I challenge you to go listen to some of the songs they sampled and compare them to songs on DP albums:robotsound wrote:daft punk samples, but not nearly as much as you think they do.
http://palmsout.blogspot.com/2007/02/sa ... -punk.html
Hearing some of these albeit obscure original tracks took a LOT of wind out of my DP fanboy sails--they most certainly sample the shit out of a lot of old records, and on songs such as Robot Rock, where the main hook is completely sampled--take that hook away and the DP version isn't a song--it is totally built around that sample.
Not to say that I don't like their music, but much like a number of hip hop artists (Dr. Dre, etc.), once I start hearing how most of their songs have crucial elements (beats, hooks, and basslines) that are 100% sampled, I lose a bit of the awe and respect I have for them. I think on one hand it's great that these cool obscure songs/hooks are given new life, but you gotta give props to the musicians who composed and played those parts--please don't try to say that beat matching and collaging samples from various sources is just as difficult as learning to play an instrument and compose these hooks and riffs from your own head, cause it's two completely different things. It takes years of hard practice on your instrument and learning/absorbing music theory to properly play and compose music on instruments, not so with beat matching and collaging samples, sorry.
Bottom line is, it's personal preference. Sure, it takes some skills to be a DJ, and they are artists in their own right. Depending on how you define "musician", DJ's may or may not fit in that category. Depending on your taste in Live music, you may wish to dance and not give a shit how the music is reaching you, or you may prefer to see musicians with traditional instruments performing, improvising, and taking risks on stage, not relying on studio tracks and other people's music to get them through the night. It's personal preference, depending on what you listen to and what you want out of a live show. Both methods have advantages and disadvantages.