Continuing our quasi-mind melting morning calisthenics with a Route du Rock performance by Ratatat from 2015.
In case you’ve been (like me) overwhelmed with the sheer deluge of music coming in every direction for the past 15 or so years, there’s a chance Ratatat might have slipped under your radar. If that’s the case, here’s a quick briefing via Wikipedia to get you up to speed:
Ratatat is Mike Stroud (guitar, melodica, synthesizers, percussion) and producer Evan Mast (bass, synthesizers, percussion).
Evan Mast and Mike Stroud first met as students at Skidmore College. They started working together in 2001, recording several songs under the name “Cherry”. Stroud had previously toured with Dashboard Confessional in 2000.
Ratatat debuted in 2003 with the release of the single “Seventeen Years” on Mast’s and his brother Eric’s (E*Rock) record label Audio Dregs in the US and Rex Records in the UK. Mike Stroud had been a touring member of Ben Kweller’s band, but he “had enough” by 2003 and, after two years of touring, left the band after appearing on their second album, On My Way (released in 2004). Having signed for XL Recordings, Ratatat released their self-titled debut album, Ratatat and the single “Germany to Germany”. The album was written and recorded in Mast’s Crown Heights, Brooklyn apartment on his laptop. It is entirely instrumental with the exception of vocal excerpts at the beginning and end of select tracks.
In the following year, Ratatat supported the band Interpol on their tour. Also in 2004, Ratatat released Ratatat Remixes Vol. 1 in co-operation with Audio Dregs, a compilation of remixed tracks by other artists, thereby garnering the attention of Rolling Stone.
The band played Coachella Festival and Governor’s Ball Music Festival in 2015. They debuted their new song “Cream On Chrome” just a few hours before their night-ending Coachella set on April 11, 2015. The band also played a concert in Pomona, California on April 15, 2015, and at Primavera Sound in Barcelona in May.
In May 2015, the band announced that their fifth album, Magnifique, would be released on July 17, 2015, and feature a cover of the 1971 Springwater single “I Will Return”.
The first single from the album, the track “Cream on Chrome”, was voted number 52 in the Triple J Hottest 100 of 2015 held in January 2016. This is their second appearance on the annual countdown run by the Australian radio station, after featuring on Kid Cudi’s “Pursuit of Happiness”, which polled 33rd in the 2009 countdown.
Since 2015 it’s been a bit quiet, but I stumbled across this bit of news (via Reddit): Mike Stroud (1/2 of RATATAT) has been making music with Agustin White under the moniker KUNZITE since 2018 and their sound is very much RATATAT. Reddit goes on to say they are wrapping up a new album from which bits are apparently showing up on Spotify (a service I wouldn’t touch with a bargepole).
So now you know (if you didn’t already) – time to dive into 2015 for the next hour and eighteen minutes.
