A group of high schoolers admit that they don't even know Congratulations , MGMT's polarizing second album from , even exists. The band is aware of these expectations, nearly to a fault. VanWyngarden is more diplomatic on the subject. Kind of. This artist-audience stalemate plays out in real time during the duo's final recording session for the new album, back in March.
Goldwasser's wiry hair, glasses, and grey sweater make him look ready to crunch numbers at a tech startup; VanWyngarden is a bit more dressed for the zoned-out frontman part, donning a tattered Star Trek shirt and a knit cap with a puffin on it. Even beyond their get-ups, they're complementary opposites: Goldwasser's the analytical one, while VanWyngarden's spirit roams free.
The two make their way to the control room with Fridmann, who triggers a harsh techno pulse while VanWyngarden noodles around on a keyboard. When Goldwasser makes a quick exit, his bandmate jokes, "It seems like we've driven Ben out of the room once again. A little less than an hour later, Goldwasser decides it's time to speak up. The mood turns tense. VanWyngarden's face looks confused, slightly wounded. When he's gone, VanWyngarden turns to the console and blasts the techno track again, proceeding to add more textures and effects with a smile on his face.
Goldwasser returns with an electric guitar—"the only one we brought with us"—and starts fiddling around on it. Then VanWyngarden retreats to the other end of the couch, throws on some headphones, and opens his laptop. I soon hear him excessively chuckling to himself as Goldwasser zeroes in on the guitar—he's watching surfing videos on YouTube.
Later that night, though, MGMT start to laugh together. The resulting track, "Astro-Mancy", is an insular collage of downcast vocals and orbiting sonic detritus—including VanWyngarden's cherished techno thump, chopped up and submerged deep in the mix. Like most of MGMT , it's a million miles from anything resembling a straightforward song, nevermind a hit.
It's mysterious, meandering, mesmerizing. And it's exactly what they wanted to create. The same goes for the rest of the album, a cornucopia of offbeat plinks and plunks, a mind-expanding deconstruction of what a pop song can be. There are twisted sing-alongs, molten sea chanteys, chewed-up space ballads, and one song called "Cool Song No. Under a certain shadow, MGMT 's intangibility suggests a slippery seriousness.
Goldwasser says the whole album is about "accepting that the world is totally messed up, and the apocalypse is going to happen whether we want it to or not, and finding something beautiful to live for. The sight-gag-filled video for first single "Your Life Is a Lie"—with its talking dolphins, Whac-A-Mole, and murdered teddy bears—is delightfully and shamelessly nutty. This freewheeling attitude sounds ideal in the abstract, but in reality, MGMT's current strain of idiosyncratic music doesn't seem to stand much of a chance with the "Kids" kids.
Their exploratory, constantly shifting brand of psych is meant for more adventurous music listeners—a subset that has largely and somewhat unfairly written them off as, in VanWyngarden's words, "druggy, retarded, partying hipsters. Follow Us. Terms Privacy Policy. This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Canada, which closed in Danny Clinch.
Such simpler times. This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Canada. Newswire Powered by. Close the menu. Rolling Stone. Log In. To help keep your account secure, please log-in again. You are no longer onsite at your organization. Please log in. For assistance, contact your corporate administrator. Arrow Created with Sketch. Calendar Created with Sketch.
0コメント