Ratatat, 'Mahalo' -- Video Premiere

Posted on Jun 8th 2010 12:49PM by Mike Ayers
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When work drives people crazy, the easiest solution is usually to take a quick break. For Ratatat's Evan Mast, more work is the solution to combating occupational issues. Case in point: the duo's new video for their island-inspired song 'Mahalo.'

"That was shot really quickly while I was working on another video," Mast tells Spinner. "[That video]was really detail-oriented and it was starting to drive me crazy, so I made the video for 'Mahalo' as a way of taking a break from the other one."

As far as Ratatat songs go, 'Mahalo' dips into the mellower side of what the group usually churns out, but it's a fitting soundscape for the footage Mast spliced together. "We did a tour in Southeast Asia last December," Mast explains "And afterward, my brother and I were just bumming around Vietnam and Laos, and it's just a bunch of footage from that trip put together."

Shot during a riverboat trip, the video gives viewers a first-person perspective that show the muddy water and a gray sky that looks as though a rainstorm might have just happened. Close-ups of old stilt houses and foliage move along at a fast pace, juxtaposing the slow, drippy 'Mahalo' perfectly. Even when the band vacations, they work.

Watch the video for 'Mahalo' below.