Daft Punk

My first post: I have been a fan of Daft Punk for a while, one of the first dancey act I got into and was shocked to find out that the material that I always assumed was entirely original (or something like it) owes a great deal to a number of other artists. I’m not just talking about pinching a certain synth sound or chord progression, but complete theft of riffs. From the point of view of a ‘pella thief it is quite interesting to look at Daft Punk’s philosophy of stealing a riff rather than the vocal line and making something very different out of it.

Check out http://palmsout.blogspot.com/2007/02/sa … -punk.html for a list and mp3 links of the original songs which Daft Punk use as, shall we say, "inspiration". Their album Discovery is the most plagiaristic, and in my opinion artistically (as well as commercially) successful, drawing great influence from quite cheesy 70s and 80s soul and funk. It is the harmonically more complex nature of the riffs of these genres which they use that gave them their distinctive sound which distinguished them from other acts in the genre.

Yet I’m still not sure whether this revelation is a positive or negative one. Are they really great if their music isn’t really theirs? I still see them as creative; it takes a great intelligence to use others riffs in such a bold faced way and still make it sound like Daft Punk, a bit like that rather good Rage cover album Renegades[i:3phbgj52]. But it is a different sort of creativity, one more of a business nous or advertising savvy, than that of a true creative genius that one might ascribe to Mozart or a true pioneer of a genre. Contrastingly Hendrix did do covers and many consider (I know I do) him to be a pioneer.

But I suppose the big question that it comes down to, and the most pressing one for this site, is whether it is the method or the effect that is the most important thing about a song. I.e. Who gives a fuck if you have nicked a riff or two, or a vocal line, if the end result is that of a piece of music that is artistically successful, albeit it in a debt to the original where it comes from. I think the thing that makes a difference is putting your spin on it. Hendrix’s [i]Watchtower[/i:3phbgj52] certainly sounded little like Dylan’s, just as Daft Punk (although sounding closer to the original) alter it in structure and through use of new vocal additions make the original theirs.

I unfortunately have no certain conclusion. This is still something I’m thinking on. The best I’ll ever arrive at is an opinion. If you have any, please do share them. I find this a fascinating topic.