Ratatat

Masters of intoxicating instrumentals, New York duo Ratatat approach melody and rhythm with an omnivorous zeal—bending sounds, blending samples, and pushing the boundaries of rock, electronic, and hip-hop. Among the first big “bedroom producers” of the 2000s, multi-instrumentalists Evan Mast (a.k.a. E.Vax) and Mike Stroud recorded their self-titled debut album as Ratatat on Mast’s laptop. The 2004 homespun collection is big on heavy, hypnotic beats and wily guitar riffs that hit somewhere between Daft Punk, Queen, and Wu-Tang Clan (whose members played a role in Ratatat’s first remix album, released that same year). It kick-started an ambitious creative streak, capped by a notable collaboration with rapper Kid Cudi and psych-pop eccentrics MGMT on 2009’s woozy, downward-spiral anthem “Pursuit of Happiness.” Even with that wide-reaching hit, though, Ratatat have remained fascinating outliers, using each album to explore new ways of distilling every type of sound—whether a video game bleep, Middle Eastern rhythm, or spoken word sample—to its psychedelic core.