If you’re into electronic music (that’s why you’re here, right?), you’ve probably heard of Daft Punk (Daft Punk recently won the Best Group award at the International Dance Music Awards - Read article here). If not, you’ve probably just heard their songs without knowing the men behind the music – I doubt that there are many of you who have never heard the irresistible hook of “One More Time.” Hopefully you’ve seen at least one of their music videos though (Daft Punk Music Videos), because Daft Punk definitely pushes the boundaries in their videos as much as they do in their music. Creativity is not a problem for these two guys.

So what’s so special about Daft Punk’s music videos? First of all, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter are a little camera-shy. Okay, maybe not just a little. They don’t like showing their faces. At all. Not in interviews, not when they’re doing promotions, and definitely not in their music videos. So already, unlike other music videos, you don’t get to see the artists’ faces. What else? Animation plays a huge role in their videos. That and the extensive use of costumes. They used to wear masks, but now Daft Punk performs as futuristic robots (this can also be seen in some of their more recent videos). The animation aspect is most striking in their music videos from the Discovery album – all the music videos are clips from Interstella 5555, a Japanese anime that was made specifically to accompany the album.

One of their videos that I just can’t seem to get out of my head is “Technologic.” Here Daft Punk’s playing on a pair of guitars (in their robot costumes) among a lot of pyramid structures (which are also featured in their performances), but the main character is the robot that looks like the mechanical messenger of death. If you haven’t seen it, go to Daft Punk’s Music Videos page and tell me it doesn’t look creepy. The strange thing is that all the robot is doing is chanting the song as the key words in the lyrics flash on the screen, yet I can’t take my eyes off the screen. In fact, this is true for pretty much all their videos; the visual concept is usually not completely coherent (i.e. you might not understand it), but it doesn’t matter. Somehow, they manage to grab your attention and keep it even after the music video ends. You really have to see it to believe it. And that’s saying something about the imaginative genius of Daft Punk, since they have a lot of creative control over their art (even directing a few of their videos!).

Now, if you didn’t know Daft Punk already, with any luck you’ve realized in the last ten minutes that you actually might have heard some of their songs before (Ever seen Kanye’s music video for “Stronger”? See if you can spot two robots in there that look a little Daft-Punk). And seriously, if, when you’re watching these videos, you find yourself going “What the hell?”, don’t worry. You’re not the only one. Just appreciate the uniqueness and individuality that these two musicians brought to the House movement. So this leaves one question: which of Daft Punk’s music videos do you find memorable?