Rockin' Our Turntable: Daft Punk's Tron Legacy
By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 6, 2010 8:20PM
"I kept dreaming of a world I thought I'd never see," drones the voice of Jeff Bridges over “The Grid,” the second track on Daft Punk’s Original Soundtrack to Tron: Legacy. He might as well have been speaking for the ever-ardent fans of the French electronic duo who suffered through some false leaks and an acute case of anticipatory hype for this soundtrack once it was revealed that they would be incorporating orchestral elements into their usual sound. What could be better than pairing a movie about humans disappearing inside computers with musicians who made that very theme their calling card? Add an 85-piece orchestra? That is pretty exciting.
The good news is that the soundtrack is worth the wait. The bad news is that may not be enough. Among the disappointed will be those who were anticipating something which would move their feet as well as stir their emotions. From its opening strains, Tron Legacy gets to work creating an ominous mood, blending natural and synthetic textures into short, repetitive phrases and creating a lot of tension along the way. There are sinewy strings weaving in and out of electronic compositions, there are tasteful arpeggiators riding along the swells of brass, there are squelching square waves poking out from between the hypnotic figures. What there isn’t much of is a beat. You’ll have to wait until “End of the Line” and “Derezzed,” (tracks 12 and 13). There are so few moments suited for the dance floor that it is evident that wasn’t a goal for this project. Instead, there is a double portion of drama and atmosphere: we're talking a little bit more Vangelis than Deadmau5. They have taken care to create actual incidental music, not just Daft Punk jams that can be playing in the background. Director Joseph Kosinski has said he even tuned the hum of the motorcycles' engines to Daft Punk's key.
Since incinerating the French House scene in the late nineties, Daft Punk found international acclaim, became recognized as the lynch pin for a new generation of musicians and fans’ appreciation of dance music and translated their recordings into a legendary live show (which we called the best live show of 2007). Over the years, from their debut Homework’s ubiquity, to James Murphy bragging, tongue in cheek, about being the first to play them for the “rock kids,” to Kanye West’s “Stronger” injecting their DNA into the flashiest end of the Hip-Hop and pop gene pool, to winning two grammies last year, Daft Punk seeks new and wider audiences with each step of their career.
Collaborating with arranger Joseph Trapanese, Daft Punk married the darker, repetitive electronic soundscape of 2006’s Human After All with the epic symphonic palette demanded by a high-profile, large-budget Hollywood action movie. It’s not quite as bold as Hans Zimmer’s Inception score, but compares favorably to other recent pop musicians’ cinematic forays, such as Trent Reznor’s soundtrack for The Social Network or Johnny Greenwood’s There Will Be Blood. This album is actually less daring than Wendy Carlos’ classic accompaniment to the 1982 film, and it lacks the density of dancability one finds in their albums, but it is a mature, self-assured work that does a good job of extending the Daft Punk sensibility in an entirely new direction.
Tron Legacy opens in theaters December 17. Daft Punk's Official Soundtrack goes on sale tomorrow.