Ratatat
is a New York City electronic music duo consisting of guitarist Mike Stroud and synthesizer player and producer Evan Mast.
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RATATAT TICKETS
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History
Mike Stroud and Evan Mast first met as
Skidmore College students, but they did not work together until they recorded several songs under the name "Cherry" in 2001. Their 2004 debut,
Ratatat
, was written and recorded in Mast's
Crown Heights,
Brooklyn apartment on Stroud's
PowerBook.
[1] The album is entirely
instrumental with the exception of vocal excerpts at the beginning and end of selected tracks.
The group debuted by releasing the single
Seventeen Years
on Evan and his brother's record label
Audio Dregs in the US and
Rex Records in the UK.
Seventeen Years
was released again on Evan and his brother E*Rock's record label
Audio Dregs. They then signed for
XL Recordings, releasing their debut album and the single
Germany to Germany
. Ratatat occasionally remixes others for collected release on
Ratatat Remixes Vol. 1
(which garnered the attention of
Rolling Stone
), as well as the later
second volume, both of which were self-released in co-operation with
Audio Dregs.
Both musicians have had experience with other projects, such as Mast's
E*vax and
King Pang and Stroud's stage work with
B4-4,
Joe Satriani and
Manowar. Stroud has also recorded with Ben Kweller on
On My Way. Ratatat has toured with bands such as
Björk,
Daft Punk,
Mouse on Mars,
Interpol,
Franz Ferdinand,
CSS,
The Faint,
Super Furry Animals,
Clinic,
Panther and
The Killers. In 2006 they supported
Mogwai in
Japan.
On October 6, 2006 Ratatat became the first band to perform a
public
show inside the
Guggenheim Museum in New York City.
On
October 10,
2006 a new 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.
[2] This release was followed by another remix album,
Ratatat Remixes Vol 2..
It has been rumored that they will be signed by
Star Trak as the understudies of the
Neptunes.
[3] [4]
Mast has most recently collaborated with former
Shudder to Think vocalist
Craig Wedren on a record for a Tokyo independent label, Mold Recordings and said to be finishing a follow up solo album for
Audio Dregs.
From June 2007 until October 2008, Ratatat had Martin Bonventre accompany them on their European tour and Fall shows in America as the pianist/synthesizer player. He drew much attention due to his enormous afro and crazy, erratic dance movements on stage. The reason for his leaving the performance is unknown.
Ratatat's live performances bear strong similarities to the performances of the psychedelic rock bands out of San Francisco in the 60s, with energetic light shows, swirling colors projected onto a screen, and random clips of movies thrown in.
The official site has been updated showing the videos of the three first singles of their most recent album
LP3, which was released on
July 8,
2008.
Shiller,
Shempi then
Mirando have all been released (or announced) on 7" or 12" singles, Shiller being first released with a special b-side Mahalo.
[5]
According to his blog,
Kid Cudi is planning to work on a
collaboration album with Ratatat in the future
[6]. They also produced two songs in his debut album
Man on the Moon: The End of Day, entitled Alive and Pursuit of Happiness
According to Mike Stroud in an interview conducted by Julia Askenase of Paste Magazine released on August 4, 2009, LP4 is almost completed and nearing release. Stroud said "LP4 is indeed mixed and nearly finished. In fact, most of it was recorded during the same studio sessions that yielded LP3"
[7].
