Record Reviews
Ratatat: LP 4 Review
Johnny Sanford :: Monday, June 14th, 2010 11:30 am
LP 4 is the new album by New York City electronic duo Ratatat, and the bland title doesn’t shed much light on the electronic symphony that it encompasses. The album is a patchwork soundscape of infectious beats, strange vocal samples and shredding guitars, which results in a strange but beautiful beast of a record.
At times serene, at other times a tumult of bass drum and electric slide guitar, LP4 is a handful of tracks that were produced during the sessions for their previous record, LP3. This time, however, they recruited a Japanese string section for tracks like “Mahalo,” and the results are sonically diverse and novel.
The album works best when listened to straight through. Set apart, the tracks seem to lose some of their charm. As a whole, it seems to have something greater than the sum of it’s parts.
Tracks like “Party With Children” and “Drugs” work well on their own, however. After listening to the album, I found myself attempting, rather poorly, the intricate vocal work present on the album.
If you’re in the mood for something a bit different in the current music landscape, check out LP4 available on XL Recordings.
