Ratatat is a New York City electronic music duo consisting of Mike Stroud (guitar) and producer Evan Mast (bass, synthesizers). Mast and Stroud first met as students at Skidmore College, but they did not work together until 2001, when they recorded several songs under the name “Cherry.” Ratatat's live performances bear strong similarities to the performances of the psychedelic rock bands out of San Francisco in the 60s, with energetic light shows, swirling colors projected onto a screen, and random clips of movies thrown in. Member Evan Mast creates and edits the videos that are projected on the screen. Many of them are included on their YouTube account.

Their 2004 debut, “Ratatat,” was written and recorded in Stroud's Crown Heights, Brooklyn apartment on his PowerBook. The album is entirely instrumental with the exception of vocal excerpts at the beginning and end of selected tracks. The group debuted by releasing the single “Seventeen Years” on Mast and his brother E*Rock's record label Audio Dregs in the U.S. and Rex Records in the U.K. They then signed for XL Recordings, releasing their debut album and the single “Germany to Germany.”

Ratatat occasionally remixes other artists which are then collected release. The first collection “Ratatat Remixes Vol. 1” was issued in 2004 and the later second volume was issued in 2007, both of which were self-released in co-operation with Audio Dregs.

Both musicians have had experience with other projects, such as Mast's E*vax and King Pang and Stroud's stage work with Dashboard Confessional. Stroud has also recorded with Ben Kweller on “On My Way.” In October 2006 Ratatat became the first band to perform a public show inside the Guggenheim Museum in New York City.

Their third album “LP3,” was released by XL Recordings in July 2008. Ratatat's fourth album, “LP4,” was issued in June 2010 via XL.

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