First things first, if you’re expecting a Discovery like album, get ready because Random Access Memories is nothing like the ‘old’ Daft Punk. But that’s not a bad thing. They could’ve just gone ahead and do the same thing they have been doing for the past years or worse, go for big-buildup and empty electro anti-climaxes, but they didn’t. With Random Access Memories the robots show us that they are true musicians, ever evolving and always looking for innovative ways to create music. If you would ask me to describe the album in one word, I’d say: innovation. The hype surrounding this album was immense but the robots did not let us down.

The album itself is a lot more pop-like in comparison with the other Daft Punk albums when listening to the first tracks (Give Life Back to Music, Game of Love, Within and Instant Crush). They switched the drum machines for real drummers and collaborated with some absolute disco legends such as Nile Rodgers and Giorgio Moroder. Another sign of this new pop sound comes from N.E.R.D star Pharrell Williams, who features on two tracks on the album (Lose Yourself to Dance and Get Lucky). The combination of synthesizers, vocoders and live instruments really works out well. The album takes you on a journey back in time and at the same time it takes you to the future. Daft Punk approached EDM from a whole different and new angle with this album and I’m really glad that they did it.

As said above, the robots collaborated with a variety of artists, each of them coming from a different background. Nile Rodgers and Pharrell Williams for example, join Daft Punk on ‘’Get Lucky’’ and ‘’Lose Yourself to Dance’. There isn’t much more that I can say about ‘Get Lucky’ that hasn’t been said already, you’ve all heard it and it’s probably the biggest track on the album. ‘Lose Yourself to Dance’ however, is a track with an amazing disco groove that really takes you back to the 70’s. Nile Rodgers delivers a wonderfull riff that somewhat sounds like Chic – Le Freak and Pharrell Williams provided some excellent vocals. A definite sing-along track for the summer!

The duo also collaborated with Giorgio Moroder on ‘Giorgio by Moroder’. Moroder, well known for producing a lot of disco classics such as ‘Love to Love you Baby’ by Donna Summer, provided a lot of oldschool sounding synths and rhythms that really showcase the legacy of Moroder. It’s the longest track on the album (9.02 minutes) and it really grabs you until the end of the song. There is so much happening in this track, it starts of laid-back and ends in a very big and fantastic climax. An amazing track!

Other collaborators are Julian Casablancas from the Strokes (on ‘Instant Crush’), Chilly Gonzales (on ‘Within’), Panda Bear (on ‘Doin’ it Right’), sample and uk-garage king Todd Edwards on ‘Fragments of Time’ and the legendary DJ Falcon on ‘Contact’. Both Todd Edwards and DJ Falcon aren’t strangers to the robots, having collaborated with them on ‘So much love’ and ‘Face to Face’ we know that these tracks must be something good. And they are.

I think it’s important to keep an open mind regarding this album. I see a lot of comments on the internet that the album ‘isn’t what I expected’ but is that such a bad thing? I personally embrace the change that Daft Punk has made throughout the course of this album. It just feels right. There is so much feeling and soul in this album, something I’ve been missing for a long time.

The only minor downside to me is that they seem to have slightly drifted away from the club sound where they originally started. There is no real up-beat club banger from Daft Punk on Random Access Memories. But then again, with their history it’s hard to keep everyone satisfied. All in all I find Random Access Memories a brilliant piece of music, a definite future classic.

Tracklist:
1. Give Life Back To Music (ft. Nile Rodgers) (4.34)
2. The Game Of Love (5.21)
3. Giorgio by Moroder (ft. Giorgio Moroder) (9.04)
4. Within (ft. Chilly Gonzales) (3.48)
5. Instant Crush (ft. Julian Casablancas) (5.37)
6. Lose Yourself To Dance (ft. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers) (5.53)
7. Touch (ft. Paul Williams) (8.18)
8. Get Lucky(ft. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers) (6.07)
9. Beyond (4.50)
10. Motherboard (5.41)
11. Fragments of Time (ft.Todd Edwards) (4.39)
12. Doin’ It Right (ft.Panda Bear) (4.11)
13. Contact (ft. DJ Falcon) (6.21)

You can purchase the album on iTunes here:

Click for Tracklist

It was cool to read all the replies, and that made it very hard to decide who should win.

At the end, we have picked one lucky winner of this V-Moda Crossfade LP and the winner is… Danny Verpoorten! Congratulations Danny! Send a message to our exQlusiv Facebookpage with your adress, postal code, city and country to receive your new headphone!

