Daft Punk

On film soundtrack, the French duo leave disco behind

This should have been a match made in disco heaven. Tron: Legacy is the sequel to a movie about a man trapped in a 1980s video game. Daft Punk ”“ the vocoder-crazed, spacesuit-clad French electro duo ”“ have always seemed like musicians trapped in a 1980s video game. Whether Daft Punk have created a worthy soundtrack is for filmgoers to decide. As for the album they’ve made ”“ it’s so-so mood music, full of dramatic, string-suffused sounds that are sometimes moving and sometimes just there. Daft Punk cut much of Tron: Legacy in London with a 100-piece orchestra. Far too often, the strings just hold one chord amid electronic noodling, though on ”˜The Game Has Changed,’ they swell and flutter alongside acid-damaged synths and digital thuds, suggesting a particularly suspenseful Radiohead track.

What’s really missing on Tron: Legacy is groove. There are glimpses of the party-starting robots we’ve come to love: The sleekly digital ”˜End of the Line’ sounds like 21st-century Kraftwerk, and ”˜De-rezzed’ is a pounding house track with synth squeals that recall Daft Punk’s 1996 dance-floor classic ”˜Da Funk.’ But that’s about it as far as rhythm is concerned. Tron: Legacy is way more Hans Zimmer than Homework.

Key Tracks: ”˜Derezzed,’ ”˜End of the Line,’ ”˜The Grid’