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30 Year Industry Vet & PANIC Founder Talks About Rave Culture & Its Future
30 and 25, those are the numbers PANIC founder Linus has been DJing and producing respectively. In those years, he’s seen rave culture transform yet also hold onto its core principles. His event series called PANIC started in 2017 viewing it as a platform for greater inclusivity. Recognizing the male-dominated industry, Linus has sought to create an environment representative of rave culture welcoming all people both on the dance floor and behind the decks. A 30-year industry vet, Linus looks back on his inspirations while looking to those artists helping shape today’s scene.
Own Daft Punk’s Roland TR-909 Drum Machine
That’s right, you could be the owner of Daft Punk’s Roland TR-909 drum machine. All you have to do is win an online auction for it.
The Roland TR-909 in question once belonged to Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk and has been listed on Facebook as a “collector’s item” on Facebook, set to go to the “highest bidder.”
The 909, which has been put up for action by Vintage & Analogue Occasion, comes still loaded with the presets recorded and used during the French duo’s seminal Homework album which was released in 1997.
“Come On, Helmets? They Need To Grow Up”: Trump’s Press Secretary Tweeted About Daft Punk
It’s been an interesting week in politics, there’s no denying that. Not even a week has passed since Donald Trump took control of the United States executive branch and the media is having a field day.
Despite winning the electoral college vote and thus the presidency, Trump seems to be putting his personal ego on the line once again. To begin, he ordered his White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer to turn his first official press conference into a targeted attach on the media for reporting of a sparse crowd during Trump’s inauguration last Friday. That is to say that Spicer’s first ever press conference as Trump’s White House Press Secretary, and thus Trump’s first order of business for him, was to address the attendance numbers (or lack thereof) during the inauguration, something he did by blatantly lying when he referred to the gathering as “the largest audience ever to witness an inauguration, period”, a statement that has been proven to be categorically false.
Spicer didn’t stop there. He took to the press conference lantern again this week to deliver another strange address, this time affirming that President Trump is a firm believer that he lost the popular vote in the election due to a rigged system that allowed millions of undocumented immigrants to vote for his rival, Hillary Clinton. Spicer confirmed that this is Trump’s belief, stating that it “has been a longstanding belief he has maintained. A concern that he has about voter fraud that’s based on information that’s been provided.” When asked about what that information is, Spicer declined to comment. After all how could he, when there’s absolutely no proof of such a thing?
Spicer’s string of interesting unpopular public opinion doesn’t stop there, and goes on to touch the world of dance music. In 2014 he took to Twitter to attack Daft Punk during their Grammy performance with Stevie Wonder: “Daft Funk — this is your 10 seconds in the spotlight – u r blowing it”.
Despite claiming to be an early fan, Spicer apparently forgot that Daft Punk have been considered standout music producers for decades,with six Grammy wins throughout their career. He then went on to say they should “grow up” for wearing helmets during the performance, as you can see from the tweets below:
Daft Funk — this is your 10 seconds in the spotlight – u r blowing it #GRAMMYs #Grammys2014
— Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 27, 2014
@DanDoranBlum was an early and still fan but come on helmets? tey need to grow up — Sean Spicer (@seanspicer) January 27, 2014
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Soma Records Celebrates 25 Years with Daft Punk, Robert Hood, Blawan, Jeff Mills, Andrew Weatherall, Kobosil, Vril and more
There is little to no doubt that Soma Records make the list as one of the most respected techno imprints of today. Label bosses Slam formed the label in the distant 1991 alongside friends Glenn Gibbons and Dave Clarke, and are now celebrating 25 years of operation.
The label made a name for itself in its infant years with a catalog of fantastic music outings, including Slam’s very own timeless “Positive Education” and early career releases from the likes of Surgeon, Envoy, Funk D’Void, Silicone Soul and Alex Smoke. Not many know, for example, that french duo Daft Punk released their first raw music pieces on the label back in 1994.
To celebrate the 25 year milestone, Soma has asked a selection of the world’s finest techno acts to provide fresh brand-new music for a specially curated 15-track Limited Edition 5XVinyl Box Set. Old timers the likes of Jeff Mills, Robert Hood, Steve Bicknell, Andrew Weatherall (appearing as Woodleigh Research Facility), Blawan and Adam Beyer were joined by more recent techno newcomers such as Kobosil, VRIL and Jonas Kopp to select and remix some of Soma’s best back-catalog material for a fresh representation of the role Soma plays in techno today.
