HAS RATATAT GONE SOFT?

Upon listening to Ratatat's latest LP, aptly titled “LP3”, I found the lull in energy, the addition of many natural sounds, the dull repetition of sweet melodies slowly passing me by. I liked the last track, “Black Heroes.” And then Itunes went on and played the first track to “Ratatat,” their first album, and the difference between the two cds was startling. Here was the electric guitar intensity I was looking for. Where was the complex layering of a track like “Breaking Away” on the new album? Where are my heavy electric guitars, damnit? I’m not feeling this new album just yet.

Here Here

I was listening to Live 105’s supposedly indie/local/sort-of-unknown new music show Soundcheck last month and was incredibly happy to discover the song “Poor Sailor” by Here Here flood through the speakers. Finally, some different-sounding music on that radio show. And I haven’t been able to stop visiting Here Here’s myspace page to listen repeatedly ever since. They sound like the Arcade Fire, melding piano and violin, as well as instruments like the banjo and an accordian. There's something about the violin that makes music sound epic, especially when accompanied by flowing vocals. The song subjects are interesting too. One seems to be about Canada, another entitled "All Hail Ye Fellow Sleepwalkers" contains one of the most fitting lyrics for someone with as many final papers to write as I have: a long, drawn out proclamation that "sleep seems so far away."

I’m having difficulty finding anything at all about them except for what’s on their myspace. They have 699 plays on Last.fm, and I think I heard that they played their first show ever last summer. They’re from San Francisco and recently released “Boy With an Orange EP”, available at Amoeba or through Itunes or Emusic.

You can listen to songs here:
http://www.myspace.com/hereheremusic