Given its beauty, precision, and novel ability to trip you the fuck out while you’re camped in your bedroom, RATATAT’s Magnifique is a record that was designed to create settings. In other words, it’s not a Metacritic album. That factoid alone sums up Evan Mast and Mike Stroud’s recent gig at Toronto’s Sound Academy (September 2nd) as the duo plugged right in and floored it – slicing through any preconceived notions with guitar licks, eccentric flurries, and the sort of visuals that make Gaga look like George Strait. The setlist itself felt pretty familiar as it also shuffled through LP3, LP4, and Classics, but it never felt stale as watching “Mirando” sink into “Party With Children” and throw up “Neckbrace”, “Wildcat”, and “Seventeen Years” is what makes Ratatat addictive. And if we’re being honest, it’s hard to top the feeling of falling into that rabbit hole. Check out our photos above via Hannah Jor.