Frech house masters Daft Punk have never been content to just make music. Cultivating a cult of personality thanks to their iconic productions and signature robot suits, which have disguised the true identities of band-members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo since the mid-90's emergence of the group and the "French Touch" house music scene they kickstarted with their debut album Homework, Daft Punk has become a powerhouse brand unto itself, with forays well outside the world of music.

While Homework remains as vital and influential today as it did upon it's release in 1997, the cult of Daft Punk has grown into something even more dynamic than it was back in those heady days of electronica. With the massive global success of their follow-up album Discovery, DP became much more than dance scene stars. They were bonafide pop music sensations thanks to the single "One More Time." The next step, of course, was the overwrought spectacle, which in their case took the form of Interstella 5555, a feature-length anime film written and scored by the group, and directed by Japanese animation masters Leiji Matsumoto and Kazuhisa Takenochi. Unsurprisingly, the film was pretty much a flop, getting terrible reviews and reportedly eating up much of the fortune the reclusive disco obsessives had earned from their two hit albums.

Next came a remix compilation and a bunch of unexciting singles collections which seemed like an attempt by Daft Punk to fulfill their record contract and escape their rumored financial dire straits. Daft Punk seemed to have lost the plot. Then 2005 saw the release of Human After All, an infectious collection of new tracks which many critics hailed while an equal number seemed eager to dismiss it as a half-baked retread of their earlier successes.

However, the ensuing year has seen a string of stellar singles released, each one featuring remixes by some dance music's brightest young upstarts - all of whom owe a great debt to Daft Punk. Looking back, Human After All, which is stil yielding singles to this day, is a superb album, far more nuanced and interesting than cursory listening would suggest, and Daft Punk are still as relevant as they ever were.

Just go to YouTube and do a search for "Daft Punk Coachella" to see one of the hundreds of phonecam clips shot during their triumphant live performance at last month'sCoachella; their spectacular live set from within a neon-lit pyramid was universally acclaimed as the highlight of the festival.

For more Daft Punk business, you'll need to head to Japan or your nearest internet outpost of cool, where you can compete with trigger-happy consumers for a pair of uber-limited Bathing Ape sneakers done in collaboration with the group or some of the many toys collaborations their doing with Medicom, including 12" vinyl robot figures as well as Kubricks.

What's more, you can hear snippets of "Technologic" (used in an iTunes commercial) sampled in Busta Rhyme's current single "Touch It" and Daft Punk's next feature film, Electroma has already begun screening, making it's debut at this year's Cannes International Film Festival.

Check some stills fromt this dialogue-free robotic road movie here.

It appears you don't have Flash installed.