| Ratatat — Magnifique (July 17, 2015) |
Ratatat — Magnifique (July 17, 2015)
Formed: 2001 in New York, NY
Location: New York, NY
Album release: July 17, 2015
Recorded: 2011 — 2015
Record Label: XL Recordings
Duration: 47:27
Tracks:
01 Intro 1:02
02 Cream On Chrome 4:16
03 Magnifique 2:52
04 Abrasive 4:17
05 Countach 2:32
06 Drift 3:23
07 Pricks of Brightness 3:08
08 Nightclub Amnesia 6:18
09 Parallel Moments 5:33
10 Distant Voices 1:50
11 Rome 5:32
12 Primetime 1:58
13 I Will Return 4:00
14 Outro 0:36
℗ 2015 Under Exclusive License To Because Music
REVIEW
A fusion of France and funk proves a winner...
CLASHMUSIC / REVIEWS / 06 · 07 · 2015 · SCORE: 8/10
Sam Walker–Smart
♠ Brilliantly named noise merchants Ratatat return with this, their fifth album — and what a fine time it is. The audacious guitars that made their debut such a winner are back, but this time they're blended with a more varied collection of sounds and genres. Despite recording time spent in Jamaica, it's French titans such as Daft Punk and Air that seem to be channelled on the Sunday–vibed title track and a handful of others. Loose, melodic, but with just enough bite, this is an album to soundtrack your dusks this summer.
© Photo credit: Timothy Saccenti
♠ With radio tuning samples (much reminiscent of Queens Of The Stone Age's 'Songs For The Deaf') often cropping up between tracks as well as a general retro–loving whimsy, these fourteen numbers are almost like finding a well worn VHS full of ecstatic moments and emotions. Single 'Cream on Chrome' displays the album's character; instrumental, guitar–led and with synth drops that'll get any fan of rhythm on the dancefloor.
♠ 'Drift' is three and half minutes of glorious chillwave (remember that, children?) minus the painfully self–aware attitude, and falls firmly of the side of good clean fun. ♠ If you ever wanted to know what a cat playing a slide guitar in Hawaii sounded like, look no further. 'Pricks Of Brightness' is all Brian May guitars and New York indie posture with some cheeky percussive touches. Bonkers in the best possible way.
♠ 'Supreme' offers a more mature sound and reveals the band's evolution, the slide making a welcome return as the synths take a step back to guide rather than lead the song. A gentleman knows when and when not to act, after all. The nostalgic mellowness of 'I Will Return' evokes some hazy teen drama where the heroine reads a lost lover's last letter with its drifting vocals and marching beat. It's dramatic, emotive, a little cheesy, but magnificently good fun... ♠ http://www.clashmusic.com/
REVIEW
STEPHEN THOMPSON, NPR Music, JULY 08, 201511:03 PM ET
♠ So much of Ratatat's appeal lies in what it doesn't do: On the band's fifth album, Brooklynites Mike Stroud and Evan Mast built sleek, propulsive instrumentals using a spare palette of guitars, synthesizers and simple percussion in such a way that the music sounds both triumphant and understated. These are rock instrumentals that needn't overcompensate for their lack of words; they don't strain to be heard or scramble to stand out, but instead convey coolness that seems effortless.
♠ What Magnifique — Ratatat's first album since the more experimental LP4 five summers ago — lacks in showy flamboyance or wholly surprising sounds, it possesses in breezy smoothness that proves versatile. The first single, "Cream On Chrome," has the most overt zippiness to it, but even it never works up a sweat or wastes a breath. ♠ When Ratatat kicks up a few '80s–style hard–rock guitar solos in "Pricks Of Brightness," they function as some of the most easygoing heroics you'll ever hear.
♠ Elsewhere on Magnifique, the duo's instrumentals seem suited to accompany mixed drinks at a beachside restaurant: At several points in "Drift," Ratatat calms down enough to emit a noise that closely resembles a cat's purr, while "Supreme" sways softly such that it attracts a chirping bird. If Magnifique unfolds like a snappy summer movie, "I Will Return" is there at the end to burble euphorically over the closing credits, even going so far as to promise a sequel right in its title. Here's hoping so.
