The new hotness train continues to roll down the tracks with Ratatat's latest release. Nightclub Amnesia is a bit more jagged and edgy compared to their previous singles Cream on Chrome and Abrasive. Still, the funky chords are very much so in the mix as the track ebbs and flows for a full six plus minutes. There's even a legitimate lull in the middle of the track that serves as halftime for those who want to take a mid-track intermission. It's hard to believe, but Magnifique is only ten long days away. I'm struggling to find another album coming out this summer that I'm as excited about...#Magnifique
Ah yes, fooled by the ironic song title once again! It's as if Ratatat wanted us all to notice the name of their new track, scoff, then proceed to listen to one of the smoothest cuts they've ever created. Needless to say, Abrasive is anything but abrasive sounding...
You might be wondering why in hell the word magnifique kept popping up throughout their extremely well executed stop motion video? Well, that happens to the name of their upcoming album that will be hitting shelves on July 17th. In my eyes, the word is a much better place with Ratatat making new music. Now if we could only get a tour so that I can experience their one of a kind live show all again with a full album's worth of new material...#Magnifique
Yeaaaaa buddy! For the first time in five years, Ratatat is back with a new single. Cream on Chrome is a refreshing example of why Ratatat's brand of electro-rock is so uniquely awesome. As an added benefit they even tossed some funk into their new single. It's a bit more chill than you'd expect from the Brooklyn duo, but the sound represents an interesting evolution of their style. Adding a bit more live instrumentation is a welcome addition that will only improve their already stellar live show. Speaking of which, they debuted their new single at Coachella last night...
Man what I would have given to be at that set! No word on when their new album is going to his shelves, but don't fear, you'll hear plenty more new music from them on this site before a full album comes to fruition...#CreamOnChrome
Just when you thought Kid Cudi had fallen off the face of the earth and drifted back home to Mars, he drops a long lost gem on us. Coming from his San Francisco sessions and featuring the production from Dot Da Genius, Love will remind you of everything you love about Cudder. You'll get nostalgic over the RatatatSunblocks sample and the gentle ebb and flow of emotion that makes Cudi's music so incredibly infectious. The whiny guitar sample provides such a contrast to the inspirational theme embedded within the lyrics. It's long overdue, but how can you not get excited about Man on the Moon 3 after hearing this. Shoot, just make a full album with Dot producing and Ratatat samples and I'm all in...#MOTM3
I'm gonna be honest when I say I've never been so excited but apprehensive for a concert than I was for Ratatat at the Electric Factory in Philly. I say that because I'd never been to a concert that had no vocals before and I wasn't really sure how two guys were going to make all of the instruments come together. Add to that the fact that even though I've become increasingly familiar with their last two albums, LP3 and LP4, their music can get a little monotonous when you're listening to it...it's all instrumentation!...buuutt on the flip side, the abundance of instrumentation from drums, to synths, to guitars is what made the live show something unique and increased my level of anticipation.
To start with, the setup at Philly's own Electric Factory was (again) ideal. Not too crowded in the pit, plenty of good places to view the stage and fairly solid acoustics. What baffled me, initially, was the decision to put two completely transparent frames of glass that were about 10 feet tall and a little wider than a door frame on both sides of the stage. At first I thought it was to block people from throwing stuff on stage? I mean what else could it be?
Turns out, it was to superimpose images and more frequently, images of people playing instruments, as if to create the illusion of a full band playing the instruments as if to make up for the lack of people on stage making it all happen. Turned out to be pretty awesome and if you scroll down to the last video, you'll see in the Bare Feastvideo what I'm talking about towards the end of the video where two cell-ists show up illuminated on stage.
Like any good live act, they had their share of creative surprises instrument wise, the first being their drum solo on the loud and boisterous track Wildcat... Wildcat (Drum solo)
The cool thing I began to appreciate when witnessing Ratatat live, was the energy they were able to pull out of the crowd with their upbeat, electro infused dance music. The whole set I can honestly never say I saw the faces of either Mike Stroud or Evan Mast, which is usually strange to not be engaged at all by the act, but it didn't matter at all because the crowd came for the ridiculous sounds they can produce from instruments.
