Has any one heard of this band THOSE DANCING DAYS ?
They look like an all-alt-girl band that was assembled by a coalition of alternative retail executives.
They ‘look rlly kute’ and ’sound okay.’ And by ’sound okay’ means that ‘I would never listen to it, but I could understand why a mass market could pretend that it is good music.’ I wonder if they are big in other parts of the world? When am I going to be ambushed by remixes of them?
Another band that I think ‘looks kute’ and ’sound interesting to uninteresting people who like to be into alt music’ is MGMT. They’re pretty decent for the most part, but overall, pretty gimmicky. But I don’t think they’re trying to be gimmicky, I think they’re just weirdos, and their weirdo-ness is being exploited in a gimmicky way.
For example, there’s this new video for “Electric Feel” that got cleaned up because it looks like they wanted it to be on VH1 or something.
I think they should have hired the visionaries behind the OK GO ‘walking on treadmills’ gimmick, because this song could have been soo random/viral.
Remember the old video for “Electric Feel”?
At least they were adamant about relaying their image of ‘being weird/psychedelic’, involving underworlds with creatures, and utilizing green screens. I wonder if Columbia Records told them ‘that looks waaay too Dan Deacony.’
<3 when artists stand up for their visions <3
“This band looks interesting, and if I ever had a conversation about them, I could relate their look and sound to a time in the past where a lot of stuff sounded like them.” -music fan who reads stereogum once a week and thinks he is s00 underground
Are there any other bands that look and sound kute/interesting/’different’/'revivalist’ who could be considered underwhelming products? I feel like the whole glue behind these types of bands/products is that they are inoffensive and accessible, which can sometimes be a good thing, but can also lead to ‘being overexposed by rcrd lbls who market stuff to people.’
Also, there’s the I-Think-I-Am-A-Good-Person-bc-I-See-the-Big-Picture argument that ‘this music is good compared to what most people are exposed to, so it’s good that people get really into stuff. Just bc u listen to way too much music doesn’t mean u r better than every1.’
I don’t really have a problem with ‘bands that sound okay’ and ‘look kute’, but I guess it’s easy to get burnt out on them when people confuse them with meaningful-core bands and/or highly-bloggable gimmick bands.
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IAmCarles.com
45 Comments
Fucking 100% correct!
Can I vote for you for president?
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i like those dancing days, but it probably has more to do with the fact that they’re swedish hipster schoolgirls than their actual music. ‘hitten’ is a cute song though. and the lead singer’s fro is cute.
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third
and: way to sound like an elitist cockwad, hipster have-sex-with-others-of-the-same-gender-off.
am I justangry because you shitted on a band I like? maybe
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That curly-haired woman is the hottest thing I’ve seen on this blog.
God, she’s uber-hot.
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..///< (*~FaRtZ~*)>\\\..
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I just can’t get over all this kuteness being thrown in my face…
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carles is so brill that this blog will be a cultural document
in hundreds of thousands of years when the internet is dead archeologists will find hro and build until theories on modern society based on carles
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A girl in my class aid that she had seen Those Dancing Days shooting a video in her neighbour’s lawn or something like that. I thought it was a nice story because she is really into Those Dancing Days and could easily have been asked to like jump into the video cuz there’s that cute alt girl gimmick to her as well. Look out for this band – another in the Swedish wave= sweave?
I think that the new Electric Feel video excellently displays how MGMT is as if Immuzikation would have been a film director and mashed up Peter Pan, Tim Burton, the musical Hair, Lord of the rings and the film The Beach starring that dude who always gets parts where he sporadically can act out his mental short circuits.
I also think that Time To Pretend can be a meaningful-core music song that is very gimmicky at the same time. The first verse is sort of anti-inoffensive and accessible:
I’m feelin rough I’m feelin raw
I’m in the prime of my life
Let’s make some music, make some money, find some models for wives
I’ll move to Paris shoot some heroin and fuck with the stars
You man the island and the cocaine and the elegant cars
This is our decision, to live fast and die young, we’ve got the vision, now let’s have some fun
But the turn comes at a line that really moves me in the epic song:
Yeah it’s overwhelming, but what else can we do?
Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?!
It sort of summarizes the whole song and its theme that could be interpreted as: “Don’t Be Square!” or “Extend your visions!” or “Live here and live now – carpe diem!”, which instantly turns MGMT into a meaningful-core band.
Furthermore I am touched by the second verse where a theme of the sentimental feelings of breaking up with your past and moving on into new unknown scary territory:
“Forget about our mothers and our friends, we’re fated to pretend”
I’ll miss the playgrounds and the animals and digging up worms
I’ll miss the comfort of my mother and the weight of the world
I’ll miss my sister miss my father miss my dog and my home
Yeah, I’ll miss the boredom and the freedom and the time spent alone
But there is really nothing, nothing we can do
Love must be forgotten, life can always start off a new”
But unless MGMT keeps off whatever they’re going on, Time To Pretend will remain their only meaningful-core song and one of the very best of 2k7/2k8 because the other songs on Oracular Spectacular have rather unintelligeble lyrics.
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i like mgmt, but the new electric feel music video’s shit!
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mgmt has maybe 3 good songs
go listen to the russian futurists
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the frat house located across the street from my dorm blasts “time to pretend” every friday afternoon along with rascal flats and other various country artists. they also played some ratatat once too. does this mean ratatat is now a nu-meaningful-core band?
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omg the lemur, seriously. there’s a difference between a CMMNT and a BLG PST.
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Does it make any difference that the Hypetrain (aka Justice) have done a remix of Electric Feel. There’s the first of many a remix to come flowing in. Enjoy
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MGMT is fucking garbage. But hipster garbage, so its kewl.
