Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition)＜完全生産限定盤＞

ダフト・パンクの大ヒットアルバム『Random Access Memories』からドラムパートを抜いた超異色作『Random Access Memories (Drumless Edition)』

2013に発売され、第56回グラミー賞において主要5部門すべてで受賞を果たし世界的な大ヒットを記録したダフト・パンクのアルバム『ランダム・アクセス・メモリーズ』。2023年5月の同作品の10周年記念盤リリースから約4ヶ月、今回はアルバム収録楽曲の《ドラム抜き》音源が収録された『ランダム・アクセス・メモリーズ (ドラムレス・エディション)』が発売される。
ドラムの音色が一切抜かれたアルバムのリスニング体験は、まったく新しい感覚を生み出し、それまで聴いていたトラックは全く違うものに聴こえてくる。「ウィズイン (ドラムレス・エディション)」では、ダフト・パンクの盟友であり作曲家・ピアニストとして名を馳せる名音楽家チリー・ゴンザレスによる叙情的なピアノ演奏がより一層際立った美しさを感じさせる。「ゲット・ラッキー」や「ルーズ・ユアセルフ・トゥ・ダンス」など、音楽史に残る名曲が《ドラム抜き》によって、どのように生まれ変わるのかアルバムの発売が楽しみだ!

When Daft Punk announced they were releasing a new album eight years after 2005s Human After All, fans were starved for new material. The Tron: Legacy score indulged the duos sci-fi fantasies but didnt offer much in the way of catchy songs, so when Random Access Memories extensive publicity campaign featured tantalizing clips of a new single, Get Lucky, their fan base exploded. But when the album finally arrived, that hugely hyped single was buried far down its track list, emphasizing that most of these songs are very much not like Get Lucky -- or a lot of the pairs previous music, at least on the surface. The album isnt much like 2010s EDM, either. Instead, Daft Punk separate themselves from most contemporary electronic music and how its made, enlisting some of their biggest influences to help them get the sounds they needed without samples. On Homeworks Teachers, they reverently name-checked a massive list of musicians and producers. Here, they place themselves on equal footing with disco masterminds Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder, who shares his thoughts on making music with wild guitar and synth solos trailing behind him on one of RAMs definitive moments, Giorgio by Moroder. Elsewhere, Daft Punk celebrate their close relationship with indie music on the lovely Doin It Right, which makes the most of Panda Bears boyish vocals, and on the Julian Casablancas cameo Instant Crush, which is only slightly more electronic than the Strokes Comedown Machine. And of course, Pharrell Williams is the avatar of their dancefloor mastery on the sweaty disco of Lose Yourself to Dance and Get Lucky, which is so suave that it couldnt help but be an instant classic, albeit a somewhat nostalgic one. Memories is the albums keyword: As Daft Punk celebrate the late 70s and early 80s with deluxe homages like Give Life Back to Music -- one of several terrific showcases for Rodgers -- and the spot-on soft rock of the Todd Edwards collaboration Fragments of Time, they tap into the wonder and excitement in that eras music. A particularly brilliant example is Touch, where singer/songwriter Paul Williams conflates his work in Phantom of the Paradise and The Muppet Movie in the songs mystique, charm, and unabashed emotions. Daft Punk have never shied away from uncool influences or sentimentality, and both are on full display throughout Random Access Memories. Its the kind of grand, album rock statement that listeners of the 70s and 80s would have spent weeks or months dissecting and absorbing -- the ambition of Steely Dan, Alan Parsons, and Pink Floyd are as vital to the album as any of the duos collaborators. For the casual Daft Punk fan, this album might be harder to love than Get Lucky hinted; it might be too nostalgic, too overblown, a shirking of the groups duty to rescue dance music from the Young Turks who cropped up in their absence. But Random Access Memories is also Daft Punks most personal work, and richly rewarding for listeners willing to spend time with it. ~ Heather Phares

「トロン:レガシー」のサントラを挿みつつ、オリジナル作としては8年ぶり、レーベル移籍第1弾となるニュー・アルバムだ。もともとディスコ・リエディットやザックリしたネタ使いの妙が大きな魅力だっただけに、ほぼサンプルを排して演奏家を起用したことを証左に〈生のパワー〉とか〈ホンモノ〉とか絶賛されている様子は、そういう変な〈オリジナル〉や〈人力〉信仰のある層にもアピールしたようでいろいろ感慨深い。冒頭からサンプリングのように正確なナイル・ロジャースのギターが小気味良く響き、メロウな西海岸テイストの導入は今回もスムース。大らかで甘い作風はミュージシャンシップの導入というよりブギーな時流の変化によってもたらされたものではないかと思うが、今回も大傑作なのは言うまでもない。
bounce (C)轟ひろみ