Despite what some of you lovelies might say, there hasn’t been a sniff of Daft Punk on these pages for a good couple of months. However, it’s high time to bring the robots back to the inthemix hompage, with the news that enduring techno label Soma has unearthed a vintage Daft Punk production for its Soma Records – 20 Years compilation.

One of Soma’s leading players, Chris Lamb, gives an entertaining rundown of discovering Drive in the vault.

“At the tail end of 2010 we combed through boxes of DATs, pictures and god knows what else to find artefacts of Soma’s early days,” he writes. “Imagine our surprise when we discovered a tape simply titled ‘Daft Drive’. We hooked up the DAT machine and inserted the tape with the utmost care, pressing play and praying that for one, the tape contained what we hoped, and two, that it didn’t savage it like a dog chewing on a bone.

“In amongst the hiss and crackle, a monstrous 909 kick drum began to thud – Daft Punk’s Drive track had been rediscovered. Playing through was live Daft Punk: the freaky vocals, pounding Roland drums & synths and that distinctive DP compression. After standing in awed silence, witnessing this moment, the track faded off and we heard the sounds of French words that the recording had been made over; the remnants of their parents audio collection. The tape had originally been sent with Rollin’ and Scratchin’ to be released as Soma25 but Soma asked these two bright-eyed and techno-bound Frenchmen, to finish and send Da Funk instead and DRIVE was shelved for a later date. Until now.”

Of course, Drive will be just one of the classics showcased on the compilation, which is set for a September release. Other time-honoured club cuts come from label heads Slam, Funk D’Void The Black Dog and more. Then there are DJ mixes from Slam and longtime Soma stars Silicone Soul, which makes this a worthy celebration.

DISC 1 – SOMA CLASSICS
01. Daft Punk – Drive unreleased 1994
02. Scott Grooves (feat. Parliament/Funkadelic) – Mothership Reconnection (Daft Punk Remix)
03. Silicone Soul – Right On, Right On
04. Slam – Azure (Part 1)
05. Funk D’Void – Diabla (Heavenly Mix)
06. Slam – Positive Education
07. The Black Dog – Cost II
08. Samuel L Session – Can You Relate (Joris Voorn Flooding The Market with Remixes)
09. Percy X – X-Trak 1
10. Desert Storm – Desert Storm
11. Slam – Eterna

DISC 2 – SLAM DJ MIX
01. Slam – Groovelock (Deepchord Atmospheric Rebuild)
02. Eastmen – U Dig (Loco Dice Remix)
03. H-Foundation – Slayin’ the Dragon (Klartraum Remix)
04. Hatikvah – In the Spirit (Rod Modell | Deepchord Vector and Velocity Mix)
05. Slam – Human (Oxia Remix)
06. Silicone Soul – Right On, Right On (Nick Curly Remix)
07. Pablo – Turn the Page (Alex Under Remix)
08. Vector Lovers – Computrfnk (Sebrok’s Funk You Remix)
09. Itamar Sagi – One Million Oaks (Mark Broom Remix)
10. H-Foundation – Passage of Time (D1Julz Remix)
11. Master H – Magic K (Paul Ritch 31 Trudaine Mix)
12. Silicone Soul – 3am (Maetrik Jazzersize Mix)
13. Slam – Lifetimes (Pan-Pot Bass Times Mix)
14. Slam – Stepback (Mark Henning Remix)
15. Slam – Positive Education (Zero T Remix)
16. Slam – Stepback (Adam Beyer & Jesper Dahlback Remix
17. Tony Thomas – Beginnings (Gary Beck Remix)
18. Funk D’Void – Diabla (Christian Smith and Wehbba Remix)
19. Funk D’Void – Diabla (Joash Remix)

DISC 3 – SILICONE SOUL DJ MIX
01. [Intro] Percy X Vs Bloodsugar – -3 (Emissons 2) / Scott Grooves feat. Roy Ayers – Expansions (Vocal)
02. Counterplan – 90 Degrees (DJ Q Mix) / Scott Grooves (feat. Parliament / Funkadelic) – Mothership Reconnection (Vocal)
03. Otaku – Percussion Obsession
04. Chaser – Destination Unknown
05. Mark Henning – Last Night
06. Alex Smoke – Chica Wappa
07. Desert Storm – Scoraig ‘93
08. Schatrax – Mispent years (Silicone Soul’s Darkroom Dub) / Hatikvah – In The Spirit (Vocal)
09. Rejuvination – Requiem
10. Slam – Positive Education
11. Universal Principles – Inspiration & Light (Vocal)
12. Slam – This World (Wighnomy Bros. & Robag Wruhme Dub) / Silicone Soul – The Snake Charmer Edit (Vocal)
13. Funk D’ Void – Diabla (Heavenly Edit)
14. Silicone Soul – Chic-O-Laa (H-Foundation Remix)
15. Eastmen – U Dig (Vocal)
16. Silicone Soul – Right On, Right On (Original Mix)
17. [Outro] Hatikvah – Daedalus / H-Foundation feat. Aion – Tonight (Vocal) [Until The Sun Edit]