MGMT | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Finding an unlikely middle point between Suicides hostile, proto-electro punk art noise and the sardonic, pop-friendly sound of the Flaming Lips, MGMT started as electroclash musical terrorists but quickly grew into an eclectic, brainy pop group with psychedelic overtones. MGMT first formed in 2002, during Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngardens freshman year as art students at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. The band was initially known as the Management, and its shows consisted mostly of backing tapes, synthesizers, and pre-recorded vocals playing as Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden engaged the audience in a manner somewhere between performance art and good old-fashioned punk hostility. By their senior year, they had toned down considerably on-stage, and began augmenting their live sound with backing musicians. After graduating, MGMT released an electro-rock EP, 2005s Time to Pretend, on the tiny indie label Cantora Records. For their full-length debut, the duo partnered with producer Dave Fridmann and recorded Oracular Spectacular, a far more musically expansive album that was released digitally in late 2007. A traditional CD release followed in January 2008, and Oracular Spectacular ultimately enjoyed both critical approval and commercial success, with the album selling over 500,000 copies in the U.S. and going platinum in Australia, the U.K., and Ireland. The albums third single, "Kids," was a hit, eventually being nominated for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals at the 52 Annual Grammy Awards. In 2009, MGMT began working with producer Sonic Boom, formerly of Spacemen 3 and Spectrum, on their second album, Congratulations. Released in 2010, the record found them growing more ambitious and quirkily psychedelic, with a song dedicated to two of their heroes: Dan Treacy of Television Personalities and Brian Eno. The album debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard chart and the band toured much of the year, while also appearing on TV and playing many festivals. The following year, the bandmembers dug deep into their record collections to curate an installment of the Late Night Tales mixtape series and began work on their third album with Dave Fridmann. The self-titled effort was something of a return to the expansive sound of their debut, but with the same amount of weirdness that permeated Congratulations. The record received mixed reviews, but still broke the Top 20 of the Billboard album chart. After the band finished touring behind the album, they decided to take a break from making music together. After roughly a year of inaction, Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden began trading song ideas back and forth via computer, then decided to write and work on arrangements together. They brought Fridmann back and added producer Patrick Wimberly of Chairlift to the team. Inspired by pop music of the 80s and heavy on synths, Little Dark Age is MGMTs most accessible since their debut, despite featuring cameos from dedicated weirdos Ariel Pink and Connan Mockasin. Though the record was finished and turned in to their label Columbia in April of 2017, it wasnt released until February of 2018. The album debuted at number 35 on the Billboard 200 and hit number two on the Top Rock Albums chart. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 10 Title: We (Don’t) Care Released: 2004 Tracks: 6 Duration: 26:49 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 We Care (05:05) 2 Everything’s Happenin’ So Fast (03:30) 3 Love Always Remains (05:38) 4 Just Becuz (03:29) 5 Kids (05:11) 6 We Don’t Care (03:56) |
 | Album: 2 of 10 Title: Time to Pretend Released: 2005-08-30 Tracks: 6 Duration: 27:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Time to Pretend (04:29) 2 Boogie Down (03:32) 3 Destrokk (03:44) 4 Love Always Remains (05:38) 5 Indie Rokkers (04:23) 6 Kids (05:29) |
 | Album: 3 of 10 Title: Oracular Spectacular Released: 2007-10-02 Tracks: 10 Duration: 40:21 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Time to Pretend (04:21) 2 Weekend Wars (04:12) 3 The Youth (03:48) 4 Electric Feel (03:49) 5 Kids (05:03) 6 4th Dimensional Transition (03:58) 7 Pieces of What (02:43) 8 Of Moons, Birds & Monsters (04:46) 9 The Handshake (03:39) 10 Future Reflections (04:00) |
