Ratatat

It’s still just a rumor at this point, but it’s one of the most tantalizing of the year: Ratatat, the ever-hyped indie-electronic duo, may sign to The Neptunes’ Star Trak record label, where they’ll presumably be groomed for a career as hip-hop and R&B producers. In a time when Kanye West is mining emotive, Daft Punk synths for inspiration, Ratatat’s trippy, cerebral beats actually would fit right in on commercial radio if paired with a T-Pain or a Rihanna. Even if these rumors never come true and Ratatat never gets a shot at becoming the next Timbaland, fans can take solace in the duo’s experimental, decidedly un-commercial albums, the latest of which, this July’s LP3, refreshingly adds more organic percussive and keyboard-based instruments to the group’s digital template. Ratatat plays the Turner Hall Ballroom tonight at 8 p.m.