Discography
Studio albums
Album
| Date
| Label
|
Ratatat
| April 20, 2004
| XL Recordings
|
Ratatat Remixes Vol. 1
| 2004
| Self-released
|
Classics
| August 22, 2006
| XL Recordings
|
Ratatat Remixes Vol. 2
| 2007
| Self-released
|
LP3
| July 8, 2008
| XL Recordings
|
LP4
| TBA
| XL Recordings
|
Singles
Song
| Album
| Date
| Label
|
"Seventeen Years"
| Ratatat
| 2003
| Rex Records/Audio Dregs
|
"Germany to Germany"
| Ratatat
| October 4, 2004
| XL Recordings
|
"Wildcat"
| Classics
| July 25, 2006
| XL Recordings
|
"Lex"
| Classics
| October 30, 2006
| XL Recordings
|
"Loud Pipes"
| Classics
| 2007
| XL Recordings
|
"Shiller"
| LP3
| May 6, 2008
| XL Recordings
|
"Mirando" (video clip)
| LP3
| June 2008
| XL Recordings
|
"Shempi"
| LP3
| September 23, 2008
| XL Recordings
|
"Mirando" (physical single)
| LP3
| February 3, 2009
| XL Recordings
|
Remixes
Artist
| Title
| Year
|
Shout Out Louds
| "The Comeback" (Big Slippa Remix by Ratatat)
| 2005
|
The Knife
| "We Share Our Mothers' Health" (Ratatat Remix)
| 2006
|
Television Personalities
| "You Kept Me Waiting Too Long" (Ratatat Remix)
| 2007
|
Björk
| "Wanderlust" (Ratatat Remix)
| 2008
|
Animal Collective
| "Mirando" (Animal Collective Remix)
| 2009
|
YACHT
| "Mirando" (YACHT Remix)
| 2009
|
In popular culture
- The song "Loud Pipes" was used in a series of fan videos posted on YouTube about the 4chan image board celebrity Boxxy.
- "Beat #6" (From 9 Beats) was used in CSI Season 8 episode 14 (Drops Out) aired 24 April 2008.
- The song "Seventeen Years" was used in the J. J. Abrams movie Cloverfield
(2008). It has been in a Hummer television commercial, on British television show Soccer AM's
"Crossbar Challenge" segment and in a ski movie called
. It was also was used in Keith Hufnagel's video part in DVS Shoe Company's skateboard movie, "Skate More"
- The song "Lex" has been featured in a Zune commercial.
- In February 2007, Cartoon Network aired a commercial for My Gym Partner Is a Monkey
in which "Wildcat" played in the background. An episode of the same show contained over two minutes of the song, edited slightly with a few parts cut out.
- In 2007, "Loud Pipes" was used in the soundtrack of 989 SportsMLB 07 - The Show
.
- "Lex" was used in Standard Films 2007 production "Catch the Vapors" for a segment featuring snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo.
- The song "Wildcat" was featured in Mack Dawg Production's 2007 snowboard video Picture This
.
- The film Knocked Up
(2007) plays "Tropicana" during the various gestation time lapse scenes within the story.
- The film Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
(2008) has "Kennedy" playing in a club scene.
- The website GOOD Magazine used the song "Gettysburg" in an animated video about nuclear weapon proliferation. [8]
- Numerous Ratatat works have been featured in excerpts on public radio. Most regularly El Pico on This American Life. The song "Swisha" was used as interlude music on NPR's All Things Considered, September 10, 2008
- "Wildcat" was played in background to the Printemps-Ete 2007 catwalk of Chanel.
- "Gettysburg" was used in a Nylon.com short video profiling the Marc by Marc Jacobs show during New York Fashion Week on February 5, 2008.
- The song "Lex" was also used during the Louis Vuitton Spring/Summer 2008 fashion show. The Louis Vuitton set was mixed by Daft Punk which "Lex" was mixed with Daft Punk's "Technologic".
- The song "Wildcat" was played in the background of a 2008 Rhapsody commercial.
- The song "Gettysburg" was featured in Naptime Films 2008 snowboard video Workplay.
- The song "Three" From the album 9 beats was used in the show Entourage in season 5.
- The song "Desert Eagle" was used in the opening to the Season 2 - Episode 2 of the NBC show Chuck.
- The song "Wildcat" was used in the Loaded Carving Systems video for Orangatang 4President wheels.
- The song "Lex" was used in Britain to advertise the Channel 4 program Renaissance.
- The song "Lapland" is used for the overture of the radio show "Les chemins de la connaissance" on France Culture.
- The song "Dura" was used in CSI Season 9, Episode 7 "Woulda, Coulda, Shoulda" while Nick Stokes was processing the mailbox.
- The songs "Seventeen Years" and "Mirando" were used in CSI: Miami Season 7, Episode 19 " Target Specific" First when Calleigh investigates the crime, and second when Eric investigates tool crimes.
References
- Have laptop will travel
- Ratatat 9 Beats Hits Hard
- Ratatat
- Ratatat: frequency bad-asses on LP3
- Beggars Group USA - Releases
- http://www.kidcudi.com/news/?p=688
- http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/08/ratatat-talks-new-album-globe-trotting-and-hip-hop.htm
- YouTube - GOOD Magazine: Nuclear Weapons