As you all might know last years release of Nicky Romero’s collaboration with Calvin Harris on the vocals raised a lot of questions.  The sound of ‘Iron’ undeniably has a lot similarities with Alesso’s ‘Clash’ that was released about 4 months later than ‘Iron’ back in December. The facts tell us ‘Iron’ got released 4 months earlier in August, so it would be easy to conclude that Alesso stole Nicky Romero’s work on making ‘Clash’. When you look deeper into the matter, after doing some research you can conclude that Alesso’s ‘Clash’ already leaked on the internet back in July of last year. This turns everything around and it proves that Nicky Romero got his hands dirty using ‘Clash’ by at least more than an inspiration on making ‘Iron’.

There were a lot of funny interactions between Alesso and Nicky on this topic, and a few other people in the scene also got involved too. Here is a compilation of the most interesting things which have been said back then.

Beat my Day unintentionally starts the fire by concluding Scooter stole Otto Knows’ ‘Million Voices’ for ‘his’ track 4 AM. (As a side note I would like to say how disrespectful this was. Shame on you, Scooter.)

@alwaysottoknows Hey, Scooter just copied you. And this is crazy. So here’s the proof, now sue them maybe? youtube.com/watch?v=BLS_TS…

— Beat My Day (@beatmyday) September 7, 2012

Alesso responds by saying that the same happened to him

@beatmyday @alwaysottoknows wow, happens to me too !

— ALESSO (@Alesso) September 7, 2012

Nicky Romero on his turn goes all sanctimonious with this tweet

@alesso @beatmyday @alwaysottoknows right, it happens to me all the time — Nicky Romero (@nickyromero) September 7, 2012

Alesso obviously recognizes the ‘Iron’-y in this tweet

@nickyromero @beatmyday @alwaysottoknows right we get your ‘iron’ -y — ALESSO (@Alesso) September 7, 2012

Steve Angello confirms what just happened: ‘Ouch’

@alesso @nickyromero @beatmyday @alwaysottoknows ouch

— Steve Angello (@SteveAngello) September 7, 2012

All people that share the page will also have a chance to win a meet & greet with Hardwell.

Update: The track is already unlocked up to 1 minute 30. Keep on sharing!

Stream ‘Random Access Memories’ on Spotify here

Also, check out our official exQlusiv.com Essentials Playlist here. We’ve also updated it with some of the better Random Access Memories tracks.

We have less than 10 days until Electric Daisy Carnival makes its first voyage to Chicago, Illinois USA! For the American Midwest dance music scene, this is a pinnacle moment for us all. Electric Daisy Carnival, hosted by none other than Insomniac events, is among the greatest of dance music festivals in the world; standing in respective equality to Ultra and Tomorrowland.
As to my hypothesis on the subject, I believe Insomniac felt Chicago was ready for something HUGE… After React’s 1st annual ‘Spring Awakening’ last year (Chicago’s 1st dance music festival EVER), Chicago proved themselves both ready and worthy to take on the culture mainstream. The 2 day extravaganza sold out both nights, packing over 75,000 crazed music fans inside the grounds of Soldier Field, an American football stadium.

To say the least, EDC will upscale last year’s event on a much grander scale. Insomniac is hosting Electric Daisy Carnival at the Chicago-land Speedway, an American NASCAR stadium, and will feature a stunning FIVE stages! The festival will span from May 24th to the 26th, making it one of the greatest weekends of Chicago’s life. Insomniac managed to rally up (without any surprise) the most interstellar line-up my eyes have ever seen. With over 100 performing artists, 134 to be exact, I’m going to have to clone myself in order to see everyone that I want to. Among my “MUST-SEE acts” are; Armin van Buuren, The Bloody Beetroots, Dash Berlin, Empire of the Sun, Eric Prydz, Hardwell, Kaskade, and Sander van Doorn.

You can view the entire line-up in the link posted below!
www.electricdaisycarnival.com/Chicago/music.php

Why is this so important to Chicago? Our EDM scene, in my opinion, has yet to flourish. We aren’t Miami, we aren’t Las Vegas, we aren’t Europe. We aren’t a night-driven party city. We are Chicago: capital of the Midwest and the fathers of house music. What’s unique about our culture is that it’s so exclusive. It is such a small bubble that is still, in many instances, deemed as an underground scene. I view all music scenes as flowers; they start deep underground, grow with nurture, bud, and under the proper conditions, bloom into a beautiful work of nature. Chicago, I believe, has yet to bloom. I am confident that EDC will help us leave our budding stage, and finally allow our culture to bloom. Thank you, Insomniac, for choosing Chicago as your next home…

For more information on this event, or to purchase tickets, visit the link below!
www.electricdaisycarnival.com/Chicago

Majuro is a track that always gives me a feeling of joy and peace. When listening to the amazing sounds he used for Majuro, it makes me think that I am chilling at the edge of a lake in the jungle where the sun shines through the high trees. That moment when nothing else matters and you just have to enjoy the beautiful things in life.