Case in point, their track Seventeen Years, where they rock out on dual guitars producing a sound that implored all pit attendees to get off their feet...seeing it live made me like it more outside of the concert...check it out Seventeen Years
Luckily too, I had a dance partner the whole show too who enjoyed shakin' it, getting crazy jumpin' around at some points...hoot even grindin' all high school dance style like nobody is lookin' during tracks like Shempi. No matter what show I go to I always get two tickets because 1) I always find someone to go 2) I love sharing music and 3) I love sharing experiences with people. All of the above were satisfied quite well with a lady who hadn't even heard of Ratatat prior to the concert, but was willing to go on an adventure and trust my musical tastes. Because of all that, I had a better time than I would have had going with just about anyone else and if you're reading this, thanks again for going, I really can't wait for the next concert we get to go to....
Now if you were to ask me what makes a concert perfect, my favorite track needs to be played last. The two previous concerts I've went to, the song I really wanted to see was played first (Drake - 9 AM in Dallas and LCD Soundsystem - Dance Yrself Clean), which is cool but kind of a buzz kill because its really anticlimactic. But luckily for me Ratatat knew that I had come to see Bare Feast and they rewarded me by finishing off the concert with an awe inspiring rendition.... Bare Feast
Who knows maybe it's the Irish in me, but I freakin' love that track and seeing it live did not disappoint. Although, if I were to change the chronology of songs I would have played Bare Feast as the first encore track followed by the more rowdy, tear the house down/my new favorite song by them Lex. I'm splitting hairs at this point, definitely go and see Ratatat if they even come your way, you won't be disappointed in the slightest if you value rhythm and instrumental creativity. Go check out their new album too, LP4 is off the hook.
Never a dull moment in the world of Scott Mescudi as he continues his genre bending collaborations that have consistently lit a fire under the traditional Hip Hop sound...a sound that before the likes of Cudi, B.O.B., Drake had taken on a somewhat monotonous, vanilla tone. One thing that's becoming increasingly clear is that his new album Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager will continue to push the boundaries of Hip Hop and maybe on more of an Alt/Emo/Rock tip. I say that because of this track, which is every bit Contemporary, borderline Emo Rock mixed with Hip Hop and if you combine it with the sounds of his first single with Kanye titled Erase Me, which is a Pop/Rock track meant for radio consumption (and has also been wiped off the face of YouTube after the radio rip leaked...you better believe I'm postin' that shit once the CDQ drops), it seems like his sophmore albums is setting sail towards a more alt-rock vibe.
This collaboration dubbed "Three Artists One Track" is being marketed as a Converse promo. In an interview with Hip Hop DX, Geoff Cottrill, Chief Marketing Officer of Converse, said that it was important to bring a diverse trio together for this project.
"It is exciting to be able to bring Kid Cudi, Rostam, and Best Coast together to create an original piece of music that blends their musical styles in a fresh and unique way. These artists are all at different stages in their careers and at the forefront of creating innovative music so it was no surprise that the single came out as great as it did. We couldn't be more proud to have a role in making this track come to life." -Source
As if the song wasn't weird enough, the video definitely topped it off with the huge heads. To be honest, I'm not all that familiar with Best Coast or Vampire Weekend, I did do a skit earlier this month at a familiar reunion to their song Cousins, so after hearing that song beaten into my memory I feel like I've got somewhat of a feel for their sound and what they bring to the table. Definitely a lot of fast paced drumming to go with an odd mix of percussion/guitar. Funny that what sounds weird to me can sound great when combined with a little bit of Cudi.
Kid Cudi has single handedly opened my music world up to so many new sounds and widened my seemingly myopic taste in music to now include tremendously underrated artists like LCD Soundsystem, Ratatat and Band of Horses. If you're not sure who they are, you should probably get on my song list because June's list was allll about that electro funk that the aforementioned artists bring. If you read my long-winded album review of Cudi's Man on the Moon: The End of Day, you'll gain more of an understanding for how much I appreciate his music. Keep it up Cudi, wherever you want to take your musical tastes, I will follow...
