Alive 2007 is a live album by Daft Punk, first released on November 19, 2007.[1] It is the second album recorded live by the duo, following Alive 1997. Alive 2007 features their performance at Bercy in Paris from June 14, 2007.[2][3]
The physical release in North America was delayed to December 4 due to production issues,[4] but the album became available as a digital download on November 20, 2007.[1] A special edition of the album was released that includes the encore from the Alive 2007 tour on a second disc. It also includes a 50-page book containing photographs from the tour taken by DJ Falcon.[5] The first single from the album, “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)” was released digitally on October 15, 2007.[1]
Structure
The Alive 2007 set utilized Ableton Live software on “custom made super-computers”[6] for the show. Daft Punk accessed the hardware remotely with Behringer BCR2000 MIDI controllers and JazzMutant Lemur touchscreen pads within the central pyramid. Minimoog Voyager RME[6] units were also implemented for the live performances. According to Thomas Bangalter of the duo, “They’re a 30-year old design.” The four Voyager units and two Behringer mixers allowed Daft Punk to “mix, shuffle, trigger loops, filter, distort samples, EQ in and out, transpose or destroy and deconstruct synth lines.” The majority of the equipment was stored away during the live sets within offstage towers.[6]
The recording of Alive 2007 was derived from Daft Punk’s live performance at their Bercy show on June 14, 2007.[5] Reviews of the set noted how Daft Punk manipulated and reworked their established material. One report spotted vocal elements from the song “Too Long” mixed with newly-generated accompaniment.[7] The overlapped mixtures of “Television Rules the Nation” with “Crescendolls”, “Around the World” with “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and “Superheroes” with “Human After All” were reported to be well received by the audience.[8] The set itself was considered a collection of Daft Punk’s most popular recordings.[9]
The visuals of the 2006 and Alive 2007 tour were set up by XL Video.[10] The company provided eight-core Mac Pro units running Catalyst v4 and Final Cut Pro. Daft Punk approached the company with their visual concept for the shows. “They came to us with a pretty fixed idea of what they wanted,” said head of XL Video, Richard Burford. “They wanted to mix live video with effects. Using the eight-core Mac Pros, we were able to take in eight digital sources and treat them as video streams. Then they could use Catalyst to coordinate the video with lighting effects and add their own effects in on the fly. The final digital video streams ran to LED screens.”[10]
The performances for the Alive 2007 tour were an expansion of Daft Punk’s 2006 live sets. Noted additions include elements of the tracks “Burnin’” and “Phœnix” as well as an encore.[7] The repeated line “fuck it” was also integrated with the lyrics of “Technologic“, which first appeared in this altered form at Daft Punk’s Bercy show on the second date of the Alive 2007 tour. Bangalter explained that the 2006 sets were initially designed for performances within larger festivals, but later refined to accommodate Daft Punk-specific shows. “The goal was to try and bring a complete global experience to the audience.”[11] The introduction for the live show featured the five-note sequence used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[12]
The album includes elements of the Busta Rhymes song “Touch It“, the original version of which was produced by Swizz Beatz featuring a sample of “Technologic”. Also featured are elements of Gabrielle’s “Forget About the World“, the original version of which was remixed by Daft Punk for her single. The encore of the Alive 2007 set features Bangalter’s side projects: Stardust’s “Music Sounds Better with You” and “Together” by Bangalter and DJ Falcon.[2]
Download the full Alive set via torrent link below:
(Password: screenshot)
