Daft Punk - Harder Faster Better Stronger

Daft Punk, "Harder Faster Better Stronger (Neptunes remix)"

Daft Punk, "Harder Faster Better Stronger (DJ Sneak remix)"

Daft Punk, "Harder Faster Better Stronger (Jess and Crabbe remix)"

Some more Daft Punk remix heat, this time from one of the big singles off of Discovery, "Harder Faster Better Stronger." I've always thought this to be one of their best tracks, although it's not really a club banger. It's got a killer sound, vocoder madness for the kids. But, it also has an intelligence to it in the simple lyrics, intelligence with losing sight of the dancefloor. It's a great rebuke to those rockists and IDMers who think dance music is only for meatheads and idiots. It's a wonderful attack on the computerized, high pressure, commodified culture we have created, with the nice irony that this critique is coming from a band accused of making robot music.

The remixes don't equal the original, but that doesn't mean they're bad. Far from it, in fact. The DJ Sneak remix takes this one to the club, limiting the vocals and setting it to a 4/4 house beat. Since I'm into the words, it's hard to have this as a favorite, but it seems perfect for DJs who want to spin this into a set. DJ Sneak, a.k.a. Carlos Sosa, was a big influence of the French duo and has come out and developed the Chicago house scene. His music first came out on Cajmere's label in the mid-90s, which connects this whole circle here at Pound for Pound, doesn't it?

The other remix comes Jess and Crabbe, and they fiucking kill it. This one keeps the vocals, but speeds them up with the music. In fact, the more listens I give, the more I like this one. It takes you to a few spots in the course of 6 minutes, ending up on a bass heavy, sinister sound at the end. Amazing stuff, you must hear this.

The weakest of the bunch is the Neptunes remix, which basically takes the vocals and places them on top of one of their slow jam template. Slow tempo, female voices providing "ahh" background sound, Pharrell's terrible loverboy rap and keyboards galore. Think "Frontin'." It might be a nice intro for hip hop fans to Daft Punk, or a nice way to mix some into a hip hop set. That's right, your bol is starting to think like a DJ. More to come on this, you best believe dat.

Make sure to grab Discovery, one of their two masterpieces, in my and many other people's opinion. You can also pick up a copy of the "Harder Faster Stronger Better "12" at Tunrntable Lab.

-"Big" news: Lance Bass is gay. The world says: Yeah, that sounds about right.

-For the record, Bernard Hopkins walked in again when I was writing for the blog. Another big day is in the works at Pound for Pound, that omen has never failed us.