XL Recordings

Chicago's Hideout is a favorite destination for the city's live music fans roughly 51 weekends out of the year (and darn near every other day in between). But for one fateful weekend each of the last 11 years, the relatively tiny spot (and nearby parking lot) has become a favorite destination for what can sometimes seem like half the city.

That would be due to their fabulous Hideout Block Party, which crams a whole lotta rock and such into one truly epic weekend. The lineup for the 12th Hideout Block Party is coming together nicely at this point, and, well, if you didn't have plans the weekend of September 20-21, now you do.

So who will be helping the Hideout ring in a dozen years of Block Parties? Why, the New Pornographers, Neko Case (who, it's probably safe to assume, will be performing with said Pornographers), Black Mountain, Ratatat, Czech revolutionaries Plastic People of the Universe,  Vieux Farka Touré, Monotonix, Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip, Dark Meat, Tim Fite, kid-friendly Mekons offshoot Wee Hairy Beasties, the Uglysuit, and Devil in a Woodpile, amongst others.

"From Todd Terje's re-edit of 'Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes' a couple of years ago to the Garden State soundtrack to Vampire Weekend, Paul Simon's name has been bubbling back up through popular culture," I wrote less than a month ago. We've also seen much ironic deployment of vintage video footage in recent months, including the Schwarzenegger-studded video for Ratatat's own "Mirando" less than two months ago. The Brooklyn electronic duo's latest clip could turn out to be where both trends finally, like jumping the shark, screw the pooch.

As LP3's "Flynn" settles into a dubby Morricone mood, we see manipulated footage of Paul Simon and Chevy Chase from the "You Can Call Me Al" video, complete with VH1 Classic logo. Everything is wavy and druggy, man, plus now Simon's conga drum is on fire. The bummer is, these guys both looked way funnier before Ratatat did anything to them.

[from LP3; out now on XL]

Well, Ratatat, it's been real. We've seen you through the long, arduous process of getting your third LP out there; from the sneak preview, to the promise of some highly promising remixes, to tour dates, and, well, more tour dates. But this chapter must finally come to a close today, as your LP3 is finally on shelves both in the States and the UK from XL. So, page turned and all that, what are you gonna do now?

Why, tour some more, of course! The band's late summer U.S. plans are now all firmed up, with a few extra dates tucked in since our last report. Hey, since you dudes are so good at planning stuff, mind telling us when that LP4 you've been talking up is due? Then we can start this whole glorious process over again. You just say the word. Oh, right, you guys don't do that.

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On their third album, Ratatat have created modular music that turns its lack of contextual framing into a likeable sort of walk-around/drive-around/social gathering background music that doesn't exist to sell anything but your own current experience.

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