Gear Live Music News: Articles Tagged Guy-manuel De Homem-christo

Daft Punk Wins Big at Grammy Awards

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Awards, Dance, Electronic, Hip-Hop & Rap, Pop, New Releases,

Daft Punk scooped Best Song and Best Album at the Grammy Awards Sunday night.

The French duo took him Best Album for Random Access Memories and both Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo or Group performance for their collaboration with Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers, "Get Lucky."

The duo - Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, clad in their trademark robot suits - didn't speak as they accepted their trophies, but Pharrell gave thanks on their behalf while collecting Record of the Year. "I supposed the robots would like to thank ... you know, honestly, I bet France is really proud of these guys right now," he said.

Lorde took home the third big prize of the night, winning Song of the Year, for her debut single and breakthrough hit, "Royals." Accepting the trophy she paid tribute to co-writer Joel Little, adding, "Thank you to everyone who has let the song explode, because it's been mental."

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Daft Punk Think Auto-Tune Ruins Music

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Collaborations, Gossip, Electronic, Pop, New Releases,

Daft Punk thinks Auto-Tune is ruining pop music. Though the duo - Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter - like experimenting with the vocal-tweaking software in a "fun" way, they think it is over-relied on to make a singer's voice sound perfect.

"Pop music is into the uncanny valley. For example, take Auto-Tune. Auto-Tune as an effect is very fun. We put it in the same category as the wah-wah pedal. It's pleasing to the ear and creates those funky artefacts, a bit like the clavinet in Stevie Wonder's 'Superstition.' The other use of Auto-Tune is the invisible one, where you put the voices of the performers in and you set the thresholds so you can't hear the Auto-Tune is there. It makes the voice 'perfect.' If you're using it to solve small imperfections, you're creating something that isn't human. Would you Auto-Tune Roger Daltrey on 'Tommy'? Or Simon & Garfunkel? It stops being a fun effect and becomes like a clone from a terrifying sci-fi movie," Thomas said.

Despite their success as dance music pioneers, the "Get Lucky" duo admit they have always secretly wanted to be like The Strokes, whose frontman Julian Casablancas is one of their collaborators on new album Random Access Memories.

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Daft Punk Have No Plans to Tour

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Concerts / Tours, Electronic, Pop, New Releases,

Daft Punk have no plans to tour Random Access Memories. The French electronic duo - Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo - are set to release their fourth studio album next week and although their 2013 comeback has already received rave reviews, they don't believe they can bring the record to life on stage.

When asked about the possibility of a tour by BBC Radio 1's Zane Lowe, they said, "We're not interested in touring right now for a few reasons. We have just spent five years working on this record trying to bring life back to the art of recording."

It seems even their family are keen for them to take their LP around the globe, with manager and unofficial third member Paul Hahn admitting he often gets nagged about the group's plans. "My mum asks me every day if we're going on tour. Everybody does. We have been very inspired to do something in the live performance space, but for us right now we're very concentrated on the launch and getting this music out to people in a way that's positive. We want this album to have a cultural and artistic impact," he told Billboard.

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Daft Punk Land a New Record Deal

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Artist News, Upcoming Releases, Dance, Electronic, Pop,

Daft Punk have signed a new record deal. The French dance duo - Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo - are rumored to be releasing their first album in eight years in May after inking a deal with Columbia Records.

The "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" hitmakers returned to the studio last year to begin work on a fourth studio album - a follow-up to 2005's Human After All - with disco producer Nile Rodgers.

Speaking about the sessions, Nile said, "All I can say is those guys are geniuses and to think that after all these years we've been trying to get together, they just show up at my apartment in New York City and the vibe between us is so powerful and so strong - it's unbelievable. Spiritually and artistically working with them was as good as anything I've ever done. It's as great as being in a studio with [David] Bowie, it's great as being with Bernard Edwards, and it's as great as the best stuff I've ever done with Duran [Duran] or Madonna."

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