| Oracular Spectacular : Allmusic album Review : When MGMT were asked by their record label for a list of their dream producers, with low expectations they sarcastically replied: Prince, Nigel Godrich, Barack Obama, and "not Sheryl Crow." Columbia returned with Dave Fridmann, the producer extraordinaire best known for his work with Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev. In typical Fridmann fashion, Oracular Spectacular is a glamorous mega-production through and through. Drums are massively distorted and shimmering keyboards are articulately layered as he takes the reins, leading the duo through his daisy chain of onboard compressors, delay units, and whatever other mysterious studio gizmos and gadgets he uses to get his trademark sound. Expectedly, the 14-karat polish enhances MGMTs blend of psychedelic and indie-electro to a shiny sonic gleam, resulting in some of the catchiest pop songs to come from N.Y.C. since the turn of the millennium. The tunes sound classic and new all at once, paying homage to Bowie, the Kinks, and the Stones, while updating traditional progressions with flashes of Royal Trux, Ween, and LCD Soundsystem. Its a wonderful mess of musical ideas, ranging from the dancy disco thump and Bee Gees falsetto of "Electric Feel" to the gritty acoustic-based "Pieces of What," to the grimy synth groove on the anthemic "Time to Pretend." With tongues planted firmly in cheeks, sardonic wit is as abundant as Andrew Van Wyngarden and Ben Goldwasser spoof the stereotypical rock & roll lifestyle with lines like "Lets make some music, make some money, find some models for wives/Ill go to Paris take some heroin and fuck with the stars." Despite the ever-present irony, the songs never feel insincere and the record is inherently strong throughout, making it a solid start to their career. | ||
 | Album: 4 of 10 Title: Congratulations Released: 2010-04-07 Tracks: 9 Duration: 43:47 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 It’s Working (04:06) 2 Song for Dan Treacy (04:09) 3 Someone’s Missing (02:29) 4 Flash Delirium (04:16) 5 I Found a Whistle (03:40) 6 Siberian Breaks (12:09) 7 Brian Eno (04:31) 8 Lady Dada’s Nightmare (04:31) 9 Congratulations (03:56) |
| Congratulations : Allmusic album Review : After the smashing success of Oracular Spectacular, it was clear that MGMT were going to be at a bit of a crossroads when it came time to follow it up. Would they try to simply re-create their single-rich debut and pray that they avoided the sophomore slump, or would they continue to evolve? Fortunately for the listening public at large, they opted for the latter, delivering a follow-up album that matches, if not triumphs over, their earlier work. Always moving forward, the band has stepped out from the shadow of sonic auteur Dave Fridmann, producing the album themselves with the help of Spacemen 3’s Sonic Boom. The end product is a sound that owes more to Phil Spector than the Flaming Lips, managing to be atmospheric without necessarily being spacious. MGMT have taken a more dynamic approach to songwriting on this album, tossing aside the dancing thump of “Electric Feel” and “Kids” in favor of songs that build in a more deliberate and satisfying way. “Flash Delirium” folds upon itself again and again, ramping up to a Wall of Sound chorus before letting loose with a big, glam/garage finish, as if to vent off any excess musical pressure before heading into the more subdued “I Found a Whistle.” This kind of careful songwriting tracks all throughout the album, giving Congratulations a more cohesive feeling. While this kind of musical vision means there isn’t really a clear-cut single, it does make for an all around better album. MGMT has matured as a band, and to show that off, they’ve returned by making the album that they wanted to make rather than the collection of loosely related singles that was expected from them. From the opening moments of the sublime “It’s Working” all the way to the titular closer, Congratulations is an incredible follow-up from a band that is still maturing into some unknown entity. | ||
 | Album: 5 of 10 Title: Qu’est-ce que c’est la vie, chaton ? Released: 2010-12-06 Tracks: 5 Duration: 24:51 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 Weekend Wars (05:09) 2 Flash Delirium (04:48) 3 Destrokk (04:41) 4 Congratulations (04:27) 5 Brian Eno (05:46) |
