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RATATAT - RATATAT
ARTIST:
TITLE:
Ratatat
LABEL:
CATNO:
XLLP172
STYLE:
FORMAT:
Vinyl record
DESCRIPTION:
Rock/ Electronica LP - Further blurring the boundaries between electronic music and rock, Ratatat's self-titled debut album mixes Evan Mast's fractured but propulsive beats and woozy analog synths with Mike Stroud's loud, yet somehow subtle, guitars.
Come to think of it, "loud yet subtle" neatly sums up the instrumental duo's approach -- while their sound can pack a formidable punch, it's also atmospheric. Often, the duo is both aggressive and atmospheric within one song, as on the album's opening track, "Seventeen Years": It begins as a dancefloor stormer, with in-the-red guitars and keyboards and a beat that sounds like it's gasping for air, until an analog synth-driven breakdown turns it into something more moody and bedroom-bound. More laid-back than dance-punk but livelier than post-rock, Ratatat's shuffling rhythms and pensive keyboards clearly owe a debt to Mast's work as E*vax, but other influences pop up too.
Comparisons have been made to Daft Punk, and for the most part, they're justified; with its busy guitars, much of Ratatat plays like an indie spin on "Aerodynamic" from Daft Punk's Discovery, albeit with a slightly less arch feel. The bittersweet naïveté that floats through the album also recalls a more roughed-up version of Plone's nursery rhyme electronica, particularly on "Cherry," the sleepy epic that closes Ratatat and pays tribute to the band's former name. A slight hip-hop vibe also pops up from time to time, most clearly on "Crips"' insistent bass and rattling beat, but also in the spoken word interludes that dot the album.
Often, Ratatat's music is deceptively simple; in particular, Mast's beats are more interesting and intricate than they sound at first. They sound uniquely live, but their clicking, stuttering rhythms are definitely electronic and would be difficult, if not impossible, for a live drummer to produce. "Everest" features a particularly well-crafted beat that pops in and out of the guitar'n'synth mayhem atop it, making the song (and the rest of the album, for that matter) good for close listening as well as background music. Songs like "Desert Eagle," "Lapland," and "Breaking Away" sound oddly cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and help create a consistent mood on Ratatat -- a mood that may be too consistent over the course of a full-length album. Individually, each song on the album sounds fantastic, and each song is crafted for maximum tension and release. But, as winning as the group's formula is, there isn't much variation in it, which detracts from the album as a whole. A few songs break the mold a bit: "Bustelo" adds elements of new wave and soul, "Spanish Armada" has some hints of aptly Spanish-sounding guitar, and "Germany to Germany" has some rounded synths that recall German brass, not to mention rousing guitars that are enough to induce a Big Country flashback. But just because Ratatat sounds a little samey doesn't mean that the album isn't good; it is. The band's sound is both fresh and nostalgic, and so pretty that it seems overly harsh to criticize them too much at this point. It's just that Ratatat is good enough to suggest that, with a little more diversity, the group could do even better things.
Come to think of it, "loud yet subtle" neatly sums up the instrumental duo's approach -- while their sound can pack a formidable punch, it's also atmospheric. Often, the duo is both aggressive and atmospheric within one song, as on the album's opening track, "Seventeen Years": It begins as a dancefloor stormer, with in-the-red guitars and keyboards and a beat that sounds like it's gasping for air, until an analog synth-driven breakdown turns it into something more moody and bedroom-bound. More laid-back than dance-punk but livelier than post-rock, Ratatat's shuffling rhythms and pensive keyboards clearly owe a debt to Mast's work as E*vax, but other influences pop up too.
Comparisons have been made to Daft Punk, and for the most part, they're justified; with its busy guitars, much of Ratatat plays like an indie spin on "Aerodynamic" from Daft Punk's Discovery, albeit with a slightly less arch feel. The bittersweet naïveté that floats through the album also recalls a more roughed-up version of Plone's nursery rhyme electronica, particularly on "Cherry," the sleepy epic that closes Ratatat and pays tribute to the band's former name. A slight hip-hop vibe also pops up from time to time, most clearly on "Crips"' insistent bass and rattling beat, but also in the spoken word interludes that dot the album.
