All this talk of Sturgill Simpson’s “Sound & Fury” has got me thinking about Daft Punk’s “Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5secret 5tar 5system.” I never knew Daft Punk had actually called it that, with all those extra 5s, and honestly, I do not think I like that subtitle. I like the main name though, “Interstella 5555,” it is an obvious homage to “Galaxy Express 999.”
In 2003 Daft Punk made the choice to animate their entire 2001 album “Discovery” into a Japanese animated video. I have always assumed that Daft Punk is wildly popular with anime fans and other nerds, and that this bold idea of “Interstella 5555,” was a serious variable contributing to that outcome. The man Daft Punk hired to direct this animation was Leiji Matsumoto, creator of “Galaxy Express 999,” “Space Pirate Captain Harlock,” “Space Battleship Yamato,” and many other anime and manga. I am rather fond of Captain Harlock, and I recall telling my younger brother that “Interstella 5555’s” art style reminded me of the space pirate, to which he pointed out the obvious; the same man had made both; it was a humbling experience.
The story of “Interstella 5555” begins on an alien world populated by blue humanoids where a concert is taking place. All the inhabitants are enjoying Daft Punk’s groovy tune “One More Time,” which I think was the biggest hit from the album, anyway, everyone is enjoying “One More Time” so much, that their early warning space station crew fail to notice space invaders before it is too late and they kidnap the band. Using advanced space travel and brainwashing technology, the corporate music overlords of earth have been kidnapping alien musicians and rewriting their memories and disguising them as earthlings, then using them to produce and sell music. Seems like a very inefficient use of immensely powerful technology but there is a demon cult later so maybe there are additional alternate motivations that help explain that.
This is not the first time Matsumoto included blue alien humanoids in one of his work; I do not think it is even the third time.
There are a lot of reasons people respect Daft Punk so much, and “Interstella 5555” is only one of them. Maintaining consistent quality in their music and other projects would typically be sufficient to be highly praiseworthy, but additionally, they have maintained a mysterious presence after somehow maintaining a high level of anonymity even in this age of global communication and social networking. What perhaps most impresses me is that after all their years of sampling Daft Punk have always credited and apparently even paid the original creators for their use. I also, thought they were a perfect fit in “Tron Legacy.”
Because of all the respect Daft Punk deserves and rightfully has, it feels appropriate, if not necessary for me to give them some acknowledgement on this blog. This is the 290th review I have written, so I should probably share some thoughts about Daft Punk. Here is the challenge, I am one of those, relatively rare, casual Daft Punk fans. So, I have a lot less to say then the average Daft Punk fan. I have always sensed that the bulk of Daft Punk fans, absolutely love them, and by comparison, people like me, are the minority. I respect what they do and like their music just fine, but that is where my love ends.
I grossly underappreciated “Discovery” when it came out in 2001. Back then, if it was not rock and roll, I did not have any time to spare. So, while most people I knew loved this new mysterious French electronic group, I wanted more electric guitar, so I was listening to other things. It is interesting looking back on it now, because “Discovery” is the sort of high quality progressive piece of music I would love nowadays, and “Interstella 5555” does tap into other interests of mine, so even though I understand why I never paid much attention to Daft Punk back then, it still seems strange just now little attention I heeded back then.
I believe it is best to experience “Discovery” with the enjoyable animation Matsumoto created in “Interstella 5555.” For me experiencing this music has happened almost exclusively through “Interstella 5555” and I tend to think of the entire album and not any individual song. Normally, I pick an individual song to ramble about, but the only song that stands out to me is “One More Time,” which is probably an obvious choice, but I am a casual fan.
Like most of the album, “One More Time” is really mellow. I think a major reason I am struggling to think of much more to say about the music of “Discovery” is that it blends peacefully into the background when I listen to it so well, so deeply well, that I absorb it without thought. It is does not stir any powerful feelings or thoughts, but does invoke a calming affect, which is pleasant and sometimes needed.
That is all I got. It just felt like, if I am going to shout out Sturgill Simpson’s “Sound & Fury” then I should probably shout out the original Japanese animated album/movie, Daft Punk’s “Interstella 5555.”
- King of Braves
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