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Rating:
Coming from Brooklyn and probably born out of the friendship between the two freaky high schoolers in question, MGMT or Management are the brilliant discovery of this year's start, all in the name of beautiful music. The two charming boys from Connecticut present us with a sort of "sophisticated toy" pop, a "lego" to assemble and disassemble. Yes, a toy pop, because Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden offer us fun that is never banal and never too predictable. A perfect assembly of music and colors: from psychedelia and mysticism that are not too hard to digest, to pleasant eighties-style electro pop. A straightforward pop, never predictable. And loads of fun, a desire to outdo themselves in just 10 tracks.
This is how this smiling work of the two boys presents itself to our eyes. "Oracular Spectacular" is not entirely a new experiment. Behind the tracks floats the mind of Dave Fridmann, mentor and producer of the mad scientists' lab (now fully enjoying life) Flaming Lips. And how can one not mention the figure of a David Bowie and, for the ballads and acoustic interludes, Neil Young? And if you add a touch of Mercury Rev psychedelia and the more seasoned nineties alternative indie (Pavement, to name one)?
A mess, you might say. But let's move on.
The carefree riff of the optigan introducing "Time to Pretend" already injects us into the dreamiest of worlds. It could be identified as a huge canvas where a Lipsian background is subjected to brushstrokes of David Bowie and smudged with the most sincere alternative of Pavement. It ends in a somewhat shameless crescendo (ye, ye, yeah), but remains one of the best musical moments of this 2008. After this orgy among the most distant genres comes the pop ballad of "Weekend Wars", which sounds more rock, with VanWyngarden's voice recalling the Rolling Stones, and then the even more melodic (complete with violin) "The Youth", which does not particularly stand out (perhaps lacking originality, finding itself amid more bizarre concoctions). Speaking of concoctions, here comes another even more pretentious. "Electric Feel" is an infusion of eighties disco vaguely techno, with a bit of Prince and a bit of Abba (them too) and a glam touch. And as if that weren't enough, more dance arrives. "Kids" truly feels like a children's party, as suggested by the intro of childish screams, with that aged video game background and the perpetual optigan serving as the track's riff. Toward the end, one also notices a homage to the overly famous "Jump" by Van Halen. A smart producer wouldn't hesitate to send it to the top of the charts. But Dave Fridmann is not that kind; after all, you wouldn't expect such a thing from the producer of strokes of genius like "Zaireeka" or "Deserter's Song", pearls never captured by the mainstream panorama (thank goodness). Fortunately, the single was released only in a part of America, not ruining the talented young freaks.
Let's return to the album. If the first part was danceable and straightforward, the second part is a mystical wave of more or less melodic music that opens with "4th Dimensional Transition", a dream pop with a psychedelic scent, between Yo La Tengo and Mercury Rev, perhaps the most successful track. A beautiful sound landscape rendered at its best by the choral of Goldwasser and VanWyngarden and enclosed in gentle acoustic chords. It is followed by "Pieces of What", a pleasant ballad that takes Neil Young as a reference point and once again the eclectic Kaplan. "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters" is a pop ride with a rock'n roll flavor, ending in a dream. The dreamy atmosphere is even more felt in "The Handshake", a collage of pop, psychedelia, electronics and David Bowie, which dissolves into a chorus and a slight whistle. The picture is closed by "Future Reflection", an instrumental track that ranges from New Wave, electronics, and trance (Plastikman) to Goldwasser's falsetto, wrapping it all with a catchy glam pop.
I was thrilled by these 10 playful and not simple tracks, overly experimental but never un-listenable. A toy pop. A toy, indeed. A ten thousand piece puzzle.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
01 Time to Pretend (04:21)
I'm Feelin rough I'm Feelin raw I'm in the prime of my life.
Let's make some music make some money find some models for wives.
I'll move to Paris, shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars.
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars.
This is our decision to live fast and die young.
We've got the vision, now let's have some fun.
Yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do?
Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?
Forget about our mothers and our friends.
We were fated to pretend.
I'll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms.
I'll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world.
I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog and my home.
Yeah I'll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone.
But there is really nothing, nothing we can do.
Love must be forgotten. Life can always start up anew.
The models will have children, we'll get a divorce,
we'll find some more models, Everything must run its course.
We'll choke on our vomit and that will be the end.
