Daft Punk – Random Access Memories 2xLP

Random Access Memories is the fourth and final studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. It pays tribute to late 1970s and early 1980s American music, particularly from Los Angeles. This theme is reflected in the packaging and promotional campaign, which included billboards, television advertisements and a web series. Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2012 at Henson, Conway and Capitol Studios in California, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Gang Recording Studio in Paris, France.

Following the minimal production of their previous album, Human After All (2005), Daft Punk recruited session musicians with the help of Chris Caswell to perform live instrumentation and limited the use of electronic instruments to drum machines, a custom-built modular synthesizer and vintage vocoders. It combines disco, progressive rock and pop, with contributions by Paul Jackson Jr., Giorgio Moroder, Chilly Gonzales, Julian Casablancas, Paul Williams, Caswell, Pharrell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Todd Edwards, Panda Bear and DJ Falcon.

Random Access Memories is the only Daft Punk album to top the US Billboard 200, and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It also topped the charts in twenty other countries. Its lead single, “Get Lucky”, topped the charts in more than 30 countries and became one of the best-selling digital singles of all time. The album appeared on several year-end lists, and won in several categories at the 2014 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Dance/Electronica Album, and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical. “Get Lucky” also won the awards for Record of the Year and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Random Access Memories number 295 on their list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”.