 | Album: 6 of 10 Title: Congratulations Remixes Released: 2011-03-13 Tracks: 3 Duration: 21:08 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Congratulations (Erol Alkan remix) (06:37) 2 Siberian Breaks (Ed Banger All-Stars remix) (10:19) 3 Brian Eno (Cornelius mix) (04:12) |
 | Album: 7 of 10 Title: Oracular Spectacular / Congratulations Released: 2011-09-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 43:43 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% AlbumCover | 1 Its Working (04:05) 2 Song for Dan Treacy (04:09) 3 Someones Missing (02:29) 4 Flash Delirium (04:15) 5 I Found a Whistle (03:40) 6 Siberian Breaks (12:09) 7 Brian Eno (04:31) 8 Lady Dadas Nightmare (04:31) 9 Congratulations (03:54) |
 | Album: 8 of 10 Title: LateNightTales: MGMT Released: 2011-10-03 Tracks: 20 Duration: 1:25:18 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Can’t See Through It (03:53) 2 Love You Girl (03:09) 3 Cheree (03:42) 4 Stop & Smell the Roses (04:04) 5 Ocean (outtake version) (05:45) 6 Red Indians (01:56) 7 Laughing Boy (05:47) 8 For Belgian Friends (05:26) 9 Mound of Clay (02:28) 10 Song for Wilde (02:33) 11 All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (04:23) 12 Troubled Mind (05:46) 13 Drug Song (03:24) 14 Hearts Are Like Flowers (04:12) 15 Pink Frost (04:00) 16 Sparks (03:30) 17 Melancholy Man (07:22) 18 Lord Can You Hear Me Now? (04:34) 19 Morning Splendor (06:00) 20 Lost for Words, Part 2 (03:24) |
| LateNightTales: MGMT : Allmusic album Review : As a series, Late Night Tales is an interesting exercise. Asking musicians to make late-night mixes from their own collections, the series finds artists ranging from Jamiroquai to the Flaming Lips putting together their own mixtapes of quintessential after-hours jams, but on the MGMT installment, the series really knocks it out of the park. Featuring songs by artists like Television Personalities, Spacemen 3, and Suicide, the collection succeeds on a couple of levels, existing not only as a solid set of spacy, nocturnal songs, but also as a Rosetta Stone for MGMT’s own influences. Listening to the album almost feels like putting together a puzzle, with the finished product being their eclectic sophomore effort, Congratulations. And as if a collection of some of the moodiest, reverb-soaked post-punk to ever walk the earth wasn’t enough, the album also features MGMT performing a cover of Bauhaus’ “All We Ever Wanted Was Everything,” which manages to slot in nicely with the rest of the tracks here. Whether you’re coming for the MGMT track and staying for the history lesson, or coming for the track list and discovering MGMT, this entry into the Late Night Tales canon is a solid winner. | ||
 | Album: 9 of 10 Title: MGMT Released: 2013-09-13 Tracks: 10 Duration: 44:16 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Alien Days (05:09) 2 Cool Song No. 2 (04:01) 3 Mystery Disease (04:08) 4 Introspection (04:22) 5 Your Life Is a Lie (02:06) 6 A Good Sadness (04:48) 7 Astro-Mancy (05:11) 8 I Love You Too, Death (05:50) 9 Plenty of Girls in the Sea (03:04) 10 An Orphan of Fortune (05:31) |
| MGMT : Allmusic album Review : Over the course of their last two albums, MGMT have shown themselves to be as comfortable crafting a solid hook as they are heading off into more psychedelic excursions, often bringing those two sides of themselves together to create an eclectic sound that often feels like the musings of a glam pop band on a peyote-fueled vision quest. After two exploratory albums, MGMT return with their eponymous third album, which finds them continuing to push their sound forward as they return to working with producer Dave Fridmann, who worked on the bands debut, Oracular Spectacular. While Fridmann is definitely associated with a sense of spaciousness, thanks to his work with iconic acts like the Flaming Lips and Mercury Rev, hes also a producer who is more about capturing what MGMT are doing than making decisions for them, so while his sonic stamp could be heard on their earlier work, it was clear they werent quite making the most of the experience. Six years later, MGMT return to Tarbox Road Studios a more confident and self-assured band, and the difference