Often, Ratatat's music is deceptively simple; in particular, Mast's beats are more interesting and intricate than they sound at first. They sound uniquely live, but their clicking, stuttering rhythms are definitely electronic and would be difficult, if not impossible, for a live drummer to produce. "Everest" features a particularly well-crafted beat that pops in and out of the guitar'n'synth mayhem atop it, making the song (and the rest of the album, for that matter) good for close listening as well as background music. Songs like "Desert Eagle," "Lapland," and "Breaking Away" sound oddly cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and help create a consistent mood on Ratatat -- a mood that may be too consistent over the course of a full-length album. Individually, each song on the album sounds fantastic, and each song is crafted for maximum tension and release. But, as winning as the group's formula is, there isn't much variation in it, which detracts from the album as a whole. A few songs break the mold a bit: "Bustelo" adds elements of new wave and soul, "Spanish Armada" has some hints of aptly Spanish-sounding guitar, and "Germany to Germany" has some rounded synths that recall German brass, not to mention rousing guitars that are enough to induce a Big Country flashback. But just because Ratatat sounds a little samey doesn't mean that the album isn't good; it is. The band's sound is both fresh and nostalgic, and so pretty that it seems overly harsh to criticize them too much at this point. It's just that Ratatat is good enough to suggest that, with a little more diversity, the group could do even better things.
PRICE:
£19.49
RELEASED YEAR:
SLEEVE:
Mint (M)
MEDIA:
Mint (M)
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Last FM Information on Ratatat
Please note the information is done on a artist keyword match and data is provided by LastFM.
Ratatat, from Brooklyn, New York, United States is an electronic music duo: guitarist Mike Stroud and synthesizer driver and producer Evan Mast (E*Vax).
Stroud and Mast originally met as students at Skidmore College, but did not work together musically until 2001, when their project was named Cherry (later the name of the final song on their debut album). Written and recorded in the bedroom of Mast's Crown Heights, Brooklyn apartment, the band's debut album Ratatat for XL Recordings was released in 2004. This album is entirely instrumental, except for excerpts of dialogue at the ends of some tracks. Ratatat has toured with bands such as Interpol, Clinic, Junior Boys, The Killers, The Faint, Daft Punk, The Shins and most recently Björk.
Ratatat have been known to remix other artists' songs, most notably on their limited 2004 release Ratatat Remixes Mixtape Vol 1, which garnered the attention of Rolling Stone. In 2005, the band remixed a track for Swedish band Shout Out Louds and The Knife.
In August 2006, Ratatat released a second album Classics, from which the single Wildcat was taken.
In October 2006, a demo album from Ratatat entitled 9 Beats was leaked online. This set of tracks does not appear on any official discography listings. The tracks consist of short instrumental electronic musical pieces and demos for their next mixtape.
This release was followed by another remix album, Ratatat Remixes Mixtape Vol 2 which was released in 2007. This album featured 14 new remixes featuring: Bun B, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude, Young Jeezy, T.I., Beanie Sigel, Pimp C, Ludacris, Young Buck, Saigon, Juvenile, Z-ro, Memphis Bleek, Kanye West and exclusive tracks from Despot and Beans.
A third album, LP3, was released on July 8th, 2008.
In late April 2010, Ratatat's fourth album, LP4 was leaked online. The originally announced release date was June 8th, 2010.
Both musicians have had experience with other projects, such as Mast's E*Vax and Carpet Musics and Stroud's stage work with Ben Kweller and Florida's alternative rock band Dashboard Confessional.
The track Seventeen Years was featured in the 2008 movie Cloverfield.
The track Loud Pipes was featured in MLB 07: The Show for Playstation 2, Playstation 3, and Playstation Portable.
For merchandise visit, http://www.ratatatmusic.com Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.