LogFAQs > #956549210

84. Daft Punk Around the World (1997)
from the album Homework

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwDns8x3Jb4

Repeat a word enough times and it loses all meaning. Over the length of Around the World, the title is said well over a hundred times. To Daft Punk, this phrase is merely another note to play. A calculated choice, this monotonous, robotic phrase dominates our attention. Like a pair of master illusionists, Daft Punk are using the art of misdirection. By keeping us so focused on this one part, their subtler shifts are allowed to wash over us. Around the World perfectly balances the fine line house music necessitates to be infectiously danceable to a fault and then shift gears just enough to hold our attention.

Not the vocals but the bass defines this song. Michel Gondry perfectly captured the feeling in the iconic music video. A prolonged ascent leads into a rapid fall, only for the process to repeat as though moving ever upwards. The other instruments skitter around this central bassline. The trick here is that Daft Punk are constantly dropping the instruments in and out. Around the World captures what separates good DJs from the merely passable. By relying on the same segments throughout, Around the World has a singular identity. But Daft Punk are also exploring how different combinations work together, spending just enough time with one mix before shifting into the next.

Around the World has held up over the years because it plays well in two settings. As a club hit, it is the perfect type of song for zoning out and dancing few basslines are this slick. But for those of us listening intently at home, those slight changes make an engaging experience.

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My top 100 games (with write-ups): https://foolfantastic.com/top-100-video-games-project/