Fringe: Ratatat

Apparently, Brooklyn runs indie rock. Groups like Grizzly Bear and MGMT both call New York’s grittiest borough home. You can add Ratatat to BK’s bearded and fedora adorning lot. Unlike the two others, the duo comprised of Mike Stroud and producer Evan Mast makes instrumental albums.

Their heavily synthesized sounds vary from electro to Afrobeat and are so far out that when Kid Cudi needed some tunes for his 2009 debut album, Man of the Moon: The End of Day, he asked for them. Ratatat produced “Alive” and his latest single, “Pursuit of Happiness.”

Their critically acclaimed LP3 dropped in 2008. The follow up, LP4, is expected to hit stores this May. While you wait for it, check out their performance with Kid Cudi on The Late Show with David Letterman and groove to their single “Mirando,” from LP3. –Brad Wete