MGMT - Oracular Spectacular
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Free Music Notes for Oracular Spectacular
Free Music Review: A New Band for a New Era
Hit: 4 Stars
Drenched in addictive hooks that marry Prince and The Flaming Lips in a union of space-funk and soul that somehow captures exactly the sound the band describes on their MySpace page-"surf jungle country"-Oracular delivers a sound that's as fresh in 2008 as Beck's was in 1994, leaping onto the scene with the same "we don't care" abandon that "Loser" brought to the biz back then. It's no accident that the album vaguely echoes The Flaming Lips. Oracular IS produced, after all, by David Fridmann, the captain at the console for many a Flaming Lips album. Roll Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots with some Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and you've got the narcotic sunrise of the mind that is Oracular Spectacular.
Apart from their music, though, what's refreshing about Ben and Andrew is their indifference to the punk-rock disdain for corporate influence that has itself become one of the cliches they expose, claiming instead to have "talked a lot about selling out as soon as possible" before anyone but their buddies knew who they were. Touch?! Nonetheless, here's to hoping that next year's Grammy Awards completely ignore this masterpiece deserving of universal adoration, a neglect that has become a seal of approval for bands too good to be caught on TV with Brittney and Beyonce-and let's hope it stays that way, for the sake of both the band and their growing number of fans.
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Free Music Review: Love it!
Hit: 4 Stars
Love it, love it, absolutely love it!!! I heard "Time to Pretend" on local radio station here in New York and had to buy the CD right away. No regrets.Free Music Review: Kaleidoscopic
Hit: 4 Stars
There's something about the youthful energy of MGMT's album "Oracular Spectacular" that makes me think of a person's college years. It's a time in a young person's life when they're experimenting, expanding their horizons, exploring different cultures and ideas, and trying to imagine what their adult life will be like. The album may not be the most consistent or polished of efforts, but it's playful, inventive and inspired. The vocals, lyrics and overall spacey-ness of "Oracular Spectacular" sometimes recall classic David Bowie. The multicultural, anything-goes production style has more in common with of-the-moment artists like M.I.A. or Hot Chip. Clearly this is a group that finds inspiration in music of both the past and the present, as well as different genres and cultures.
Overall, I'd say this album is a fresh and skillful debut by a promising new act.
Free Music Review: New Garage-psych album scores big!
Hit: 4 Stars
This duo formed in CT of all places (now out of Brooklyn, NY) shares with us an even 10 tracks which are quite catchy for garage psych. The duos' vocals can sometimes be a touch unrefined, but other times evoke visions of a long career for their uniqueness. At times they conjure images of Bowie, and others warbling like Prince or Mick Jagger. After all, these guys don't take themselves too seriously. And with Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips) as their big-name producer, it's easy to see why this spaced out album is shaping up to be a cult hit.
Kicking off the album, the pair share the rockstar dream anthem 'Time to Pretend'. The catchiness of this song would make even the most settled suburbanite wish he had forsaken his college career "To live fast and die young". After all, who hasn't wanted to "Move to Paris, shoot some heroin, and fu*k with the stars."?
Tracks like '4th Dimensional Transition' echo sentiments of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah in their playful but driving rhythms. The pace changes are sometimes a bit sketchy, but the synth tones mixed with light strings seem a fitting match for the vocals, which range from tenuous to Floyd-esque. Some feel there's an abuse of the falsetto stylings in the vocals, but I don't ever feel they detract from the alternate universe created here by MGMT.
Another rocker is 'Of Moons, Birds & Monsters', which exemplifies the duo's willingness to blend pop, psych, and rockabilly into a delicious smoothie that might leave you with a coffee buzz, as it winds down with a thick soundscape
Album highlights are the radio friendly 'Time To Pretend' and 'Electric Feel' with its disco influences. Several great tracks for keeping you in a good mood while riding on the bus, or walking along Portland's hip Hawthorne Street. The heavy bass lines will have you bopping your head or strutting to these tracks, which I could also hear in a hipster night club with partiers dancing with vodka and red bulls in hand.
I gotta rank this this is 3.5 stars out of 5!
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Free Music Review: Crass, indulgent, pop manure
Hit: 2 Stars
Certainly, this album has been in heavy rotation in every hipster juke box in the western hemisphere ever since the band toured with fellow keyboard-pop icons Of Montreal... What I don't understand is why people are listening. The initial keyboard hook on Time to Pretend is an impressive pop riff, but they follow it up with alot of boring, melodically conservative dribble. The lyrics on the album are alot of juvenile, upper middle class rubbish about getting famous, and living like a rockstar. They muck around in cliche constantly. The album's most impressive asset is the FANTASTIC production by Dave Fridmann. The drums and keyboards balance perfectly. The most listenable track being Electric Feel, is a direct disco rip off, in the vein of The BeeGees. This is just one more overrated pop band, masquerading as indie rock heroes, that people will be ignoring in a few months.
Enjoy it while it's fresh, children!