Congratulations

I didn't buy MGMT's Oracular Spectacular: I liked the singles from it but not so much as to tempt me to part with my money. I did gather together some spare change, however, for Congratulations. I'd heard and loved 'Flash Delirium' and 'It's Working': it was probably seeing the video for the former not long after the album's release in 2010 that prompted me to purchase.

I don't love the album as a whole. Apart from the two tracks that first caught my ear I'm more or less lukewarm about much of the rest. 'Song for Dan Treacy' and 'Brian Eno' are pleasant enough; 'Someone's Missing' builds from a nondescript opening to a satisfying conclusion; the 12-minute 'Siberian Breaks' has some good parts and some aimless ones. Despite that, it has so far made the cut every time I've culled my collection to free up some shelf-space.

I have it on a CD I would have ordered from Amazon. It's a well-packaged item with the striking cover art on the front of a glossy gatefold sleeve. On the back are some incoherent sleeve-notes courtesy of producer Pete 'Sonic Boom' Kember, who characterizes the album as "Sunday Bacon for the Monday Generation".

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Complete String Quartets

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Ein Schattenspiel, etc.

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This is a Recording

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