memories. It’s pretty damn good. The French dudes/ Robots have gone in a different direction, and it’s fun and funky. The past albums have been raucous electronic furies that have inspired many a drunken dance parties, I’m sure this record will do the same but in a more subtle way. Throw back jam style. I’m not gonna talk about the Punk Robots today though. The blogosphere has been overrun with news on them in the past few weeks. Not to say that I don’t think they deserve the attention. Quiet the contrary. I spent many a sleepless nights with headphones strapped to my head, writing, editing, or playing Halo 3 to these guys. Sure Halo 3 isn’t as productive as the other two options, but damnit if that Robot Rock doesn’t make the multiplayer experience that much crazier. While Daft Punk is the dopest, there are some fellow Frog electro cats that seem to have fallen by the wayside. This week’s ARTIST OF THE WEEK: Justice.
The Justice duo (Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosney) blasted onto the scene with the award winning video for their hit single D.A.N.C.E.
I usually hate music videos. I HATE THEM. I don’t get why we need a visual component to music. The video is just fluff. And for sure this video is nothing but fluff, but this is some stylistic fluff. D.A.N.C.E. is the jam. After I heard these guys in college, they became regulars on every party playlist I put together. Their album Cross released in 2007 was the perfect thing to hold over until the release of the next Daft Punk record. These guys rage with the best of them. The album is through and through one of the best electronic records I’ve ever had the pleasure of listening to. Every track builds to an exploding peak that puts the listener into an all out state of party. And there is nothing wrong with that.
Phantom Pt. II is also a must listen. Total face melter.
I’m generally pretty hesitant when it comes to electronic music. I don’t
know why that is. I’ll get countless recommendations from people and ignore them. I ignore them because I find no reason to trust fans of electronic music. Most of them are fried to a point where they have no discernable taste whatsoever. Club drugs will have that effect on people. Justice stood out though. The reason being, they are flat-out rock stars. I realized that after watching their rock-doc A Cross The Universe. The whole damn thing is on Youtube. Watch it here. These guys are fucking crazy. This movie has everything, great tunes, great visuals, drinking, drugs, guns, partying, and sex. It also enlightened me of the fact that you can Fedex handguns to people. Who fucking knew?
They released an accompanying live soundtrack for this movie also titled A Cross The Universe. It seems weird for there to be a live album for an electronic band, but in all honesty it’s pretty sweet. Definitely worth checking out since most of the songs are remixed for the live show. It’s on Spotify for all to hear
Their follow up album Audio, Video, Disco was released in 2011. Not as rad as the first but it is still a super fun record. It just doesn’t have the aggression that was present on that first album. Doesn’t mean you can’t get down to it though, totally worth a spin. I really love the track Ohio. The vocals are nuts, and the accompanying piano is great.
After you get done listening to the new Daft Punk, revisit these guys. You won’t regret it at all. Throw the headphones on and get lost in your own dance party. Why not?
Big Hugs,
Kelly
 