Who among us self-admitted nerds can forget such seminal videogame music as the dungeon theme from “Legend Of Zelda” or Dr. Wiley’s fortress music from “Mega Man 2?”

The old videogame music was always subtle enough to fade into the background, yet interesting enough to listen to for hours. This brings us to Ratatat, the purveyors of a fine collection of instrumental songs, featuring beautifully intertwined guitar harmonies, dynamic electro-beats and surging synths reminiscent of the 8- and 16-bit days.

The New York duo is composed of Evan Mast, a multi-instrumentalist beat-writer (not the Kerouac kind), and guitarist Mike Stroud, who does session and tour work with Ben Kweller and Dashboard Confessional.

Like the old videogame music, Ratatat engage the listener with complexities, but use repetition to make everything subtle and low-key.

From the animated town-music of “El Pico” to the dance-march of “Germany to Germany,” Ratatat build and release tension, lay down some rocking guitar and remain simultaneously interesting and atmospheric.

Recommended for fans of the Postal Service, Matmos and Guile’s stage from “Street Fighter II,” Ratatat will play at the Casbah on Oct. 8.