Accompanying the brilliant music selection, Soma “decided it was necessary to match the unique musical sensibilities displayed with an artistic environment that clearly juxtaposed the ideas set forth in the project.” The collaboration with Scottish artist Kyle Irvine has resulted in a selection of unique designs crafted specifically for the box set, which also includes exclusive Soma 25 stickers, a poster and illustrated vinyl sleeves.
The box set will be officially released on March 31st.
Track List:
A1. Robert Hood – The Bond We Formed
A2. Jeff Mills – A Tale From the Parallel Universe
B1. Daft Punk – Drive (Slam Modular Interpretation)
B2. Adam Beyer – Just Things
C1. Blawan – Clipper
C2. The Woodleigh Research Facility – S.O.M.A 25
D. Josh Wink – Synodic Period
E1. Slam – Stepback (Jonas Kopp Remix)
E2. Slam – Visions (Kobosil Remix)
F. Percy X – X Track (Vril Remix 2)
G1. Slam – Tempest
G2. Steve Bicknell – Mind Cycles
H. Funk D’Void – 808 Planet
I. Joe Stawarz – Cry (Deepchord Remix)
J. Joe Stawarz – Beebear. (Deepchord Remix)
Connect with Soma: Online | Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud
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Daft Punk’s “Homework” Came Out 20 Years Ago Today, and NOTHING of Theirs Has Come Close Since
Daft Punk’s seminal Homework LP came out 20 years ago today. Feel old yet?
Daft Punk’s allure is not a secret to anyone. The French duo have not toured since 2007’s Alive, and it frankly seems that people get more infatuated with them as the years pass on and the unfounded rumors of a return tour turn out to be the same repeated hoax of years prior. While there is no denying that their work played a pivotal role in the foundation of dance music as we know it today, and that their Alive tour ten years ago was the forbearer of massive stage production that has since become a festival standard around the world, there is always a sense of wonder with regards to their ever-growing popularity and whether it’s in large part due to their continued secrecy and elusiveness.
As Homework celebrates this milestone anniversary, it is important to keep it within context of what dance music was at the time and what it has become since. Those not in the know easily join in repeating the rhetoric that the french duo composed of Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo completely revolutionized an other-wise unknown scene and sound, bringing it to the masses as a result. The truth is that it couldn’t be further from the truth: Daft Punk did not introduce the world to house music, nor to the broader sounds of dance music.
This is what Homework really was: Daft Punk’s business card to the world, an introduction of their unique production prowess to an already flourishing dance music scene. It surely helped mold dance music at the time and it continues to be one of the most important dance music albums ever produced. The duo produced the tracks without plans to release an album. After working on projects that were intended to be separate singles over five months, they considered the material good enough for an album. Yes, it brought attention to the French house music scene, charting in 14 different countries, peaking at number 3 on the French Albums Chart, number 150 on the United States Billboard 200 and at number 8 on the UK Albums Chart. By February 2001 — four years later — the album had sold more than two million copies worldwide and received several gold and platinum certifications. Daft Punk introduced Homework to the world at a time where other notable artists, the likes of The Chemical Brothers or Fatboy Slim, were already bringing in guest-star vocalists and sampling rock records to large crowds. Where they differed, Rolling Stone has argued, is in proving that “techno and house could be as elastic, catchy and, at times, as funny as the poppiest pop without diluting its hypnotically driving, acidic essence.”
Music critics since have been united in acknowledging the success that was Homework. The 16-track outing included what many consider to be Daft Punk’s ultimate anthem, “Around the World,” but also other notable tracks such as “Da Funk” and of course “Alive.” it is easy to see why the album was a prequel of what later would become the beginning sound EDM, a concoction that mixed electronic sounds with pop and hip-hop, all the while remaining applicable and approachable to music tastes at both ends of the spectrum.
Juxtaposed against the duo’s following albums, Homework remains the duo’s best work yet, and the most iconic both in terms of their personal career and its role in dance music as a whole. In celebration of twenty years of Homework we leave you with this fantastic short video of the duo playing sans helmets in 1995:
ENOUGH With The Daft Punk Tour Rumors And Click-Bait Articles
UPDATED Jan 12 2017: Today marked the 67,456th day of unfounded Daft Punk rumors (just kidding, but really!). The interesting thing is that this article was first published in in 2016 and is just as applicable today as it was then, considering the recently surfaced YouTube video many are alleging alludes to a Daft Punk tour in 2017.
