Ratatat

by

Ratatat

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Before I go on to rant about how much I love this album, I want to give a warning to all those who love the radio music and MTV garbage: You won't like this. Ratatat will most likely appeal only to those who are fans of post-rock, downtempo, and other ambient music forms.

For those that are still reading, I can't recommend this album enough. Ratatat is made of two incredibly talented musicians; Mike Stroud and Evan Mast (the former of the downtempo group "E*Vax"). Anyone familiar with E*Vax may have thought their album lacking in melodic content. Ratatat takes Mast's prowess in beats, keyboards and programming and adds the melodic genius of Stroud's guitar playing.

The music has been compared to many different groups, so allow me to offer one more comparison. Think of The Album Leaf with flashier beats, less "real" (or unfiltered) instruments, and electric guitar instead of acoustic. The beats and basslines are almost always programmed and tend to use a bit of a videogame sound. On top of this is an electric guitar run through so many filters you can't always recognize it; and it is playing some of the most beautiful melodies I've heard in a while.

The coup de grace with Ratatat is their song writing ability. This duo does not fall into the ambience trend of redundant soundscapes or just adding in new loops every 8 bars. The melodies have verses, bridges and refrains and will throw you off with tempo changes, dynamics, and one of the most anticipation-inducing build ups in music history.

The first song is a little decieving though. It starts with incredible energy and a dance floor feel until about 2 and a half minutes in. It then subdues itself into a feel more fit for the remainder of the album. The album ends on the most beautiful downtempo song I've found to date. Yes it's redundant in the beginning but the build up is amazing and the anticipation before the climax is staggering. The peak of the song sounds like the musical incarnation of a state of Nirvana.

Anyways, at first you may just use this CD as background music due to its low-key and sublime nature, but give it a chance with some headphones on and I'm sure that you'll recognize the technical genius and wonderful songwriting that's going on here.