Customer Reviews
Wow...... best album i've listened to in a long while! - By: Mr. G. Roberts, 15 Jul 2008 
Well, well, well, where have MGMT come from? They seem to have just popped up out of no man's land!
I have to say, when I first heard them on Radio 1 I was a little unsue. But after seeing them live & listening to their album I just can't stop listening to it.
The whole album is filled with hits, Time To Pretend, Weekend Wars, Electric Feel & Kids to name a few but to be honest I should really list them all!
They kind of remind me of The Who!
Amazing band, amazing album - a must buy
sweet - By: J. Messing, 11 Jul 2008 
listened to these guys after watching the recent "21" movie, & the whole album's good if you like that song!
One of the albums of the year, no question - By: Tim Woods, 10 Jul 2008 I got this album after I saw their set at Glastonbury, which was outstanding. This music is seriously fresh & funky, I can't get enough of it. After a couple of listens you can't fail but to be hooked on the vibe. The best songs are Electric Feel; Kids; Time to Pretend; Weekend Wars; Of Moons, Birds & Monsters. But the whole album is just so stinking fresh. Get it, & go see them live.
Old is the new new - By: Chris J, 10 Jul 2008 Whether you recognize the influences or not (everyone from Big Star & the Rolling Stones to Prince, Beck, & the Flaming Lips - I can even hear a vague Beethoven influencein Time to Pretend), you'll love this fresh take on funk rock. Just one thing. The "enhanced" content of the CD isn't really anything to write home about. It's a couple of fairly lame sets of about a dozen photos each (not very interesting ones) & an "interactive" version of the Electric Feel video (in practice, 10 videos you can switch between by clicking buttons at the bottom). You can find loads of superb photos of the band by typing "MGMT" into Flickr & the videos are probably online somewhere too, so don't let the "enhanced content" influence your decision to buy. Buy it because the music is great. You don't need another reason.
Spectacular "oracular" - By: E. A Solinas, 28 Jun 2008 Putting a label on the debut album by MGMT is a toughie. They're sort of a synth-psychedelic-space-indie-noisepop band.
And they break an awful lot of rulesin their debut album "Oracular Spectacular," a vibrant, colorful little album that sounds like a cascade of summer flowers. They have a few wrinkles yet to iron out, but their music has a unique & striking sound, & they obviously know how to craft solid pop music with a foot-tapping beat, & a slightly eerie sound.
It opens with squeaks, bubbling noises, & finally with a slow-building electric riff smotheredin twisted synth. "I'm feelin' rough, I'm feelin' raw, I'min the prime of my life/Let's make some music make some money find some models for wives... This is our decision to live fast & die young/We've got the vision, now let's have some fun..." the soft layered vocals intone.
Well, at least there's no pretense about plans for the future, even if it means "I'll miss my sister, miss my father, miss my dog & my home," & ends up with divorce, more models, & "We'll choke on our vomit & that will be the end/We were fated to pretend."
They slow down a little with the guitar-led, sparkling pop of "Weekend Wars," & the shimmering psychedelic echoes of the languid "The Youth" ("We could flood the streets/with love or light or heat/whatever!"). But then they happily speed back up again -- beat-heavy funky tunes, undulating playful synthpop, & rapid-pattering electronic psychedelica. Styles are jumbled seamlessly.
As the album's end approaches, the songs get even more complex, as if the band is learning the ropes as they go along. We have an acoustic-led ballad, a sly rippling pop melody, & a dancy, intimate-sounding finale -- not to mention the utterly sublime "Of Moons, Birds & Monsters," a deliriously beautiful psychpop melody strung with colourful synth, spacey sound effects, & guitars that chime like church bells.
"Oracular Spectacular" is the sound of a magnificently talented band that is still getting its bearings, & exploring the blended sound they've created. Most of the songs on this album are of good quality but not brilliant -- & then MGMT suddenly bursts forthin full-blown musical splendor, with some truly larger-than-life pop rippling with exquisite instrumentation.
Much of that instrumentation comes from the subtle percussion, & a series of guitars that can drive the melody forwards like a speeding car, then can suddenly turn into a mass of psychedelic blurs, murmurs & chimes. You can hear some handclaps & what sounds like kettle drums buriedin there as well, plus the occasional bashed cymbals.
But the synth is nothing short of gorgeous, & it permeates every songin the album. Sometimes it's a chirp, tweak, squeak or electronic chime on the edges, but sometimes it's a sweep of truly exquisite shimmering sound. "The Handshake" sounds like it was recorded underwater at times.
Ben Goldwasser & Andrew VanWyngarden's soft voices are layered through most of the album, although occasionally one of them sings solo. It adds an otherworldly sound as their vibrant lyrics explore youthful revels, rock'n'roll, otherworldly transformations ("My liquid silver arms extended/These waves aren't far apart... I am fire, where's my form?") & who knows what else ("Why'd you cut holesin the face of the moon base?/Don't you know about the temperature change/In the cold black shadow?").
"Oracular Spectacular" lives up to its name -- outstanding music that only promises to become better, shimmering with colorful pop & boundless imagination.