Give it a listen...and support Converse, they tend to make smart business decisions...
Kid Cudi feat Rostam Batmanglij (of Vampire Weekend) & Bethany Cosentino (of Best Coast) - All Summer (Three Artists One Track)
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Pretty crazy that a track this good is seen by Cudi as "an idea i had that me and Chip decided to do for fun. as of right now its not on anything, we just recorded it and put it out just for the fuck of it." - Source
The background is borrowed from LCD Soundsystems's track Dance Yrself Clean. Check out the track below if you're curious, but everything from the lyrical sample at the end to the electro beat breakdown between verses comes from this track.
Entertaining how he used a clip from Christian Bale's expletive laden Terminator set meltdown and blended it with LCD Soundsystem's sampled lyrics of "Talking like a jerk, except you are an actual jerk and living proof". Very fitting, fun, lighthearted, it's all good, I laughed if you were wondering.
Let's see Ratatat, MGMT, LCD Soundsystem...I'm starting to see a pattern here of Indie/Rock/Electro groups that Cudi is hitting up...in a presumable attempt to corner the Indie Hip hop crowd? Hell, more power to you Moon Moon man...wait I mean Rager? For all of you that missed the announcement, below is going to be his next album's title...due out sometime in the Aug/Sept range.
Felt like I needed to get off the Drake tracks for at least a few days and throw a curveball your direction with a little bit of off the wall funk. Before you pass too much judgment for this being a far cry from Hip Hop, their is only a small degree of separation between the electro/funk/synth rhythms that the duo in question, Ratatat, is responsible for. Let's take a trip down memory lane for a minute, to when I was non-stop gushing about this new artist named Kid Cudi who was bringing a more than diverse flavor of Hip Hop that had not been heard before. Much of that was due to the New York duo consisting of guitarist Mike Stroud and bass/synth/producer E*Vax or Evan Mast.
The duo was responsible for producing two of my favorite tracks off Man on the Moon: The End of Day, Pursuit of Happiness and Alive (Nightmare). The use of uncharacteristically melancholy, trippy synthesizers over the loud clap of these two beats is epic. The beats on these two tracks matched Cudi's loner, psychedelic, vulnerable mood throughout the album and became two of the biggest reasons I will always regard Cudi's fist album as classic.
Producer guest spots aside, they released an album titled LP3 that gained lots of underground criticalacclaim for being "highly danceable elctronica". After giving the album a listen, I agree with that statement and further than notion by blessing them with my closest comparison being to Daft Punk and Nine Inch Nails. Even Daft is a little more techno and less electro than Ratatat, but the electro feel is very Trent Reznor of NIN...I know, a lofty, but well deserved comparison IMO.
Which brings us to their new album titled LP4 that is supposed to drop in about a week and a half on June 8th. Feel free to stream the whole album here thanks to our friends over at NPR. As far as what tracks I like so far, hands down my favorite is Bare Feast, which is more of an marriage made in heaven between celtic and electronic music. For someone who has some Irish heritage in them, this is without a doubt worthy of praise as something that sounds completely different than any type of music you've ever heard.
Give it a listen...
Ratatat - Bare Feast (link taken down at request of XL Recordings). If you would like to preview this song and all of the other songs on their upcoming release, please go to NPR, which has the files available to stream.
Another track off LP4, Drugs is exactly what you'd envision when you think of drugs. Crazy, tripped out in your face synthesizers that take you on an intense high pitched journey. The pace is fast, it's upbeat and I can count at least 10 different beat elements throughout the track. Intensity pervades, craziness ensues, and you find yourself dancing...that's Drugs in a nutshell....
Ratatat - Drugs (link removed)...Preview track at NPR
For all the people out there expecting lyrics, sorry, today I let you down...but you gotta admit the style Ratatat brings is alarmingly fresh...c'mon admit it...
and 
, their music can get a little monotonous when you're listening to it...it's all instrumentation!...buuutt on the flip side, the abundance of instrumentation from drums, to synths, to guitars is what made the live show something unique and increased my level of anticipation. 
