Wednesday 30 / Jul / 2008
Roadhouse, Manchester, present RATATAT plus guests LAYMAR
Advance: £6
Time: 8:00 pm - 1:00 am
On Ratatat...
Formerly known as Cherry, New York's rock-meets-electronica duo Ratatat features multi-instrumentalist/programmer Evan Mast and guitarist Mike Stroud. Mast is also the brains behind the pretty laptop pop of E*vax, and with his brother E*Rock he runs the indie electronic label Audio Dregs. Stroud also plays, in the studio and on tour, with artists including Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional. Between these duties (and Mast's job as a graphic designer), the duo found time to work on their collaboration. Mast worked beats and song ideas in his bedroom studio, which he gave to Stroud to develop while the guitarist was on the road. Though Mast and Stroud began working together in 2001, things began to really come together for the pair in 2003: in May, while they were still called Cherry, they played their first gig; by September they changed their name to Ratatat; and that November they issued their first single on Audio Dregs, which had a limited run of 1,100 copies. Dates with Franz Ferdinand, Interpol, and Battles followed, and Ratatat signed to XL Records. The duo's self-titled debut album arrived in spring 2004, coinciding with another round of dates with bands including !!!, Electrelane, and Tortoise, and two years later their sophomore record, Classics, was released.
On Laymar...
"...Laymar were born to soundtrack the desolation of the inner city, where robot vultures gather long after mankind has wiped itself off the face of the Earth and music is no more than a memory resonating in the steel skeletons of reinforced concrete. Don't let anyone ever tell you that music should make you want to dance."
- Jenni Cole MUSIC OMH
Do not be fooled by the gentle introduction which builds gradually with consummate ease, good dreams can often turn into nightmares. The really worrying aspect is that they achieve this vision so melodically and yet ultimately so convincingly.
Put this record (In Strange Lines and Distances - TV Records) on and listen to it in a darkened room. Or, even better, put it on in your room and feel it darken around you.
David Brown BEARDED MAGAZINE.CO.UK
Other reviews - In Strange Lines and Distances
Rockerilla Magazine - 9/10
Kerrange Magazine - 4/5
The-Fly Magazine - 4/5
http://www.myspace.com/ratatatmusic
http://www.ratatatmusic.com
http://www.myspace.com/laymarmusic
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