MGMT Album: “Oracular Spectacular”

I havn't been fascinated by a NYC band this much since Interpol's 2002 release, "Turn on the Bright Lights", which revived the dark sounds of 80's British punk icons Joy Division. Similarly, MGMT's influences are all on the surface, from the early synthpop of Ultravox ("Kids") to Oasis's jangly guitar tunes and laddish vocals ("Pieces of What"). I even heard some Kate Bush. You can lose yourself in tracing the genealogy of their references, but you can also wonder at the musical depth of the deceptive simplicity of their tunes. Someone on the web has written that their music is like Marvin Gaye on ecstacy, and that really hits the mark: I'm reminded of The Klaxon's "New Rave" style of an effortless, senseless helium high, a rush of memories and premonitions, best expressed in a line from the song, "Future Reflections": "It tastes like death but it looks like fun." Is this a vision of the future? I don't know, but don't miss it, and turn the volume up, way up. If we don't know where this band is going, it's best to enjoy the Ride.

I've heard complaints about the "overproduction" of this album, but that doesn't bother me. After all, overproduction has a long tradition in rock going all the way back to Phil Spector. Many of the "progressive rock" bands, like Yes and the Moody Blues, specialized in multi-layered opuses. Even today there are bands that are heirs apparent to that style, like Flaming Lips, Polyphonis Spree, and Arcade Fire. This band does "overproduction" quite well, and they definitely put across the image of a neo-hippie, hedonistic lifestyle. Just watch their hyper-psychedelic video of "Time to Pretend" and you'll know where their heads are at, as they used to say back in the `60's. That leadoff track gets the album off to a joyous start, and even if you don't subscribe to the drug-culture lifestyle they seem to espouse (sardonically or otherwise - this song is probably one of the factors that earned them an "explicit lyrics" label), you have to admit it's a fun and freewheeling track. In fact, there's a lot of bohemian fun and loose song structure throughout this album, infused with some often "retro" engineering tricks. Another standout track is "Electric Feel", where they lay down one of the funkiest '70's-style grooves I've heard in some time. The energy level seems to flag a little in the latter half, but overall it's an enjoyable, if rather lightweight album, the kind you'll like to play on your car stereo on a warm spring day with the windows down.

...then these guys are for you. You can read through all the other reviews for details, but if you've already got Sleepy Jackson's Lovers and One was a Spider, etc., then just pick this up. Trust me, you'll like it.

I recently worked on MGMT's video for "Electric Feel" and it was the first time I had heard of them or of any of their music. I've worked on enough videos to know that if everyone isn't sick of the song by the middle of the day, it's a pretty good track. It was the first time I'd ever been on a set where everyone was either dancing (well, as much as you can dance while you work) or singing or humming the song to themselves. I liked the song a lot myself and was pretty curious to hear the rest of the album to see if it would be that good.

After listening to it, I decided that "Electric Feel" is the best track on the album with the rest of the songs being similar to an old, comfortable blanket to wrap around it. I think that the cover of this album is a very fitting image for the music on it. The rest of the songs sound retro but not in a disco way like "Electric Feel", but more like the sound of late 60's/ early 70's psychedelia. It's very easy to just sit back and relax while you listen to this. It's got a sound that you can either chill to or move along to if you so desire. I've listened to the album twice already and other tracks that stand out for me are "Kids", which sounds like early 80's electronica and "Of Birds, Moons and Monsters" which definitely fits my earlier description of 60's/70's psychedelia and in my opinion is a close second to "Electric Feel".

I really, really like this album. I'm gonna go ahead and give this album a strong thumbs up in the hopes that those looking for a new band to listen to will maybe check these guys out.

(As for those curious about the video for "Electric Feel", it's still in post-production at the time of this writing but should be released within the next couple of weeks. Watch out for it because it's gonna be pretty weird and cool.)

I recently received a turntable as a gift, so I was excited to buy a new vinyl record for my collection.

The vinyl record itself is heavy, it's not labeled as 180 gram vinyl, but it's heavier than the other records in my collection. Heavier vinyl is more durable, and some people claim that it sounds better.

The vinyl mix is supposedly "enhanced", and in general it sounds amazing, sounds much better than a tinny, pirated MP3 from a torrent (shh!). On certain songs, like "Kids" (last song on Side 1), the bass is pounding away, and it sounds a little distorted, and the vocals are fuzzy-sounding.

The inner sleeve has glossy artwork (lots of concentric circles on one side, and lyrics printed on the other side). ("Glossy" compared to the typical paper-y inner sleeve).

Buyer beware, a sticker on the outside says "Includes code for free MP3 download of this album". Yes, there is a code with the album, but the offer for the free download ended on 1/23/09 (it's February 10th, during the writing of this review). The expiration date should be on the outside of the album, to avoid getting people's hopes up. Or better yet, there shouldn't be an expiration date at all.

In my opinion, Oracular Spectacular is one of the best albums of 2008, the melodies are catchy, beats are great, it's just awesome synth-pop. I'm reluctant on calling it "indie" cause this is MGMT's release on Columbia, but it has indie aesthetics. I'd give 5 stars for the album, but 4 stars for the vinyl version of the album. It would be a great addition to any vinyl record collection!