Ratatat - 2004 - Ratatat

Overview

Sometimes, as an artist, you can revisit the same well and pull different types of water—think of Real Estate, or Chaz Bundick of Toro Y Moi, or Kurt Vile. And then, sometimes, you're just repeating yourself, like Ratatat. There’s nothing regressive or cynical in Ratatat’s consistency, because I do believe these two guys are making the music they want to make (see their game Genius annotations here), but I also think that on Magnifique, their fifth record, the well has dried up. There’s something about not being able to tell five years has passed between records that makes you wonder about an artist's evolution.