Incredibly, this week marks the 20th anniversary of Daft Punk’s agenda-setting debut album, Homework.
The starting gun for a decade of French dancefloor domination, Homework was fittingly named, with Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter folding two decades of club influences into a set of anarchic, sweat-soaked and occasionally monstrously radio-ready tunes for dancing. The robots may have become paragons of studio perfectionism in recent years, but on Homework they let us see every gritty detail, facing down police killjoys (‘Revolution 909’), tuning into dance radio (‘WDPK 837 FM’) and shoving our heads deep in the bass bin (‘Oh Yeah’).
On ‘Teachers’, Daft Punk saluted the musical heroes who’d laid the foundations for their sound, from Jeff Mills and Todd Edwards to George Clinton and Dr. Dre – a hat tip that also acted a cheat sheet for electronic newbies (and still does). So to mark Homework‘s 20th anniversary, we’re presenting a very special tribute mix to those Teachers.
Tracing Daft Punk’s early inspirations, from Kraftwerk to Kenny Dixon Jr. and from Lil Mo Yin Yang to Lil Louis, it’s the third ‘Teachers’ mix from the superfan and dancefloor historian known as CK. The trilogy began back in 2011 with a 42-track session he posted to the blog Bodytonic, based on liner notes, mix selections and interviews from the Homework period. The longlist for that mix ran to over 300 tracks, so CK returned to the task in 2013 with a second volume, selecting tracks dating back to 1977.
For this 20th anniversary instalment, CK focuses on the house and techno artists that weren’t featured in the previous mixes, like Luke Slater, Basement Jaxx and Ludovic Navarre, alongside some legends from jazz, rock and electronic scenes who influenced the robot’s sound, including John Carpenter, Herbie Hancock, Van Halen and Tangerine Dream.
So think of it as a tribute to a tribute, a celebration of Daft Punk’s ‘Teachers’ that also happens to be one of the most shirt-rippingly ecstatic mixes we’ve heard in a long, long time.
Tracklist:
Tron excerpt
Deepside – ‘French’
Ian Pooley – ‘Mutual Extend’
DJ Sneak – ‘Drums Are Us’
‘Heroes in their own home’ – 1986 Chicago TV report
DJ Hyperactive – ‘Alteno’
Bomb the Bass – ‘Beat Dis’
Drexciya – ‘Lardossen Funk’
Herbie Hancock – ‘Nobu’
Cerrone – ‘Sweet Drums’
Boogie Down Productions – ‘Jimmy’
Sparks – ‘Beat the Clock’ (Extended 12”)
DJ Deeon – ‘World War 3 Beat/Teachapella’
Paul Johnson – ‘Aww Shit’
DJ Sneak – ‘Keep on Groovin’ (Ian Pooley Fierce mix)
Basement Jaxx – ‘Deep Jackin’
Prince – ‘Purple Music’/’Automatic’
DJ Funk – ‘I’m So Hi’
Jack Da Ripper – ‘Jack’s Back’
Lil Louis – ‘French Kiss’
The Madam/The Prince – ‘The Sensuous Black Woman Meets The Sensuous Black Man’
Laurent Garnier – ‘The Hoe’ (Old School mix)
Serge Gainsbourg – ‘CK’s Whitneypella’
Basement Jaxx – ‘Fly Life’/Blair – ‘Life’ (Derrick Carter remix)
Romanthony – ‘Testify’
DJ Gregory – ‘Hands’
DJ Slugo – ‘Love Sensation’ (rx)
Isaac Hayes – ‘I Can’t Turn Around’ (Ashley Beedle edit)
The Jacksons – ‘Living Together’
K.I.D. – ‘Don’t Stop’
Sugarhill Gang – ‘Rapper’s Reprise’
Chic – ‘I Feel Your Love Comin’ On’
326 – ‘Falling’ (Mike Dunn remix)
Deee-Lite – ‘What Is Love’ (Frenchapella)
DJ Pierre – ‘The Horn Song’
Lil’ Mo’ Yin Yang – ‘Reach’
Ruffneck – ‘Everybody Be Somebody’ (A capella)
Dimitri from Paris – ‘Free Ton Style’/MFSB – ‘Mysteries of the World’
Gene Farris – ‘Disco Heaven’
Cameo – ‘It’s Serious’
Stevie Wonder – ‘Race Babbling’
Luke Slater – ‘Purely’
Boris Dlugosch – ‘Keep Pushin’’
Kraftwerk – ‘Computer World 2′
Jammin’ Gerald – ‘Pump That Shit Up’
Jammin Gerald – ‘Body Heat Track’
JohNick – ‘Planet JohNick’
Trankilou – ‘Atom Funk’
Fantom – ‘Faithfull’ (CK’s Luv Dancer edit)
Fantom – ‘Faithfull’ (Prassay [DJ Gregory] remix)
Deee-Lite – ‘Good Beat’ (Beatapella)
Fade II Black – ‘In-Sync’
Deee-Lite – ‘What Is Love’ (Frenchapella)
DBX – ‘Live Wire’
Robert Hood – ‘Museum’
DJ Funk – ‘Move Your Body’
Parris Mitchell – ‘Bitches & Money’
Tyree – ‘Acid Crash’ rx
Kraftwerk – ‘Music Non Stop’
Sync – ‘Mail’
Sparks/Giorgio Moroder – ‘Beat The Clock’ (Canadian edit)
R-Tyme – ‘Use Me’ (Carl Craig remix)
The Underground Solution – ‘Luv Dancin” (Roger Sanchez’s In Deep Mix)
JohNick – ‘Play the World’
KRS-One – ‘Jack of Spades’
Gil Scott Heron – ‘Corners’ (Cristal edit)
Ant Banks – ‘Packin’ a Gun’
Kenny Dixon Jr – ‘Yesterdays’
Herbie Hancock – ‘You Bet Your Love’
John Carpenter – ‘The End’/Afrika Bambaata – ‘Bambaata’s Theme’
Zapp – ‘More Bounce to the Ounce’
George Clinton – ‘Loopzilla’
S’Express – ‘Theme from S’Express’
Phantom of the Paradise excerpt
Don Ray/Cerrone – ‘Got To Have Loving’/First Choice – ‘Let No Man Put Asunder’
Daft Punk – ‘Fresh’ (Video excerpt)
Jan Hammer – ‘Crockett’s Theme’
Tangerine Dream – ‘Love on a Real Train’
‘Guy-Manuel’s Tangerine Dream’
