Samples used on Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ revealed by collaborator Todd Edwards
Over 70 samples from the ‘Discovery’ sessions saved on a floppy disk have been revealed
Todd Edwards, a regular Daft Punk collaborator, has revealed the source of a number of samples used on the French duo’s legendary ‘Discovery’ album.
In an Instagram post shared last Thursday, Edwards presented the actual floppy disk storing the original samples, which many Daft Punk fans have spent the past two decades searching for.
The album track ‘Face to Face’ — which features Edwards as a co-producer, co-writer, and vocalist — has been a particular subject of interest due to its heavy use of sampling. In the video, the producer loads up the original floppy disk from the ‘Discovery’ sessions and plays through a number of samples, many of which were used on ‘Face to Face’.
“Did you ever wonder why on Daft Punk’s ‘Discovery’ album most of the samples they used for their songs were from disco and R&B, except for one song in particular, ‘Face To Face’, where they used folk music and soft rock?”, Edwards said in the video.
“That’s because most of the samples came from my sample library. The thing is, for years before, I did sample disco and R&B but I got kind of tired of it...,” he continued. “The day Thomas [Bangalter] and I worked on the track, the night before I sampled up 70 samples, they came in the next day and they sampled up 70 samples. And all those samples were recorded on this zip disk.”
Edwards shared more samples from the rare floppy disk in a recent TikTok livestream, including cuts from The Doobie Brothers, Electric Light Orchestra, and Emerson, Lake & Palmer. The discovery has been a revelation for many members of Daft Punk’s dedicated community of fans, who have spent years trying to find the source of the samples.
“Can’t stop replaying this vid! It’s literally so unbelievable to hear every sample that was both used and unused for Face to Face,” commented one user, who refers to themselves as the ‘Sample Sleuth’. “So glad to have witnessed such a legendary moment happen live with everyone.”
Check out Todd Edwards’ Instagram video below.
Daft Punk recently launched a new video series, ‘Memory Tapes’, which looks back at the making of their final album before their split in 2021, ‘Random Access Memories’. The duo also shared a five-part mini-documentary archive on the album’s key collaborators, including Todd Edwards, as well as Nile Rodgers, Pharrell Williams, and Panda Bear.
