The genre-bending Nu Deco Ensemble released Humans Vs Robots – An Orchestral Tribute to Daft Punk this week, adding to its long list of musical reimaginations. This release follows last months Outkast Suite: A Symphonic Portrait.
Arriving as both a live performance video and audio-only EP, Nu Deco Ensemble pulled from three different Daft Punk albums for this project. After beginning with “The Son of Flynn”, off Daft Punk’s TRON: Legacy album, the orchestra seamlessly transitions to “Digital Love”, off the electronic music duo’s sophomore album, Discovery. Next came “Motherboard” and “Instant Crush” from Daft Punk’s 2013 album, Random Access Memories, before three more Discovery tracks. “Superheroes”, “Veridis Quo”, and “Short Circuit” led to a final trio of Random Access Memories tracks. “Giorgio by Moroder” led to the widely recognized “Get Lucky”, before closing with “Contact”.
“When you listen to the music of Daft Punk, there’s a very baroque classical quality to what they do,” said Nu Deco Ensemble co-founder and artistic director Sam Hyken in a press release. “Part of what I wanted to do with this suite is remove the drum elements, highlighting this classical texture. I also wanted to highlight the two distinct phases of Daft Punk, with a record like Random Access Memories which feature more acoustic instruments as well as the earlier work which is more electronic.”
“Releasing Humans Vs Robots feels very full circle,” added fellow co-founder and artistic director Jacomo Bairos. “When we initially performed our first Daft Punk Suite in 2015, we wanted to push the boundaries of what we believed an orchestra, as a model of ultimate creativity, expression and musical finesse could be. Returning back with this new, fleshed-out suite of Daft Punk reminds me of how their music simply feels timeless and expansive. Sam’s unique ability to keep this music clean and clear, while enhancing the vision of Daft Punk, speaks to the dynamic nature of what the sound of an orchestra is capable of.”
Check out the full video for Humans Vs Robots – An Orchestral Tribute to Daft Punk below, and click here for additional streaming options.
Nu Deco Ensemble – Humans Vs Robots – An Orchestral Tribute to Daft Punk
[Video: Nu Deco Ensemble]
Nu Deco recently kicked off their revolutionary live stream performance season, featuring orchestral collaborations with Jose James, Larkin Poe, Cory Wong, Richard Bona, Cory Henry and more. Additional original pieces and arrangements inspired by Pharrell Williams, Jessie Montgomery, The Beach Boys, Dr. Dre, Duke Ellington, Pascal le Boeuf, Valerie Coleman and many more iconic artists will round out the season, which will be live streaming from the iconic North Beach Bandshell, a historic, oceanfront, open-air amphitheater in the heart of Miami Beach. Click here for the full schedule and tickets.
