LP3

By: Scott Mehaffey
Date: 21st Jul 08
Release: Album
To Cure: An empty dancefloor

What:
LP3

Who:
Ratatat

On:
XL Recordings

Myspace:
Here

The trademark sound of this New York two-piece (three-piece in live shows, however) shines through yet again on the act’s third album, aptly titled LP3. Opening with the X-Files-like Shiller, the album is set apart from the previous two long players with its at times chilling sound, but don’t fret - the bouncy squeals we all love in Ratatat’s music still feature prominently throughout the record. Following track Falcon Jab evinces this beautifully, with its somewhat Daft Punk style, but the majority of the tracks utilise the distinctive Ratatat sound against a much more international backdrop of clatter.

Mi Viejo gleams with Latin brilliance, Mirando casts a wider net over world influences and the hypnotic Mumtaz Khan bounds with a sort of futuristic Arabic acid disco feel. Speaking of acid, final track Black Heroes is what The Monkees’ Daydream Believer would sound like if the recording (or the band members themselves) were pumped full of a mix of LSD and ketamine – at times weary, at others mesmeric. The remainder of the tracks mix it up between carnivalesque disco, downtempo trip-hop, piano refrains, reversed loops, filtered bongos and handclaps, all melded into one giant pot of danceable introspect. Ratatat deliver yet another classic.