is palpable. Like Congratulations, MGMT is an album that continues to eschew hooky singles for pop experimentation that isnt afraid to stay melodic, at least initially. While the album feels daring all the way through, early tracks like "Alien Days" feel relatively straightforward, mining the ornate pop sound of their previous effort. As MGMT continues, though, an unraveling process starts to happen, with the songs becoming increasingly strange as the album progresses through its latter half. Its in this section that the band makes the most of Fridmanns talents as a producer and engineer, sending the songs into outer space with layers of reverb-drenched synths and crunchy electronics. Although its clear that their infectious, single-heavy debut was no accident, the more experimental aspect of MGMT seems to be their dominant side. While this might be bad news for radio DJs out there praying for another "Kids" or "Electric Feel," its a blessing for music fans desperately waiting for a modern answer to pop experimenters like David Bowie and Sparks. | ||
 | Album: 10 of 10 Title: Little Dark Age Released: 2018-02-09 Tracks: 10 Duration: 44:01 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 She Works Out Too Much (04:38) 2 Little Dark Age (04:59) 3 When You Die (04:23) 4 Me and Michael (04:49) 1 TSLAMP (04:29) 2 James (03:52) 3 Days That Got Away (04:44) 4 One Thing Left to Try (04:20) 5 When You’re Small (03:30) 6 Hand It Over (04:13) |
| Little Dark Age : Allmusic album Review : After hitting it very big with their debut album and the song "Kids," MGMT dedicated themselves to making albums that would confuse and annoy people looking to hear more expansive, radio-friendly tunes like "Kids." Both 2010s Congratulations and 2013s self-titled record were informed by Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngardens love of obscure psychedelia, oddball lyrics, and off-kilter strangeness. That they called in Sonic Boom to produce the former and Flaming Lips cohort Dave Fridmann to helm the latter says a lot about where the duos minds resided. They werent looking to top the charts; they wanted to do something weirder. By the time they started making their fourth album, the band had seen some changes and their record label was allegedly upset they couldnt write another "Kids." Whether it was the bands idea or the labels, Fridmann found himself teamed with a co-producer known for making radio friendly alt-pop, Chairlifts Patrick Wimberly. The result, 2018s Little Dark Age, isnt likely to make anyone totally happy. The record company must love the slicker sound thats markedly more easily digested thanks to the restrained drums, glossy synths, and poppy melodies. What they wouldnt love is that the band are still as weird as ever. Whether its the goofy sound effects on "When You Die," the spoken word sections of "She Works Out Too Much," or the trippy vocals of "James," there are lots of things happening that would serve to shock the casual listener out of a playlist-induced trance. The reason why fans of the bands psych-pop iconoclasm may be unhappy is that the record isnt weird enough. Wimberlys input appears to be making sure the album fits into trends instead of bucking them: Whether its the R&B synthwave of "Days That Got Away," the new wave strut of the title track, or the soft rock jangle of "Me and Michael," almost every song on the album sounds like a version of a song that was done better by someone else. They even bring in one of the people they are aping, Ariel Pink, to provide synth and vocals on a couple tracks. Despite the disappointing nature of the album overall, there are still moments when the band get the balance right and end up with something original. "When You Die" is macabre and spooky indie pop lifted from Daniel Treacys diary, then given a modern polish. "One Thing Left to Try" goes big, sounding like stadium new wave with fat synths and an almost shouted vocal. Both songs have a unique point of view, and thats something that is far too often lacking on Little Dark Age. They sound like a band treading water, desperately looking for their place in the modern pop landscape and never deciding whether to go pop or stay totally weird. This indecision leaves them stuck in the middle of the road, which isnt a very interesting place to be. | ||