been a while…….
w/e 9th may
| mgmt |
| gorillaz |
| tori amos |
| marina and the diamonds |
| blur |
| listen |
w/e 16th may
| flying lotus |
| belle & sebastian |
| mgmt |
| yeah yeah yeahs |
| these new puritans |
| listen |
w/e 23rd may
| lcd soundsystem |
| delphic |
| the stone roses |
| flying lotus |
| the rolling stones |
| listen |
w/e 30th may
| the rolling stones |
| madvillain |
| mf doom |
| sebadoh |
| gorillaz |
| listen |
w/e 6th june
| javelin |
| manic street preachers |
| grizzly bear |
| brad |
| the acorn |
| listen |
| mgmt | congratulations |
Apparently MGMT have forgotten how to write a chorus. Apparently MGMT have committed commercial suicide. Apparently the magic of Oracular Spetacular has gone and their mainstream audience should flee now.
Hmmm. Maybe we should all listen to Oracular Spectacular again? If the commercial and the mainstream is represented here it is so in only 3 or 4 tunes, great pop songs though they are, not entirely representative of the album as a whole and in turn MGMT as a band. It’s a sorry state of affairs that for a band to remain the darlings of the people they must continue to grab their attention with one or two ultra-catchy intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus-middle 8-chorus-outro standards, we’ve got Girls Aloud for that. Or aren’t they cool enough?
The latest offering from MGMT should not be dismissed so readily. Not everything great is immediate. Spend time with Congratulations and it will unravel itself in to your brain and fill you with joy. The fun that was certainly had creating the album is conveyed brilliantly in the music so that the listener feels like a member of the crowd at the MGMT pool party with each further listen getting you closer to the VIP steam room. Stylistically you could comparatively mention The Kinks, Sell Out period Who, Zappa and, more contemporarily Mr Bungle, Olivia Tremor Control and Flaming Lips. So pretty psychedelic then? Yeah you could say that, it certainly takes you on a trip.
So what else do I need to say? Oracular Spectacular was a great debut including some very obvious singles which gave MGMT the mandate to let loose on Congratulations and create something much more coherent, immersive and something quite special indeed. Dive in.
| mgmt | congratulations |
| listen |
| tori amos | little earthquakes |
| listen |
