Despite being released over two decades ago, Daft Punk's Face to Face remains something of an obsession for producers and samplists.
Last year, we reported that Daft Punk collaborator Todd Edwards had revealed the source of a number of samples used on the track, much to the delight of the duo's sample-sleuthing fans, many of whom have attempted to recreate the song by tracking down and piecing together the original samples in their DAWs.
Producer and YouTuber Nickster has taken things a step further by remaking Face to Face using a completely different set of samples from the original track. Where Face to Face uses samples of 20 different songs from 1968-1982, Nickster's re-do aims to recreate the track using newer samples from a later time period of 1998-2012, creating a new backing track for Todd Edwards' original vocals.
By carefully selecting, processing and arranging similar samples from different songs, he's managed to make a convincing reproduction that, while it doesn't sound exactly alike, offers a fresh take on Daft Punk's original. The remake features samples from Radiohead's Weird Fishes/Arpeggi, Red Hot Chili Peppers' Can't Stop, and Lady Gaga's Poker Face, among others.
Commenters praised Nickster's ingenuity and production skills, with one describing the track as a "love letter to sampling". "People don’t understand the immense difficulty of finding completely different songs with the same sound and vibe as the original," said another. "Seriously insane man, hats off to you for the achievement".
Nickster has generously provided a download link for his Ableton set in the video's comments, so if you're curious to find out how he pieced the track together, you'll be able to download and explore.
