LP4

Time to change things up, the next album on the review list is LP4, created by Ratatat. The beautiful thing about this album is it remains lyric less. This album is like a great movie, it has a slow beginning that eventually quickens in pace and then reaches a climax of loud in your face beats then it reverts to slow music then it has a gentle finish satisfying finish. The genre of this band is undefined, they don't like to describe there music with words but you can feel many different influences in all there pieces.

The first track, Billar, starts with a very slow horn sound that increases in volume and sounds less and less like a horn and more like an organ. Out of nowhere they put down a very heavy unplanned beat. The beat contains so many different sounds that all morph into this rhythm that you can't sit still to. The rhythm maintains throughout the first half then on a down beat it exits and a slower classical stringed orchestra sound enters. The song begins to fade out with 30 seconds left. There is some speech of some sort at the end that appears to be german.

The next song is very appropriately named, it is titled Drugs. The song starts with a traditional band sound, bass guitar, acoustic guitar, and piano. Eventually a stringed orchestra fades in and after about one minute things just get funky. Neckbrace would be the song that follows and it follows a very typical beat with some questionable background noises. The artists recorded a couple voice sounds and just played the back over and over to different rhythmic patterns. For most of the song you here a voice making a "Dum-duh-duh-dum" sound and its very creative and suiting with the tempo of the music. It is rare that a band today incorporates string orchestra instrument sounds, Eg: Violin, Viola, Cello, Double Bass.

We can't be Stopped. This song is a great change in pace on the album. It consists mostly of a repetitive piano line that is complimented by a mellow guitar solo and classical instrument background. The repetitiveness of the song and the dissonant sound gives it a very eerie feel that will send shivers down your spine.

The next song, Bob Ghangi, is a cultural overflow.  It starts with a very heavy heartbeat and slowly fades in with a series of Indian style instruments. Then there is a heavy downbeat that brings in a guitar that plays a high series of notes that take you to a mid-evil tone. It then continues to bounce back and forth between the two sounds. It proceeds to go into a tonal appropriate guitar solo that really brings out the following. At 2:02 a heavy African vibe is spawned with the solo of the congo drums. The song proceeds to be very tribal sounding with a series of different background noises.

The next three songs, Mandy, Mahalo, and Party with Children all flow into one great output. Mandy has a very funky beginning with some intense synth soloing. Different parts of the song are flooded with what is known as reverse delay, which really gives you that mental confusion in the song. Mahalo is a very slow quite piano based song with a gentle guitar solo over it. Party with Children is a beat heavy middle eastern sounding song.

The last 4 songs all have very similar content. During the second half of the album you get a large middle eastern feeling for the music due to the instruments used.

This album is non-stop creativity and a calculated use of sound. The rhythms are unique and unheard of.
I'd give this album a 4.5 out of 5.

To learn more about the band click here.