Congratulations (MGMT song)
Encyclopedia
"Congratulations" is the fourth single released from the album Congratulations
by MGMT
, released as a music video on August 25, 2010.
Sonic Boom
commentary of the track, before the Congratulations sessions at the Blanker Unsinn Studio on 2010: "The Half-arsed Hugs of routine celebrations. Realisations. Random Aging .... A World in tatters? Glitter that matters? The hollow victory. And then Sleep ......."
The single was released on a limited edition 7″ vinyl with a special 20-page illustrated booklet, on Friday, November 26, 2010.
On November 2, Record Store Day
announced the limited edition "Congratulations" 7" as one of their Black Friday Exclusives which contains the Erol Alkan
remix.
The song was featured in the credits of 2010 Oscar award-winning film documentary Inside Job
.
It's Congratulations' lyrics here that are most important. As Andrew VanWyngarden sings that all he wants are your congratulations, he reveals the whole point of the album.
MGMT don't need—or necessarily want—a big selling album. They want recognition and credibility. And they deserve them.
Congratulations is an exciting step away from over-used pop tropes and a bold leap into the unknown."
"Ah, cheeky little scamps – MGMT save their most simplistic song for last, 'Congratulations' playing out like a sequel to the reckless decadence of 'Time to Pretend', the duo overlooking their success with a sneering, sarcastic eye. "Out with a whimper/It's no blaze of glory" sings Van Wyngarden over a folky, tender rhythm section. Ending with a round of (we imagine) piss-taking handclaps, it's a fitting close to an album that will test the patience of MGMT fans who were only into the 'HITS', but perhaps that's the point; in one big, imaginative sidestep, MGMT might have just leapt the hurdle of becoming a one-album wonder, carving out a career at the true heirs to Flaming Lips' throne in the process. It's not an album that will thrill on first listen – I listened about, umm, ten times before I wrote this, but it’s a record that deserves your attention nonetheless."
structure. Just before reaching the structure, one of the creature's eyes falls off and sinks into the sand. From the sand, a cluster of lights rises towards the sky, blending with the stars, and shimmering in tune to the music. The songs ends with the two men (VanWyngarden's character now wearing sunglasses) looking up to the sky and applauding.
The video was filmed on the outskirts of Las Vegas
, and was directed by Tom Kuntz and edited by Steve Gandolfi. The creature was created by Legacy Effects.
Congratulations (album)
The album received mostly positive reviews upon its release, and a 72/100 metascore at Metacritic, based upon 39 reviews. Pitchfork Media deemed the album "audacious, ambitious, and a little fried." NME got a first listen of the album and described it as a mix of "frenetic, brief psych nuggets......
by MGMT
MGMT
MGMT is an American alternative rock band founded by Benjamin Goldwasser and Andrew VanWyngarden. After the release of their first album, the members of their live band, Matthew Asti, James Richardson and Will Berman, joined the core band in the studio...
, released as a music video on August 25, 2010.
Sonic Boom
Peter Kember
Peter Kember is a British musician and producer, more usually known as Sonic Boom, and was a founding member of alternative rock band Spacemen 3....
commentary of the track, before the Congratulations sessions at the Blanker Unsinn Studio on 2010: "The Half-arsed Hugs of routine celebrations. Realisations. Random Aging .... A World in tatters? Glitter that matters? The hollow victory. And then Sleep ......."
The single was released on a limited edition 7″ vinyl with a special 20-page illustrated booklet, on Friday, November 26, 2010.
On November 2, Record Store Day
Record Store Day
Record Store Day is an internationally celebrated day observed the third Saturday of April each year. Its purpose, as conceived by independent record store employee Chris Brown, is to celebrate the art of music...
announced the limited edition "Congratulations" 7" as one of their Black Friday Exclusives which contains the Erol Alkan
Erol Alkan
Erol Alkan is a London-based electro DJ of Turkish Cypriot descent.-DJ and club promoter:In 1993, Erol Alkan started DJing in various Indie nightclubs in London....
remix.
The song was featured in the credits of 2010 Oscar award-winning film documentary Inside Job
Inside Job (film)
Inside Job is a 2010 documentary film about the late-2000s financial crisis directed by Charles H. Ferguson. The film is described by Ferguson as being about "the systemic corruption of the United States by the financial services industry and the consequences of that systemic corruption." In five...
.
Reception
"The final track returns to the jangling '60s pop stylings of Waterloo Sunset. It's smooth and charming and sidesteps the awkward hooks of the rest of the album.It's Congratulations' lyrics here that are most important. As Andrew VanWyngarden sings that all he wants are your congratulations, he reveals the whole point of the album.
MGMT don't need—or necessarily want—a big selling album. They want recognition and credibility. And they deserve them.
Congratulations is an exciting step away from over-used pop tropes and a bold leap into the unknown."
"Ah, cheeky little scamps – MGMT save their most simplistic song for last, 'Congratulations' playing out like a sequel to the reckless decadence of 'Time to Pretend', the duo overlooking their success with a sneering, sarcastic eye. "Out with a whimper/It's no blaze of glory" sings Van Wyngarden over a folky, tender rhythm section. Ending with a round of (we imagine) piss-taking handclaps, it's a fitting close to an album that will test the patience of MGMT fans who were only into the 'HITS', but perhaps that's the point; in one big, imaginative sidestep, MGMT might have just leapt the hurdle of becoming a one-album wonder, carving out a career at the true heirs to Flaming Lips' throne in the process. It's not an album that will thrill on first listen – I listened about, umm, ten times before I wrote this, but it’s a record that deserves your attention nonetheless."
Track listing
^ The remix on the 7" is 6:30 long and the remix as digital download is 4:03 long (radio edit version).Music video
The video for "Congratulations" shows two men, depicted by the two lead members of the band (Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser), walking through the desert with a strange four-legged creature that some have described as a "sad-eyed Duck-dog-o-saurus". Throughout the video, the creature gradually falls apart, losing a leg and then its beak, each body part sinking into the sand. As the creature is falling apart, the character depicted by VanWyngarden attempts to comfort it. Towards the end of the video, the creature tumbles down a sand dune and falls completely apart. The two pick up what is left of the creature, and as dusk settles in, they come upon a portal-likePortals in fiction
A portal in science fiction and fantasy is a magical or technological doorway that connects two distant locations separated by spacetime. It usually consists of two or more gateways, with an object entering one gateway leaving via the other instantaneously....
structure. Just before reaching the structure, one of the creature's eyes falls off and sinks into the sand. From the sand, a cluster of lights rises towards the sky, blending with the stars, and shimmering in tune to the music. The songs ends with the two men (VanWyngarden's character now wearing sunglasses) looking up to the sky and applauding.
The video was filmed on the outskirts of Las Vegas
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
, and was directed by Tom Kuntz and edited by Steve Gandolfi. The creature was created by Legacy Effects.
Personnel
- Andrew VanWyngardenAndrew VanWyngardenAndrew VanWyngarden is the lead vocalist, guitar player and songwriter for the band MGMT, praised for "an uncanny knack for producing pop music that sounds as if it were filtered through a kaleidoscope"...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Ben Goldwasser – synths and samplesSynthesizerA synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
- Gillian Rivers – stringsString instrumentA string instrument is a musical instrument that produces sound by means of vibrating strings. In the Hornbostel-Sachs scheme of musical instrument classification, used in organology, they are called chordophones...