MGMT is an American rock band formed in 2002 in Middletown, Connecticut. The group consists of Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser, and was originally known as the Management before rebranding as MGMT in 2005.
Both members are composers and multi-instrumentalists, while VanWyngarden is the group's lead vocalist and lyricist.
members: Will Berman, Andrew VanWyngarden, Ben Goldwasser, Matt Asti, Hank Sullivant, James Richardson, Simon O'Connor
formed in: Middletown
labels: Sony Music, Columbia Records, Cantora Records
genres: progressive rock, neo-psychedelia, electronica, psychedelic pop
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Ben Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden formed the band while attending Wesleyan University during their freshman year. "We weren't trying to start a band, we were just hanging out and showing each other music that we liked." Goldwasser remarked about this in 2007. They experimented with noise rock and electronica before settling on what Paco Alvarez of Spin calls "their current brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop". In 2002, the duo attended the inaugural Bonnaroo together as fans. The band formed under the name The Management and released two demo albums, We (Don't) Care and Climbing to New Lows, under that name; but since the name was already being used by another band, they later changed it to MGMT, an abbreviation of the original...
MGMT's musical style has been characterized as a range of pop and rock genres, including indie pop, synth-pop, psychedelic pop, indie rock, psychedelic rock, neo-psychedelia, and electronic rock. Paco Alvarez of Spin described their sound as a "brand of shape-shifting psychedelic pop" and Gavin Haynes of the Guardian describes MGMT as being "between pop and experimental". VanWyngarden named Talking Heads and OMD as artists who are "definitely in [their] blood". MGMT regularly covered a Magazine song "Burst" when touring in 2011, and recorded a version of Fleetwood Mac's "Future Games" for the tribute album Just Tell Me That You Want Me: A Tribute to Fleetwood Mac (2012).
Are you them, or do you know them? The mail slot is open.
"Kids" is a song by American rock band MGMT. It was released as the third and final single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular (2007) on October 13, 2008.
The version of the song that appears on Oracular Spectacular is updated from earlier versions that appear on the band's extended plays (EPs) Time to Pretend (2005) and We (Don't) Care (2004). A track entitled "Kids " appears on the album Climbing to New Lows (2005).
The single peaked at number nine on the US Billboard Rock Songs chart, where "Time to Pretend" had previously peaked at number 23. NME named it the number-one song on its list of the Best Singles of 2008. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 99 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years". Rolling Stone named it number 46 on its list of 100 Best Songs of the 2000s. Rolling Stone's Kevin O'Donnell described the song as, "a noisy New Order-style synth jam."
An acoustic version of "Kids" was recorded by the Kooks in August 2008, to appear on the next volume of Triple J's cover compilation Like a Version, which would later make No. 100 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of Like a Version in 2023.
"Time to Pretend" is a song by the American indie band MGMT, released as the lead single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular (2007) on March 3, 2008. An earlier version had been released on their Time to Pretend EP.
The single was released as a 7" and CD single featuring the B-sides "Weekend Wars" and "Metanoia", respectively. In early 2009, the song was re-released in the UK after featuring in the teen television drama series Skins.
The track was originally recorded for the Time to Pretend EP (2005). It was re-recorded for the Oracular Spectacular album.
The music video for the song contains references to Alejandro Jodorowsky's 1973 film The Holy Mountain and the 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. The video was directed by Ray Tintori, and features a cameo appearance by American recording artist Caroline Polachek.
Kevin O'Donnell wrote in Rolling Stone that "Time to Pretend is a space-rock gem that mocks the clichéd coke-and-hookers rock-star lifestyle, over big synth whooshes."
Covered by Black Country, New Road in 2021. It was later included in the band's Never Again EP.
"Electric Feel" is a song by the American rock band MGMT, released as the second single from their debut studio album Oracular Spectacular (2007) on June 23, 2008. The single was released as a 7" and CD single, and later on 12" vinyl.
"Electric Feel" was released to radio on July 29, 2008. The song's second video features the Rock-afire Explosion.
“Electric Feel” is written primarily in a 6/4 time signature, giving it an extended phrasing compared to the typical 4/4 of most pop music.
"Electric Feel" became MGMT's first Australian ARIA top 50 hit, as well as their first New Zealand RIANZ top 40 hit. In the United States, the song originally peaked at number 20 on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart, but reached a new peak of number 14 almost three years after the original peak, due to a resurgence in sales from exposure on The Voice. (The version of "Electric Feel" covered by The Voice contestant, Preston Pohl also debuted at number 21 on the same week) The song was ranked at number five on NME's list of the Best Singles of 2008, and came in at number two on Australia's Triple J Hottest 100 countdown for 2008.
The official remix features former Columbia Records label mate Jim Jones. It was supposed to be featured on his fourth album Pray IV Reign but was cut. In an interview with GQ.com Jim Jones explained how the remix came to be