The video, which you can see below, has now received a staggering 385,000 plus views in a matter of 12 days. It has been re-shared by music blogs world over and used as “source” to propagate Daft Punk Alive 2017 rumors by these very same blogs without any real foundation. It’s essentially ALL click-bait.
While eager fans cannot be blamed for clinging onto the smallest of possible clues hinting to a Daft Punk return on the road, dance music news and blogs have also been jumping on the bandwagon to report on “alleged” and “possible” tours for countless years now. The latest of such unfounded rumors was spread today by most of the relevant news outlets in circulation. To say that the internet is currently flooded by what can only be regarded as completely speculative news would be an understatement.
It all began on Reddit when a user posted claiming that “Lollapalooza has a Daft Punk page on their website,” resulting in many outlets reporting the finding as reliable source of information that the duo “may” be touring in 2017. Most articles went on to speculate that since Daft Punk toured in 1997 and 2007, 2017 would mark a new 10 year anniversary of their schedule and thus “made sense”. The Reddit thread followed an apparent Lollapalooza Chile lineup leak that depicted Daft Punk on the lineup as second billing, a specific detail which led many to think that it was a hoax.
While Daft Punk’s spokesman declined to comment to NME about future live shows, a separate source told Consequence of Sound that Daft Punk has no plans to perform live next summer.
A simple review of Lollapalooza’s site, however, revealed what could well be an explanation for all this raucous. Up until earlier today anyone could add past artists’ names to the end of a simple URL “http://www.lollapalooza.com/tag” to produce what appeared to be an artist database of acts that have played the festival before. This was the case for Pearl Jam, Metallica and other acts including Nirvana, a band that is definitely not going to be playing at Lollapalooza any time soon. A review of Lolla’s site revealed that tags were created for a lot of past artists such as Eminem, Nas, Vampire Weekend, Matt and Kim, Dresden Dolls, etc. At time of writing most of the above information was made newly unavailable on Lolla’s site, but the above screenshots live to tell a tale. The need for such a database is obvious for both SEO and marketing purposes, especially considering the fact that Lolla uses WordPress to host their site.
Think about this for a second: all a festival would need to do to receive free publicity from the majority of the world’s dance music blogs right now is get their web developer to add a simple “Daft Punk” page with relevant link on their website. Even innocently building an artist data base could lead to the same result.
Will Daft Punk tour in 2017? Maybe and maybe not. What I can say for sure is that the evidence being used to claim they might be touring is not evidence at all.
Watch The Oldest Video of Daft Punk Performing Unmasked
For the better part of the last 10 years the dance music world has been anxiously waiting for the return on tour of French duo Daft Punk. The usually effervescent festival lineup rumor mill hasn’t been disappointing this fall either, with the usual speculation, obvious trolling and fabricated leaks doing the rounds of the internet via Reddit, Facebook, Twitter and who knows what other social networks.
Although we heavily debunked the latest of such Daft Punk hoaxes, some continue to believe that 2017 is the magic year that will see the helmet-clad producers and DJs back performing in front of their fans. Adding to the excitement is a video that recently re-surfaced on the group’s very own Reddit thread, showing Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter playing live without their iconic headgear at The Carros Festival.
The video shot in Paris in the distant 1995 appears to be the oldest recording of the two performing without helmets, featuring a blend of acid, tech house and the style of electro that characterized the early Daft Punk sound that gained them notoriety world over during the 90s. In the video, which you can watch below, they perform Kraftwerk’s “Numbers” as well as their very own “Da Funk.”
Listen to “Starboy” – Daft Punk’s Latest Track Collab with The Weeknd
The rumors of a collaboration in the studio between electronica giants Daft Punk and The Weeknd were not unfounded.
Despite some skepticism and the fear that the joint work wouldn’t see the light of day, it is now confirmed that the title track of The Weeknd’s upcoming new album Starboy was indeed produced in collaboration between the French electronic duo and Canadian singer, songwriter Abęl Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd.
Naturally “Starboy” features Tefasye’s spectacular vocals, although Daft Punk’s presence in the overall sound of the track is unmistakable.
The Weeknd’s Starboy will be released November 26.
You can purchase the entire album and listen to the track via iTunes or Spotify below.
Check Out The Perfect Daft Punk Helmet, It’s FAR Better Than The Original
While Daft Punk’s role in dance music is unquestionable, part of the duo’s allure has long been both the elusiveness of their sets in recent years and of their own personal identity throughout their careers. Although we know them also as Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, it would hard for anyone that isn’t close to them to really recognize or know how they look like, as they spent years performing behind helmets before they stopped touring.
