Ratatat finds peace with a little help from Bjork

The duo known as Ratatat is reticent to name drop. It takes several minutes of prying to get one half of the band, Evan Mast, to clarify that the ``house upstate" where the pair finished recording ``Classics," their second electronic indie-rock CD, was indeed the rural retreat of beguiling Icelandic chanteuse Bjork.

Later, it takes some prodding before Mast's counterpart, Mike Stroud, reveals that prior to knuckling down with Ratatat, he moonlighted as tour guitarist with Dashboard Confessional.

Such bold-face connections might be juicy ephemera, but retreating to Bjork's upstate New York home proved cathartic for Ratatat, who play the Middle East Downstairs on Wednesday. Not to mention rather lovely.

``There was so much nature and wildlife," Mast says.``The first day we were there, I woke up and went to make coffee and there was this huge deer right up against the glass. We hung out while I was having my coffee."

The recording sessions began originally in Mast's one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn. Stroud's girlfriend, who works with Bjork, hooked the pair up with the rural digs. Both Mast and Stroud agree that getting out of the city inspired them to expand their sound beyond the electro indie bop of their self-titled debut.

``It was a big change for the record; it became much more complex," Mast says. ``We only did about a third of the record there -- all the songs that are more organic: `Montanita,' `Swisha,' `Tacobel Canon.' "

Album opener ``Montanita" is a stunner with a warm calypso beat and a mournful slide-guitar melody. Another standout, ``Loud Pipes," has a slinky beat and infectious guitar riff, while a spare piano signature sweetens the bridge. ``Lex" and ``Wildcat," reminiscent of their debut's underground hit ``Seventeen Years," are big beat dance rockers.

Matthew Thornhill, who signed Ratatat to London-based XL Recordings in 2003, sees ``Classics" as a refinement and expansion of the band's initial songs.

``They managed to explore the boundaries of their sound without losing the essence of the band," he says via e-mail.

Mast and Stroud met at New York's Skidmore College and later reunited in Brooklyn. Mast, 27, is the duo's elder member by just a year and its quieter counterpart.

``Even though in other areas we're really different, when it comes to music we understand one another," Mast says. ``We agree on what should happen with a song."

Mast preps the beats, which are usually hip-hop based, and both add layers of guitars and keyboards. (``Classics" boasts a cellist and flutist on a couple of songs.) Samples are rare: just a few animal sounds, such as birds twittering in Bjork's garden.

As for the album's title, ``Classics" was a handy moniker the duo used to determine the merit of songs. The good ones were moved to a computer folder tagged ``Classics." And the bad? Off to an out takes folder, perhaps?

``Gone forever," Stroud says. ``Straight to trash."

Ratatat plays the Middle East Downstairs on Wednesday. Doors 8 p.m. Tickets $12. Call 617-931-2000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com.