Ratatat - LP4

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Press release
Soundclips

3...according to our Dave on Thu 03 Jun, 2010.

We usually have 3 days of summer weather in England. The rest of the time we have to wear hats and coats and drink copious amounts of tea and ride round on penny farthings. If you like you can listen to some music that will gently console you and put you into a summery mood. Ratatat maybe what may require. This duo's latest offering is an upbeat affair that delights and confounds and maybe doffs its musical cap to Daft Punk or Air. Its seeped in melodies that could have come from an 80s Fremantle cartoon. There's quite a lot going on in these boys minds, and it threatens to spill out all over your speakers. They use an array of sounds and beats which I found alluring. The production is smoother than 12 Cary Grants but unlike Mr Grant you can kind of tell where they are from by the sound of their voices. They don't actually use voices but you know what I mean. Listen to this while wearing bermuda shorts.

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“Ratatat have a restless energy, and an unerring eye for the instrumental sweet spot” – Word “Electronica with a playful, inventive, anything-goes ethos” – Q

•   ‘LP4’ concludes the work that Evan Mast and Mike Stroud aka Ratatat began on ‘LP3’, which was released to worldwide critical acclaim in July 2008.
•   This album, their fourth for XL, was conceived during the prolific ‘LP3’ recording sessions. Since then the band have toured relentlessly, visiting countries such as Vietnam, China and Cambodia on the one hand, and selling out bigger venues than ever before on the other. Ratatat’s US touring ended with two sold out nights at New York's Terminal 5, playing to over 6,000 people.
•   The period in between albums also saw Ratatat’s sideline in hip hop production develop from a hobby into mainstream commercial success, with two tracks featured on Kid Cudi’s debut album. One of these tracks was the single ‘Pursuit Of Happiness’, which the band performed live on Letterman with Cudi in September of 2009.
•   The band describe LP4 as a weirder listen than ‘LP3’, with a much braver approach to the arrangements. Ratatat incorporated even more sounds and instruments into the mix on this album, working for the first time with a full string section, which they recorded at Glassworks Studios in Manhattan.
•   The album also features a number of spoken word interludes, one taken from Werner Herzog’s 1977 film ‘Stroszek’, in which the lead character Bruno S describes the keyboards he owns. The other samples are all courtesy of Linda Manz, the first taken from Terence Mallick’s ‘Days Of Heaven’. Both this and ‘Stroszek’ made a huge impression on Mast and Stroud during the recording. While trying to clear the ‘Days Of Heaven’ sample, Evan unexpectedly ended up on the phone with Linda herself. The call resulted in a trip to Linda’s house, where he recorded an interview with her, excerpts from which make up the remaining vocal samples.

Tracklisting:

Bilar * Drugs * Neckbrace * We Can’t Be Stopped * Bob Gandhi * Mandy * Mahalo * Party With Children * Sunblocks * Bare Feast * Grape Juice City * Alps

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