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Have you heard of Does It Offend You, Yeah? or The Virgins..?
Also a cute gimmick.
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errr… jonas brothers anyone???
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i think mgmt’s new album is stupid, but i liked their old one, the one that you can only find through ILLEGAL downloading. does that make me cool or really uncool? please someone validate me!
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obviously someone who seeks validation is really uncool. too many h8rs.
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@lemur
omg bateman is that u?
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The Pipettes are vair kute, but I think they Sound Slightly Better than Okay.
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I always thought the Strokes back in the daiii were really kute but really only half-way listenable. Everyone blew them up to be the next Coldplay or somethin.
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the new video showcases the slightly more attractive band member too much, it’s distracting me from the mediocre video
we need more bands where everyone is unattractive, or of the relatively same attractiveness.
equality now!
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the thing about MGMT is that they are pretty cool recorded. but LIVE. what the hell. it’s like a major label told them “you can’t be *electronic*, get 3 more people so we can market this as an *indie band*”
live they sound like every generic ween-influenced rock band you have heve heard at your local bar.
that’s why the crombies are picking up on it.
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I don’t know how you can hate on MGMT. Just because you enjoy listening to programmed, electronic babble doesn’t mean the rest of us have to…good lyrics (for this decade, anyway), interesting sounds, and a very EPIC feel
bonus question: Is “playing the game” really such a bad thing? If the labels were looking for electo/remix acts I bet your precious groups would Benedict you pretty quickly…
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Does It Offend You, Yeah?
those guys put on a great show Ill kiss anyone’s ass who rips on them. they prolly did some punk music before this project and said WTF lets do some electronic stuff with mainstream appeal. I appluad them and the black dude is really cool dude
I guess he’s a blipster
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‘this music is good compared to what most people are exposed to, so it’s good that people get really into stuff. Just bc u listen to way too much music doesn’t mean u r better than every1.’
What does that mean?
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MGMT is skin tight. i don’t know what that bit about ‘music is good compared to…’ part means, but i do know that listening to too much music makes me an asshole, because i do feel better than most people.
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those dancing days: whiter and kuter and all-female CSS
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i hadn’t seen the new electric feel video, it looks like it was directed by the same people who brought us Scissor Sister’s Comfortably Numb video, equally uninteresting.
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if a lbl asked a rck bnd to be electro so it will appeal to the big rave crowds and get more money….
oh wait.. that happens too.
touring session musicians… that’s what makes mgmt (and other bands that have them) mediocre live. a necessary evil i guess. madonna uses them too.
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music is an industry. image is always part of the industry. look back as far as possible. do we have many ugly famous people. the exceptions will always be there like that one fat girl from the uk whos trying to be the next indie pop female vocal artist. shes all over mtv ads. bottom line, people want to see good looking people, not ugly people. Pretentious people and audiophiles need to erase themselves.
this is a comment worth blogging about
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Does anyone notice that the new Electric Feel version was mixed differently? It sounds like the dude re-sang his vocals because they are wayyyy higher in the mix (sign of a single)…I prefer the indie “one-take” vibe of the old version.
BUT ANYWAY
The red headed girl looks like the singer from Hot Hot Heat
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these girls look like female alt version of jonas brothers. they’re as deep as them.
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I think I usually really like the first 30 seconds of every MGMT song I’ve heard, and then I get really bored
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Im still marinating on this…
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mgmt=smug faced beach bums with rich daddies who smoked too much pot. but you already knew that.
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the new electric feel video is crap. seizure-inducing psychedelia always wins over alt-frodo rubbing glowstick fluid on alt-mayans.
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Funny, I thought you would sweat Those Dancing Days. In fact, when their new music video came out, I thought about sending it to you because I thought you could appreciate the artistic approach.
And I’m just going to assume this is a direct attack at me, considering I totally have one of their songs as my myspace song.
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They totally remixed/re-recorded the vocals for that ghey Nu video to make them sound more intelligible. Most obvious on “SAW HER in the Amazon.”
These guys aren’t weirdos. They’re just gimmicky hipsters. And yes, they are trying to be gimmicky. MGMT are to image what Justice are to music. Mindless and fun, but ultimately dull, with zero replay value. Unless of course, you’re a hipster like them, in which case…crank it up and toss back the PBR, bitches!
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-Rilo Kiley. Girl from The Wizard? Salute Your Shorts guy? Orly??? (Jenny Lewis’ solo record was pretty good though)
-She and Him. Zooey’s got talent, but this first record is pretty darn bland and not right for her voice. But hey, it’s everyone’s indie crush and a bona fide hip songwriter by her side…ooh I wonder if they’re dating!!! Zzzzz
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CompuHER. Maybe…fuck I dont’ know I’m way to main stream to post suggestions…I just, all these bands just seem like air / daft punk rip off artists to me cause i’m an old goth who doesn’t get it.
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if you think chromeo and MGMT popped all over the mainstream, SANTOGOLD FUCKING TOURED WITH COLDPLAY.
WHAT THE FUCK????
i swear to god like 1.5 yrs ago i thought i was the only kid i knew who would ever hear about santoloser but now shes in every girl’s itunes artist and a converse commercial
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so…
what was the point of the girls in taking moon cum?
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MGMT are a awesome band who were the sound of 2008, true in a sense they have sold out and are now widly listened to but this does not mean that there music has suffered. It must be said that MGMT are a lot better than the plastic repetitive music in the past
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people argue about punk and crust the same way yalls argue about electro! it is a small world!
is the electric slide “electro”?
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