Print-friendly Version
Ratatat backs 'LP3'
Electronic dance/rock duo Ratatat just put out its third album, "LP3," and is supporting the set with tours of the US and Europe.
The instrumental outfit has sold-out shows over the next week in San Francisco, Los Angeles and Brooklyn, NY, according to its website. Ratatat will then head to Europe for a month and return to the US in late August for a cross-country run of clubs and theaters. Stateside gigs are listed below and those overseas can be found at the band's website.
Multi-instrumentalist/programmer Evan Mast and guitarist Mike Stroud holed up in Old Soul Studios in Catskill, NY, to record "LP3." They were inspired by the studio's vast arsenal of vintage instruments, including a harpsichord, Wurlitzer organ, mellotron and grand piano.
"If you got an idea, there were so many options," Stroud told The Stranger newspaper of Seattle. "That made a huge difference. It seemed refreshing to sit down at an unfamiliar instrument, like a harpsichord. The keys are so small, and it feels funny playing it. It's a different frame of mind. And that gave me new ideas."
The result is an album with an abundance of new textures compared to Ratatat's previous effort, 2006's "Classics." A track from the new set, "Mirando," is streaming at the group's MySpace page.
When he's not busy with Ratatat, Mast releases records as laptop-pop outfit E*Vax and he's a co-founder of indie-electronic label Audio Dregs Records. Stroud plays in the studio and on tour with artists including Dashboard Confessional and Ben Kweller.
