[music] RATATAT - Remixes Vol. 1 ("promo only" CDR)

Several times I've heard someone making instrumental music and said, "Wow, this sounds good, but without vocals I can't exactly get into it... hope they produce something with singing sometime." And several times I've been disappointed by the results: that horrible Dempsey album co-produced by the Four Tet guy, for one. Now Ratatat have bucked that trend, aided in part by the quality of "their" vocalists. See, just like your favorite mashup artist, Ratatat have taken advantage of how easy it is to find a capella versions of rap hits...

With impressive results. Halfway through I began to wonder if Ratatat were just reperforming the music to contemporary radio songs -- their production is that natural, and that good a fit with some of the vocalists. (I actually checked, and of course, they weren't.) Any rapper featured here who doesn't get Ratatat in the studio for their next album doesn't know what's up. Highlights: Kanye West's "Get 'Em High" and a majestic remix of Dizzee Rascal's "Fix Up, Look Sharp".