We were fated to pretend.
yeah yeah yeah
04 Electric Feel (03:49)
all along the western front
people line up to receive
she got the current in her hand
just shock you like you won't believe
saw her in the amazon
with the voltage running through her skin
standing there with nothing on
she gonna teach me how to swim
i said ooh girl
shock me like an electric eel
baby girl
turn me on with your electric feel
i said ooh girl
shock me like an electric eel
baby girl
turn me on with your electric feel
all along the eastern shore
put your circuits in the sea
this is what the world is for
making electricity
you can feel it in your mind
oh you can do it all the time
plug it in, change the world
you are my electric girl
i said ooh girl
shock me like an electric eel
baby girl
turn me on with your electric feel
i said ooh girl
shock me like an electric eel
baby girl
turn me on with your electric feel
do what you feel now
electric feel now
do what you feel now
electric feel now
do what you feel now
electric feel now
do what you feel now
electric feel now
do what you feel now
electric feel now
05 Kids (05:02)
You were a child
Crawling on your knees toward him
Making momma so proud
But your voice is too loud
We like to watch you laughing
Picking insects off of plants
No time to think of consequences
(Chorus)
Control yourself
Take only what you need from him
A family of trees wanting to be haunted
Control yourself
Take only what you need from him
The water is warm
But it's sending me shivers
A baby is born
Crying out for attention
Memories fade
Like looking through a fogged mirror
Decisions too
Decisions are made
Decisions are made and not bought
But I thought this wouldn't hurt a lot
I guess not
Chorus x6
06 4th Dimensional Transition (03:58)
I feel your racing heart
My liquid silver arms extended
These waves aren't far apart
Black gold in claw foot tubs unchanging
I am fire, where's my form?
Whisper crimson I intrude
There's light beneath your eyes
New overtones in view
Endless form, endless time
If what they say is true
You are a shadow in the fourth dimension
To float away with you
We see the corners where nothing happens
While we drifted we were one
Ceilings lifted walls were gone
You speak the language of the breeze
All your leaves were meant for me
The love that every person wants to be
Stuck together, I don't like revealing secrets
I'll live inside your lips if you won't laugh
My heaving hands on rotten fruit at last
Fallow fingers, there's a surface I can count on
She'd fit inside my heart and take it over
Till her cape got blown into my red lungs
Either there's a purpose
Or I'm heading out at breakfast
Take a drink, take a drag
One more coffee, ugly hat
No more mirrors, woolen bag
And I am gone
08 Of Moons, Birds & Monsters (04:46)
Why'd you cut holes in the face of the moon base?
Don't you know about the temperature change
In the cold black shadow?
Are you mad at your walls
Or hoping that an unknown force can repair things for you?
Pardon all the time that you've thrown into your pale grey garden?
If the ship will never come you've got to move along
Even a bird would want a taste of dirt from abyssal dark
The prick of a feather could make a kingdom burn and the bloodshed start
The falling apart
Made me a shadow in the shape of wonder
The waves of black
If she's going under I can hold my breath till the sky comes back
Or drown like a rat, rat, rat
He's a rat!
To catch a monster
We make a movie
Set the tempo
And cut and cut its brains out
It will inspire on the burning pyre
Half the distance
Half the motion
Communication
It's easy as the ocean
09 The Handshake (03:39)
I just shook the handshake
I just sealed the deal
I'll try not to let them
Take everything they can steal
People always told me
Don't forget your roots
I know I can feel them underneath my leather boots
You toss all the mornings lost to the clouds and you watch it go
Your fairweather friends on a parachute binge get lost when the wind blows
The handshake's stuck on the tip of my tongue
It tastes like death but it looks like fun
I was a loner
I was just waiting by myself
When you, warped temptress
Rose to bring me happiness and wealth
Black tears, black smile, black credit cards and shoes
You can call all the people you want
But it's you who's being used
Under your black eyes, honey
Right beneath your nose
A curse on all creation
Every single thing you know
White smoke, white light, white marble on the floor
It would only take a few seconds of darkness to figure out what's in store
Little girl
You convince yourself that you want it, but you don't know
You keep trying to wash the blood from your hands, but it won't go
We're gonna keep you on the run
We got the handshake under our tongue
We got the handshake under our tongue
We got the handshake under our tongue
We got the handshake under our tongue
We got the handshake x15
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