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Ratatat is a New York City electronic music duo consisting of guitarist Mike Stroud and synthesizer driver and producer Evan Mast.

History

Mike Stroud and Evan Mast first met as Skidmore College students, but they did not work together until they recorded "Cherry" in 2001, a track that later would complete their debut album. The name Ratatat comes from a Dr. Dre lyric. Their 2004 debut, Ratatat was written and recorded in Mast's Crown Heights, Brooklyn apartment on Stroud's PowerBook. This album is entirely instrumental, except for occasional excerpts of dialog at the beginning and end of some tracks. While touring in 2006, they added a third member, Jacob Morris, on keyboard. Morris is rarely pictured in media photos of the band.

The group started out on the independent label Rex Records, on which they released their first single, Seventeen Years. They released that single again on Evan and his brother's record label Audio Dregs. They then signed for XL Recordings, releasing their debut album and the single Germany to Germany. Ratatat occasionally remixes other artists' songs, most notably on their limited 2004 release Ratatat Remixes Vol. 1 (which garnered the attention of Rolling Stone), as well as the later second volume.

Both musicians have had experience with other projects, such as Mast's E*vax and Stroud's stage work with Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional. Ratatat has toured with bands such as Björk, Daft Punk, Mouse on Mars, Interpol, Franz Ferdinand, CSS, The Faint, Clinic, and The Killers. They recently supported Mogwai in Japan.

On October 10, 2006 a new demo album from Ratatat entitled 9 Beats was leaked online. This new set of tracks does not appear on any official discography listings. The tracks consist of short instrumental electronic musical pieces.

The group recently released a new remix album entitled Ratatat Remixes Vol 2.. It featured a variety of rappers such as Bun B, Biggie Smalls, Jay-Z, Slim Thug, Devin the Dude, Young Jeezy, T.I., Beanie Sigel, Pimp C, Ludacris, Young Buck, Saigon, Juvenile, Z-Ro, Memphis Bleek, Kanye West and exclusive tracks from rappers Despot and Beans. A CD has been seen available for purchase ($5) at live shows in 2007. The album leaked on March 27, 2007. It has been rumored that they will be signed by Star Trak as the understudies of the Neptunes.

Several of the mixtape tracks feature beats from 9 Beats as their backing music:

• Memphis Bleek's Alright uses beat #1
• Young Buck's Shorty Wanna Ride uses beat #2
• Notorious B.I.G.'s Dead Wrong uses beat #3
• Young Buck, T.I., The Game & Ludacris's Stomp uses beat #4 (This song is a mix of the two versions of the song. it switches from T.I. to The Game at various times in their respective verses.)
• Slim Thug, Bun B, and T.I.'s 3 Kings uses beat #6

Mast has most recently collaborated with former Shudder to Think vocalist Craig Wedren on a record for a Tokyo independent label, Mold Recordings.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Remixes

Interviews

• Radio Interview. November 2006 - 3SYN 90.7FM Melbourne, Australia
• Fader Magazine interview

Uses in media

The song "Seventeen Years" has been featured in a Hummer television commercial, on British television show Soccer AM's "Crossbar Challenge" segment and in Level One Productions's ski movie Shanghai Six.

The song "Lex" has been featured in a Zune commercial.

In February 2007 Cartoon Network aired a commercial for My Gym Partner Is a Monkey in which "Wildcat" played in the background. An episode of the same show contained over two minutes of the song, edited slightly with a few parts cut out.

In 2007, "Loud Pipes" was used in the soundtrack of 989 SportsMLB 07 - The Show.

"Lex" was used in Standard Films 2007 production "Catch the Vapors" for a segment featuring snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo.

The song "Wildcat" was featured in Mack Dawg Production's 2007 snowboard video Picture This.

The film Knocked Up (2007) played "Tropicana" during the various gestation time lapse scenes within the story.

The website GOOD Magazine used the song "Gettysburg" in an animated video about nuclear weapon proliferation.

Numerous Ratatat works have been featured in excerpts on NPR (National Public Radio).

"Wildcat" was played in background to the Printemps-Ete 2007 catwalk of Chanel.

The film Cloverfield (2008) featured "Seventeen Years" during one of the apartment party scenes.

"Gettysburg" was used in a Nylon.com short video profiling the Marc by Marc Jacobs show during New York Fashion Week on February 5, 2008.