[imagesource: Michael Kovac / WireImage]
Part of me thinks that Daft Punk should have just kept their split under wraps, handed over their helmets to two other DJs, and continued to rake in the appearance money.
I guess they’re more concerned with protecting their legacy and being honest, which is fair enough, too.
28 years after the two Parisians teamed up, they’re parting ways, announcing the split with an eight-minute video titled ‘Epilogue’, which is excerpted from their 2006 film, Electroma, and features music from the Random Access Memories album.
Some background on the pair via Pitchfork:
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo formed Daft Punk in Paris in 1993, helping to define the French touch style of house music. Their debut album, 1997’s Homework, was a dance music landmark, featuring classic singles “Around the World” and “Da Funk.”
By the release of its follow-up, Discovery, in 2001, the duo had taken to making public appearances in the robot outfits that became their trademark. The singles “One More Time” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” cemented them as global superstars.
In 2013, they once again hit the big time with ‘Get Lucky’, from the 2013 album Random Access Memories, which secured them two Grammy Awards.
The album won five Grammys in total, including Album of the Year. You can use that as a retort to anybody who says Daft Punk haven’t released anything decent in decades.
Whilst confirming the split, the duo’s longtime publicist, Kathryn Frazier, declined to provide further details.
Let’s see that farewell video:
Suitably strange.
For those wondering how the two men settled on the name Daft Punk, here’s Variety:
They formed a rock band called Darlin’, inspired by the Beach Boys song of the same name, with their friend Laurent Brancowitz in 1992 and released a song on a compilation on Stereolab’s Duophonic label.
The song received a negative review in the Melody Maker — which called described it as “a daft punky thrash” — and, in a move that would set the tone for the rest of their career, turned the negative review into their new band name.
The two decided to focus on electronic music; Brancowitz left and ultimately formed Phoenix.
Phoenix went on to do alright, but Daft Punk has definitely achieved greater international fame.
Go on, then – one to relive those reckless varsity days…
