RATATAT
YES! The multi-dimensional Ratatat are back cruising the superway and finally throttle the overdue absence as this way they now come.
MAGNIFIQUE! The long awaited album Magnifique comes after time off drifting through the wilderness and thoroughly drives the chrome into cream.
Following up on the experimental sounds of LP3 and LP4, RATATAT return to their core guitar-driven sound on Magnifique which was recorded over the course of four years in various studios in different locations including Jamaica, upstate New York, Long Island, NY and their home studio in Brooklyn. Latest single Abrasive also features an incredible hand drawn video put together by Evan (youtube/abrasive)
“Ratatat have returned with a vengeance” exclaims Fader. Leading up to the release of Magnifique, RATATAT played a string of shows across North American including an appearance at Coachella. Consequence of Sound reviewed the band’s headline show in Pomona noting “fans’ rabid reaction thought this performance spoke volumes about the outfit’s perhaps underrated impact and popularity… their 75-minute set was nothing less than explosive from beginning to end.”
Already announced on the 2015 Meredith Music Festival along with the inaugural Berry Fairground in early December… now comes the first run of Australian club shows since their last visit around the 2011 Big Day Out run. Bring on the light majestic.
triple j, tone deaf and consume presents
RATATAT
Australique2015
WED 2 DEC Brisbane THE TIVOLI
Tickets from www.thetivoli.net.au
THUR 3 DEC Sydney THE METRO
Tickets from www.metrotheatre.com.au or calling the box office on 02 9550 3666
SUN 6 DEC Melbourne 170 RUSSELL
Tickets from www.170russell.com or 1300 724 867
Also appearing…
SAT 5 DEC Berry FAIRGROUND
Info here: fairgrounds.com.au
WED 9 DEC NZ Wellington SAN FRAN
Tickets from undertheradar.co.nz
THUR 10 DEC NZ Auckland THE STUDIO
Tickets from undertheradar.co.nz
SAT 12 DEC Meredith MEREDITH MUSIC FESTIVAL
Info here: 2015.mmf.com.au
Latest album Magnifique, out now on XL Recordings.
Facebook: facebook.com/RATATAT
Twitter: twitter.com/ratatatmusic
Website: ratatatmusic.com
Magnifique iTunes: smarturl.it/RatatatMagnifique
Videos:
Cream on Chrome:
Abrasive:
RATATAT:
Ratatat released its fifth full-length album, Magnifique, on XL Recordings in July – a solid five years after Mike Stroud and Evan Mast’s last release, LP4 from 2010. Following up on the experimental sounds of LP3 and LP4, Ratatat return to their core guitar-driven sound on Magnifique. “I feel like it’s our strongest record,” Evan says. “We did it in spurts. We made a few trips to different locations where we’d set up a studio and work.” Mike and Evan spent time in Port Antonio, Jamaica, upstate New York (at the same studio whereLP3 and LP4 were recorded), Long Island, New York and at their own studio in Brooklyn. Combining the bedrock beats and primordial riffs from their first two albums with the sonic experimentation and production prowess of LP3 and LP4, Mike and Evan arrived at a new plateau with Magnifique. “We used to nearly always start tracks with a beat, but with this album we were often starting with melodies and adding beats and percussion after the fact,” Mike says. “We were all about getting strong melodies.” With more time, tools and experiences to work with, Evan and Mike created their most fully-realized album with proper “Intro” and “Outro” tracks and palette-cleansing interludes made to sound like someone tuning in music from an alternate world, often creating stark juxtapositions between lo and hi-fi sounds. “There’s something cool about having those two types of sound right next to each other,” Evan says, talking about their new song, “Abrasive”, which, “starts off a bit grimy and shitty sounding and then slowly builds into this ultra hi-fi construction of layered guitars and keyboards. Some of the guitars were recorded an octave lower and then sped up to give them an unnatural gloss, it almost sounds like guitars on steroids. I like having that intensity and then getting down to tape hiss, where you can hear the amp that’s dying as you’re playing the guitar.” The secret weapon on Magnifique’s slower tracks is the pedal steel guitar, an instrument most commonly heard in country music, “but it’s a really futuristic sounding instrument,” Evan explains. While Mike and Evan have long been fans of mid-century instrumental duo Santo & Johnny who famously employed the pedal steel on their timeless hit, “Sleepwalking,” they dove much deeper into the world of pedal steel on slower songs like, “Drift”, “Supreme” and their first ever cover tune, “I Will Return,” originally recorded in 1972 by a one-man-band called Springwater. “We were watching clips from the Lawrence Welk show because he used to have these slide guitar players doing instrumentals live on the show,” Evan says. “And some of the guys he had on were just unbelievable, their level of skill is unreal.” “Ever since we started working on this record we’ve been talking about how we wanted to bring the focus back to guitars,” Mike Stroud says. Debuting moments after Ratatat closed out the Sahara Tent at Coachella, the album’s lead single, “Cream on Chrome” builds on a pocket 4/4 beat and walking bass line with a hypnotic guitar figure before getting crushed under wave after wave of guitars and synth washes. “We learned so much about song writing doing the last two records,” Evan says. “Once we knew what we knew having recorded LP3 and LP4, we wanted to go back to our old sounds and see what we could do with that same palate. We wanted to do some more aggressive stuff too, songs that would be really fun to play live.” In March they introduced some of their new songs to an electric crowd at their first show in nearly three years in Tulsa, OK. In part thanks to a face-melting stage show featuring ludicrous lasers and Evan’s stunning visuals, fans freaked out over the new songs “Pricks of Brightness”, “Cream on Chrome” and “Abrasive,” the latter getting the most enthusiastic response of the night. The art for Magnifique includes a series of sketches drawn by Mast and Stroud during the recording sessions.
Formerly known as Cherry, New York’s rock-meets-electronica duo Ratatat feature multi-instrumentalist/programmer Evan Mast and guitarist Mike Stroud. Mast was also the brains behind the pretty laptop pop of E*vax, and with his brother E*Rock he ran the indie electronic label Audio Dregs. Stroud also played, in the studio and on tour, with artists including Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional. Between these duties (and Mast’s job as a graphic designer), the duo found time to work on their collaboration. In his bedroom studio, Mast worked on beats and song ideas that he gave to Stroud to develop while the guitarist was on the road. Though Mast and Stroud began working together in 2001, things really began to come together for the pair in 2003: in May, while they were still called Cherry, they played their first gig; by September they changed their name to Ratatat; and that November they issued their first single, which had a limited run of 1,100 copies, on Audio Dregs. Dates with Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, and Battles followed, and Ratatat signed to XL Records. The duo’s self-titled debut album arrived in spring 2004, coinciding with another round of dates with bands including !!!, Electrelane, and Tortoise. Classics appeared in 2006, followed by a self-released remix album. Ratatat then took a different approach to their third full-length effort, emphasizing live percussion and keyboards while toning down their familiar mix of programmed beats and guitars. Recorded in several short weeks, LP3 was released in July 2008, followed by the more experimental LP4, released just shy of two years later in 2010.