It’s cool enough that U.S. Olympic skaters Madison Chock and Evan Bates chose Daft Punk for their performance on Sunday — but even cooler was the music they chose: One would expect maybe one of their dancefloor hits, like “One More Time,” “Around the World” or their actual 2013 radio hit, “Get Lucky.”
But instead, the pair performed to beautifully curated a medley of three songs from the duo’s 2013 (apparent) swan song album, “Random Access Memories,” beginning with the album’s wild closing track “Contact” and its driving arpeggiated rhythms, then moving into “Within,” and concluding with the gorgeous orchestral finale of “Touch.” It paid off, too: Their winning score was 129.07, an international personal best for the duo, which added to the U.S. team’s silver medal in the overall team event.
It worked out better for them than it did for German competitors Tim Dieck and Katharina Mueller, who, as noted by Stereogum, performed in costume as the Joker and Harley Quinn, soundtracked by Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In The Sky,” the White Stripes’ “Seven Nation Army,” and a remix of Britney Spears’ “Toxic.” However, they came in last place.
Just under a year ago, Daft Punk, one of the most influential and popular groups to emerge in the past 30 years, announced their retirement via a video titled “Epilogue.” In many ways, “Random Access Memories” was the culmination of a career that began in the early 1990s: The album, which included the global hit single “Get Lucky,” won the Grammy Award for Best Album the following year. Head here for more on Daft Punk’s career and legacy.