why you'll love it: more groovy instrumentals
why you'll hate it: more of the same
I don't think I've ever explained here why I love instrumental music so much. Like in the way a book lets you imagine what a character's voice or certain features are, instrumentals have more freedom to be about different things. They can suit the moment you create, rather than a very specific topic or mood. Also, the way lyrics are sung or how callously hammered the message can be sometimes ruins an otherwise great song. Instrumentals dodge that bullet.
Ratatat has been making instrumentals for over ten years now, while barely ever straying from their formula. Whatever novelty of chilled out computer beats met with endless guitar solos has worn thin by Magnifique. The dusting of a dignified classical affectation, and the weird tape deck scrobbing transitions don't do enough to make this album sound like anything more than a handful of new tunes by Ratatat. The classical intro and outro tracks are cool! I wish more was done with them! The "transmissions" that pop up in between tracks are cool too! I wish more was done with them as well! Ratatat still has that strut; that ability to make whatever they do sound cool, no matter how aggressive or laid back they get. If it weren't for my love of instrumentals though, I don't know how much staying power Magnifique would have...
Anything on this release can easily slot into Ratatat's now five album catalogue, but it's not without highlights. "Cream on Chrome" is one of the suavest songs they've ever done. Forget Tom Hardy or Idris Elba, can we somehow get this song to be the next James Bond? It has a tender and confident low end, and transitions perfectly into an aggressive chorus. It sneaks in through the window, and charges back out through the wall. The falsely labeled track, "Abrasive", has a pleasant beat that just goes up and up and up. It's like the song is cheering you on as you climb a mountain, ramping up the positivity with every plateau you hit. I also find the music video charming, and want a gif of every single animation in it. It's a fine second single. Here's to hoping "Nightclub Amnesia" is a third. Getting uncharacteristically video-gamey, Ratatat pitch shifts a driving club beat, with some of the grittiest guitar work on the album. It's the longest and loudest song on the album. I also love how it ends with a zen-like reverberating ding, at its highest point of climax.
The rest of Magnifique's songs just sort of orbit around those three. None of them are bad. Some lack flair, but none are short on swagger. Some fat could have been trimmed, but I don't think anyone's impression of the album would have changed. Ratatat is coasting. That would seem like a very bad thing if they didn't look so good doing it.
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