10 Mainstream Acts That The 'Real Music Fans' Need To Check Out

3. Daft Punk

The concept of Daft Punk is extremely surreal at face value. They are, in essence, two French guys that resemble robotic bikers, standing behind a flashy console that looks like it should be used to fly a spaceship. It's strange that they even exist. They used to produce sleek, addictive house, but now write funky disco pop tunes. The gap between these two contrasting styles is bridged slightly with the use of a signature computerised vocal style. This means that when you hear Daft Punk €“ no matter what era you're listening to - you know it's them. Upon the release of 2001's Discovery, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo became rare megastars with the unique yet accessible beats of 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' and 'One More Time'. It almost seemed as though they were sent here from another planet, creating concise nuggets of intergalactic music and then de-materialising into thin air. However, last year's follow up was completely different; instead of travelling in space, they travelled through time €“ to the late 70s/early 80s €“ to bring a considerably more analogue Disco approach to their process in the modern day, all assisted by the effortlessly cool Nile Rodgers. All of Daft Punk's output has retained a certain level of credibility in the mainstream, but last year's 'Random Access Memories' is probably the most important thing they've released. It's the sort of album you can imagine there being an anniversary celebration for in ten years. When that inevitably happens, everyone else will pretend they "liked it back then" anyway. So really, they might as well just get a head start.