neonpalms

Dummy (1994)

★★★★½ Jun 28, 2026

This still sounds cool in a way that never feels cheap. The beats are slow, the samples are dusty, and everything has that smoky after midnight mood people always talk about with trip hop, but the album also feels more wounded than stylish. Beth Gibbons gives it the human center. That is what keeps it from being just atmosphere. Sour Times and Glory Box are obviously massive, but even outside the big moments the whole thing holds together like one long uneasy spell. Really moody, really confident, and still easy to get lost in.

Discovery (2001)

Discovery | 2001 | Europe | Virgin | V2940, 8496061, 7243 8496061 2 | Vinyl LP, Album, Stereo

★★★★½ Jun 28, 2026

This album still sounds like pop music made by people who loved toys, cartoons, disco, and big emotions equally. A lot of writing about it gets into the shiny artificial surface, but that is exactly the charm for me because the record never hides how playful it is. Under all the vocoders and gloss there is still a really emotional center. The Europe LP also makes the scale feel even bigger, which helps these songs because they are built to feel bright and a little unreal. Discovery is catchy in the obvious way, but what keeps it around is how fully Daft Punk committed to this colorful world.