10 Artists to Listen to If You Like Daft Punk

While we imagine many of you are up on Daft Punk, and have been since the 1990s, we understand if many of you didn't get to hear the group until "Get

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Complex Original

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While we imagine many of you are up on Daft Punk, and have been since the 1990s, we understand if many of you didn't get to hear the group until "Get Lucky." Things happen, trends rise and fall, and entire phases of music occur before you're really into digging for electronic music. The problem is, outside of their four albums (five if you include the Tron Legacy soundtrack), live albums, compilations, and a couple handfuls of remixes, you don't don't have THAT much Daft Punk to rock to. Yet you want to peer into the sounds of Discovery, or find out what's influenced them. Well, DAD's got you covered. Let's examine some acts that you should check out if you're into the music of Daft Punk, or want to learn about some of their influences... and peers. If you love Daft Punk, you're bound to become new fans of some of these fine acts.

Giorgio Moroder

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Italian producer, writer, and performer Giorgio Moroder is one of the godfathers of electronic music. His career spans back to the 1970s, where he worked heavily with acts like Donna Summer (helping create some of her biggest singles, including "Love to Love You Baby" and "I Feel Love"), and helped craft soundtracks for films like Scarface, Top Gun, and others. His use of melody within electronic environments definitely spoke to the androids, to the point where they invited Giorgio to speak about his life on "Giorgio By Moroder" from Random Access Memories, a track that single-handedly reintroduced Moroder to today's electronic music fan.

Lemaitre

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Back in March, we got turned onto this Oslo, Norway duo via their remix of Mat Zo & Porter Robinson's "Easy," and they immediately sounded like the continuation of the strides Daft Punk made during their Discovery era (with a splash of 2013 EDM added to the mix). Melodies that could bring a tear to event he hardest raver's eye, with a crunchy funk that grabbed tight and didn't let up until you were on the floor, we imagine that many expected (read: hoped) that Random Access Memories sounded more like this than what it ended up being.

Air

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During the electronica craze in America, Air and Daft Punk were lumped into similar circles because "French" and "electronic," although Air's music has always maintained more of a lounge-ready cool than anything Daft Punk was making at the time. Looking back, and seeing how Daft Punk went from a place of pure sampling and electronics in their music to Random Access Memories, which was more about live instrumentation and that 1970s haze of California, Air is the perfect next step for the Random Access Memories fan who wants more of that. It makes sense, as both Air and Daft Punk have drawn inspiration from bands like Pink Floyd.

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Solidisco

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When we use terms like "nu disco," we're looking directly at this Buffalo, NY production duo. They call their music "disco house," and that's exactly what we're given. It's as if the androids debuted in 2013, we figure they'd sound a bit like Solidisco. Huge, undeniable samples, properly-manipulated with throwback house vibes, they studied the manual and threw the disco-tinged house sound into a huge pot, making their own mean jambalaya.

Justice

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Not only is this production duo French, but they're managed by Daft Punk's old manager, Busy P of Ed Banger Records. Their sound feels like a more dance-infused take on the movements Daft Punk made with Human After All. They never shied away from incorporating a more rock and indie influences into their tracks, and won a Grammy for their remix of MGMT's "Electric Feel" in 2009. They incorporate the quirky fun that Daft Punk employs, which is always necessary, even if people will try to tell you that EDM is serious business.

Fatboy Slim

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If you compare their actual songs, Fatboy Slim and Daft Punk occupy different spaces. But if you look at their influences and the success that they've accumulated, Fatboy Slim and the androids are damn near in the same spot. They both have hip-hop influences, with Fatboy manifesting his love for the sound in the breakbeat/big beat realm, while both were creative with their use of sampling. Both Daft Punk and Fatboy Slim have affinities for acid house, and both saw loads of acclaim (and fame) rise during the great electronica phase of American mainstream music in the 1990s. And both loved to have a good laugh. The best part is that both acts are still around now, still being creative and putting new spins on the ever-evolving sound of modern dance music.

Empire Of The Sun

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Sonically, we're sort of grasping at straws here comparing them to Daft Punk and that's OK, because Empire Of The Sun still embodies much of what makes Daft Punk so great. Aussies Luke Steele and Nick Littlemore first started working together after being brought together by their label and have since turned into a sensation. Kicking off with their first hugley successful single "Walking On A Dream," Empire Of The Sun established themselves as THE reiginng kings of feel-good synthpop. This year the duo released their second album (Ice On The Dune) with lead single "Alive" and as result have become one of the bands of the summer, with Zedd, Mat Zo, and David Guetta each turning in festival-smashing remixes. We understand their extravagant shows and perhaps flamboyant showmanship may put some people off as well as give the perception of shallowness, but give them a shot and you won't be sorry; there's more than meets the eye.

Cassius

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During the electronica phase in America, Cassius was a French duo that crept into the scene behind Daft Punk and Air. Their sound blended house, disco, and synthpop, crafting some very successful singles in their day, including their well-received album 1999. The duo has even spread their wings into the hip-hop realm (something that Daft Punk has done a few times), collaborating with Ghostface Killah and their track "I Love You So" being sampled on Watch the Throne's "Why I Love You."

Todd Edwards

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There may not have been a Discovery if it wasn't for producers like Todd Edwards and Romanthony. The androids have said on record that they were looking to incorporate more of the garage sounds that Todd and Romanthony helped usher in during the '90s, and you can hear it in the way they manipulated the vocals they'd lifted and incorporated into their tracks. It's one thing to lay some obvious lyrics over your club-ready tracks; making a melody of snippets of samples? Todd Edwards was a pioneer in that aspect. Todd's cut-up four-to-the-floor tapestries were all the rage at the time, and are a great stepping stone for those looking to get more intricate and deep with their actual productions. And it paid off, as he was featured on both Discovery and on Random Access Memories, among remixing the music of everyone from Justice to Dimitri From Paris.

Kavinsky

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French producer Kavinsky embodies some of the techno cool that Daft Punk has been known to eschew. If you cut out their quirk and amplified the stone grooves that they incorporated on Human After All, you'd have Kavinsky's lush, turbo-charged soundscapes in the pocket. While Daft Punk is perfect for scoring exciting virtual-reality films like Tron Legacy, Kavinsky is more of the leather-drenched awesomeness of a film like Drive, which just screamed for his one-of-a-kind production prowess. Kavinsky's music feels like the next step in the early electronic-drenched film soundtracks that influenced Daft Punk many moons ago.

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