Oracular Spectacular

MGMT | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 22, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Sony
• ASIN: B0010VD7EO
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (176 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,020 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #2 in Music > Indie Music > Dance & DJ > Electronica
  • #3 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Electronic Pop
  • #4 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > General

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The term Oracular Spectacular might not mean much, if anything, at all--it's essentially nonsensical--but that doesn't stop it feeling exactlyright. Here is a band that treats dizzy cross-eyed awe and a vast bounding sense of sonic weightlessness as their yardstick, jostling to surpass themselves on a track-by-track basis and aiming for the musical equivalent of performing somersaults in tye-dye t-shirts off the rings of Jupiter. MGMT seemingly submit this debut album as an application to acquire and even supersede The Flaming Lips' previously uncontested mantle as spiritual leaders of over-sized Technicolor psychedelic-indie with a soul, weird but not so weird that swelling crowds and even flirtations with the charts aren't a foregone conclusion. "Time to Pretend" opens and sets a tone for the record, producer David Fridmann (Flaming Lips, Mercury Rev) providing a familiar expanse for them to riff across with bull's-eye synths, massive drums and their twist on the template--retro 80s electro and abstract shapes, see Suicide and the Talking Heads for reference. "The Youth" is centred around a hypnotically looping refrain that recalls Pink Floyd and David Bowie, as interpreted by a mellow Secret Machines and the brilliant "Pieces of What" is Ryan Adams spinning through cosmos with classic Neil Young on his headphones. "Future Reflections" meanwhile stand on its hands on a line somewhere in-between XTC and Ween. Thrillingly eclectic, endlessly colourful and never predictable. It's all a bit ridiculous, but indeed spectacularly so. --James Berry

Product Description

Forty years after the Summer of Love (and 30 years after the Summer of Hate), MGMT is celebrating the grand re-opening of the third eye of the world with Oracular Spectacular, an enigmatic and prophetic collection of hallucinatory sounds and hook-riddled Pop tones for the new millennium. MGMT is: Andrew Vanwyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, two psychic pilgrims whose paths first intersected in the green pastures of Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, circa 2002. The pair was drawn to the music of other duos and found themselves incorporating the implications of the hallucinatory power-twee of the Incredible String Band, the roaring subway minimalist Electronica of Suicide, the silky Pop-Soul of Hall & Oates, the pulsing narcotic trance of Spacemen 3, the avant-garde Industrial romanticism of Royal Trux and much more into the constantly evolving sounds of MGMT. Columbia. 2008.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 92 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the Top 5 of 08 February 18, 2008

By Shane Carpenter

Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase

I don't know who the guy is that wrote the editorial review for this album, but he is definitely out to lunch...

I never heard of this band, but I saw the album in my local record store and was intrigued by the cover art. When I arrived home, I immediately went to Amazon.com and listened to some snippets of the songs. They sounded good, but it's hard to get a feel for an entire album just by listening to 30 second clips. So I went ahead and bought the album.

I gave it a once-through. Then a second-through. Then a third-through... I've been listening to this album for about 5 days in a row now and it just gets better every time. The editorial reviewer complained about the variety on the album, but I believe that's one of the strengths. There's definitely something for everyone in this album.

I listen to a lot of indie-rock and this is definitely one of the top albums that has come out in the last few years. I rank it up there with Boxer by The National, Neon Bible by the Arcade Fire, and 23 by Blonde Redhead to name a few. Suffice it to say that this album is definitely in good company.

Now I know this album was released on Columbia, which means it's not necessarily "Indie"... But it was definitely crafted with the indie crowd in mind. It succeeds on many levels and it does so with flying colors.

57 of 63 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A Rush of Memories and Premonitions January 26, 2008

By Derek Weiler

Format:Audio CD

I havn't been fascinated by a NYC band this much since Interpol's 2002 release, "Turn on the Bright Lights", which revived the dark sounds of 80's British punk icons Joy Division. Similarly, MGMT's influences are all on the surface, from the early synthpop of Ultravox ("Kids") to Oasis's jangly guitar tunes and laddish vocals ("Pieces of What"). I even heard some Kate Bush. You can lose yourself in tracing the genealogy of their references, but you can also wonder at the musical depth of the deceptive simplicity of their tunes. Someone on the web has written that their music is like Marvin Gaye on ecstacy, and that really hits the mark: I'm reminded of The Klaxon's "New Rave" style of an effortless, senseless helium high, a rush of memories and premonitions, best expressed in a line from the song, "Future Reflections": "It tastes like death but it looks like fun." Is this a vision of the future? I don't know, but don't miss it, and turn the volume up, way up. If we don't know where this band is going, it's best to enjoy the Ride.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Trance Enducing! January 23, 2008

By Cedrick Kober

Format:Audio CD

From the first track, this album immediately makes otherwise voluntary muscle function INvoluntary! I'm not sure what kind of sophisticated technology this group has access to but I'm convinced that delightful nanomachines entered my brain and made me dance. Some parts sound reminiscent of a lot of music you may know (catchy drum machines, hot synth vocals, and 8-bit video games?) while many more parts sound like nothing you've yet experienced. Although some tracks seem too poppy at times, MGMT's originality negates anything negative things you could say, in turn, making those things you said double negatives, which are always positive. Treat yourself! Enjoy the engaging abruptness of MGMT's "Oracular Spectacular." This band's integrity is astounding.