♠ http://www.npr.org/
Also:
By: Harley Brown // June 15, 2015
♠ http://www.spin.com/2015/06/ratatat-magnifique-new-album-interview/
BY MAX SANDERSON, 07 JULY 2015, 11:30 BST; SCORE: 7/10
♠ http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/ratatat-magnifique
Website: http://www.ratatatmusic.com/
© Photo credit: Timothy Saccenti
_____________________________________________________________
| Ratatat — Magnifique (July 17, 2015) |
Location: New York, NY
Album release: July 17, 2015
Recorded: 2011 — 2015
Record Label: XL Recordings
Duration: 47:27
Tracks:
01 Intro 1:02
02 Cream On Chrome 4:16
03 Magnifique 2:52
04 Abrasive 4:17
05 Countach 2:32
06 Drift 3:23
07 Pricks of Brightness 3:08
08 Nightclub Amnesia 6:18
09 Parallel Moments 5:33
10 Distant Voices 1:50
11 Rome 5:32
12 Primetime 1:58
13 I Will Return 4:00
14 Outro 0:36
℗ 2015 Under Exclusive License To Because Music
A fusion of France and funk proves a winner...
CLASHMUSIC / REVIEWS / 06 · 07 · 2015 · SCORE: 8/10
Sam Walker–Smart
♠ Brilliantly named noise merchants Ratatat return with this, their fifth album — and what a fine time it is. The audacious guitars that made their debut such a winner are back, but this time they're blended with a more varied collection of sounds and genres. Despite recording time spent in Jamaica, it's French titans such as Daft Punk and Air that seem to be channelled on the Sunday–vibed title track and a handful of others. Loose, melodic, but with just enough bite, this is an album to soundtrack your dusks this summer.
♠ With radio tuning samples (much reminiscent of Queens Of The Stone Age's 'Songs For The Deaf') often cropping up between tracks as well as a general retro–loving whimsy, these fourteen numbers are almost like finding a well worn VHS full of ecstatic moments and emotions. Single 'Cream on Chrome' displays the album's character; instrumental, guitar–led and with synth drops that'll get any fan of rhythm on the dancefloor.
♠ 'Drift' is three and half minutes of glorious chillwave (remember that, children?) minus the painfully self–aware attitude, and falls firmly of the side of good clean fun. ♠ If you ever wanted to know what a cat playing a slide guitar in Hawaii sounded like, look no further. 'Pricks Of Brightness' is all Brian May guitars and New York indie posture with some cheeky percussive touches. Bonkers in the best possible way.
♠ 'Supreme' offers a more mature sound and reveals the band's evolution, the slide making a welcome return as the synths take a step back to guide rather than lead the song. A gentleman knows when and when not to act, after all. The nostalgic mellowness of 'I Will Return' evokes some hazy teen drama where the heroine reads a lost lover's last letter with its drifting vocals and marching beat. It's dramatic, emotive, a little cheesy, but magnificently good fun... ♠ http://www.clashmusic.com/
STEPHEN THOMPSON, NPR Music, JULY 08, 201511:03 PM ET
♠ So much of Ratatat's appeal lies in what it doesn't do: On the band's fifth album, Brooklynites Mike Stroud and Evan Mast built sleek, propulsive instrumentals using a spare palette of guitars, synthesizers and simple percussion in such a way that the music sounds both triumphant and understated. These are rock instrumentals that needn't overcompensate for their lack of words; they don't strain to be heard or scramble to stand out, but instead convey coolness that seems effortless.
♠ What Magnifique — Ratatat's first album since the more experimental LP4 five summers ago — lacks in showy flamboyance or wholly surprising sounds, it possesses in breezy smoothness that proves versatile. The first single, "Cream On Chrome," has the most overt zippiness to it, but even it never works up a sweat or wastes a breath. ♠ When Ratatat kicks up a few '80s–style hard–rock guitar solos in "Pricks Of Brightness," they function as some of the most easygoing heroics you'll ever hear.
♠ Elsewhere on Magnifique, the duo's instrumentals seem suited to accompany mixed drinks at a beachside restaurant: At several points in "Drift," Ratatat calms down enough to emit a noise that closely resembles a cat's purr, while "Supreme" sways softly such that it attracts a chirping bird. If Magnifique unfolds like a snappy summer movie, "I Will Return" is there at the end to burble euphorically over the closing credits, even going so far as to promise a sequel right in its title. Here's hoping so.
♠ http://www.npr.org/
Also:
By: Harley Brown // June 15, 2015
♠ http://www.spin.com/2015/06/ratatat-magnifique-new-album-interview/
BY MAX SANDERSON, 07 JULY 2015, 11:30 BST; SCORE: 7/10
♠ http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/reviews/albums/ratatat-magnifique
Website: http://www.ratatatmusic.com/
_____________________________________________________________