Music : Oracular Spectacular |
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Rating: - * A groovy electro adventure that does for the 70s what electroclash did for the eighties ... Although I never received this from amazon, I listened to it in other mediums. MGMT has a laid back groove somewhere at the intersection of Scissor Sisters and Phoenix with a dash of Thievery Corporation. Not a bad place to operate and with nary a jarring note. Rating: - * Truly spectacular!! ... MGMT are a New York duo whose Pop/Dance/Rock/Electronic sound makes for a heady mix. Their very playful disc "Oracular spectacular" comprises just 10 tracks (these days, loads of CDs average 11 tracks, doing away with filler). "Let's make some music, make some money, find some models for wives" they sing in the buzzing "Time to pretend" as they spell out the hedonistic lifestyle they have mapped out. The acoustic "Weekend wars" reminds me a wee bit of The Beatles. "Of monsters, birds & monsters" is more upbeat. An extremely catchy retro sounding Pop/Rocker. The echo-ey "The youth" is so retro sounding, almost a Doo-wop ballad with shimmery psychedelic effects. "Electric feel" is disco-tinged and finds the duo singing in falsetto. Extremely catchy and one of my favourites. "Kids" (aptly filled with sounds of kids at play) is a stomping slice of Dance/Rock, while the droning "4th dimensional traditional" features some tribal sounding percussion. "Pieces of what" is a lovely acoustic ballad (with percussion and epic strings coming in before the end). "The handshake" is a lovely ballad with echo-ey/disembodied vocals, while closing is the woozy psychedelic-sounding "Future reflections". A spectacular debut! Rating: - * Oh wow, awesome stuff guys! ... Just shy of turning 40 I`ve become a little bit of a fossil regarding whats hip and new but Im so glad I didnt let this little gem get away. Really fantastic. Rating: - * Best MGMT Record Yet ... Not to sounds pretentious or like a music snob, but I use to listen to these guys since they were referred to as "The Management". All I can say is that they've definitely grown over the years and that this is their best record yet. If you like the single "Time to Pretend", you'll love the rest of the album. This is one of those records you'll listen to again in 10 years and it wont feel like it has aged. Rating: - * Amazon 5-star ... I don't understand the rating of this album. I agree with it, but I don't undertand it. So far it is a collective 4 star. I give it 5 stars. Nay I give it Amazon 5 stars. It is not a true 5-star in the sense that it is a flawless album that can be recognized for greatness by just about anyone. However, I can asure you that this is an Amazon 5-star, where fans love it so much that they over-review it and give it five stars. If any album is worthy of that, it is this one. Call it what you want, New Wave, Glam, Electro-Indie, this album is amazing. There are 4 songs (tracks 1,3,4,9) that absolutely blow me away and make me want to share them with everyone I know. Probably Electric Eel most of all. Of the other 6 songs, you will not find 1 bad song. All songs have somehting that hooks you in to some extent. Again, not all seconds of this album are heaven, but I have not heard a track that I want to skip. If you are a fan of this genre or at least open to this genre, do yourself a favor and buy yourself this album. You can thank me later. They're greeeeeeeaat! |

The real joy of the set, however, is nine NBA playoff games presented as they were originally broadcast and almost in their entirety. They last about 90-100 minutes with TV introductions and post-game interviews, but minus halftime, commercials, and some slower moments. The games include such absolute classics as the game in which rookie Magic Johnson started at center in place of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the 1987 "baby hook" game against the Boston Celtics. If you're used to watching current NBA games you might be tempted to just skip to the end, but it's surprisingly rewarding to watch the game develop, to watch the game's superstars strut their stuff (or see a couple of 1972 reserves named Phil Jackson and Pat Riley), and to observe how radically the sport has changed over the years. Variable picture quality and technical glitches are unavoidable (even the 2002 game looks washed out), but this is the first time complete or nearly complete NBA games have been available in the home-video era, and they probably still look better than the VHS tapes you've been saving over the years. Yes, it'd be easy to argue about which games from the Lakers' long history should have been included, and the highlight videos don't have a ton of replay value, but the NBA Dynasty series is a major milestone in archived sports. --David Horiuchi
