Ratatat, the duo from New York, released its fourth album LP4 on June 8, 2010. Evan Mast the multi-instrumentalist and producer, and guitarist Mike Stroud complete this hip-hop infused electro-pop team.
Mast and Stroud moved their talents from their studio apartment in Brooklyn to the Catskill Mountains in N.Y. The duo recorded around 30 tracks, which are divided on LP3 and LP4. The tracks on the two albums are very similar with some of the same sounds but the duo includes vocals in its’ otherwise instrumental tracks on LP4.
In LP4, the team includes new sounds of international percussion instruments, keyboard, bells, and whistles. Although listeners hear familiar sounds, the team strays away from guitar loops and preprogrammed beats. The vocals, in German and English, confuse listeners but the team had this in mind during its’ creation. The tracks range in sound, some pop, some dance and some with an Asian influence.
The artwork the duo used on its album is a white bird, layered eleven times. This bird takes some responsibility for the teams success on LP4. The bird, belonging to the duo, helped on the tracks and if listeners are doing their job they can hear the bird’s debut on the album.
The team recorded LP4 with its bird next to the piano because it was so loud. After recording, the band was surprisingly satisfied with the results and included the noises from the bird on the album. Recorded on the track “Grape Juice City,” the flapping wings of the bird are easily recognizable and add to the interesting, yet trippy sound.
Some would call this duo a trio with the bird in mind but she can’t get all the credit. The album art reflects the interesting and somewhat new sound of Ratatat and reveals to fans their newest member of the team. The band decided to put the bird on the cover to note her contribution.
Analyzing Album Art 