Ratatat "Tropicana"

It's safe for me to say that there are more than a few reasons I should dislike Ratatat. When they appeared on the scene (and I mean scene) in 2004 with their self-titled debut of hipster video-game soundtracks, I wanted to write them off as quirky one-off dabblers, guys from other bands who wanted to do something else for a while. The insta-cred and friend-of-Interpol pedigree were enough for me to turn away, but the seeming purpose behind the music gave me even more hate-fodder. Ratatat started off with a sample of some kid talking about how long he's been rapping, and then segued into what sounded like Movement One of (Atari's) Pole Position for Guitars. Their Chronicked name, song titles like "Crips" and "Desert Eagle," and their M.O. of combining heavily effected rock guitars with breakbeats made them seem on one hand like playful ironists---the musical equivalent of a Chuck Norris or Styx t-shirt---and on the other as crude rich-kid exoticists (hip-hop exotica?) who saw rap and/or hip-hop culture as something to toy with and exploit from afar, like they did with the guy's voice at the end of "El Pico." But more and more often, they would pop up on my iTunes shuffle and I'd start nodding my head before I remembered who they were. And I discovered what a lot of people did, that despite the intent I ascribed to them, at least no one else was creating the kind of genreless instrumental music (but now, Citay comes close) they were.

Their new album Classics (surprised? neither am I) comes out on August 22, and I can say with a sense of relief that they've broadened their scope a bit to include a wider variety of influence than on Ratatat. Especially on "Tropicana" (mp3), the best song they've done yet. They take the strings and mellotrons and psychedelic British whimsy from Magical Mystery Tour and put it through their looping machine or whatever with some kick-kick-snare and then out comes a minor masterpiece that even kind of quotes "Come, All Ye Faithful" on guitar at the end. And no, I don't write about the Beatles too much on this site. That's your imagination telling you that.

Once more, Classics will come out August 22 on XL. Keep up with the news here.

ELSEWHIRR: Pete made a marvelous video of Owen Pallet performing "The Dream of Win and Regine" here. I've still not seen him live, and it's quietly riveting to watch him work.