andPOP » MGMT

MGMT Release New Song

Sara Harowitz — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:28:04 +0000

After a wildly popular debut, they have finally resurfaced.

MGMT have unveiled a song from their upcoming sophomore album, Congratulations, reports rollingstone.com. A free download for the track “Flash Delirium” was put on their website last Tuesday, March 9. The song, which will hit record stores as part of Congratulations on April 13, is different than the MGMT that fans are used to.

“Some will love it, some will hate it,” Andrew VanWyngarden, one-half of MGMT, told Rolling Stone of Congratulations. “We want to freak people out.”

To download the song and decide for yourself, go to whoismgmt.com.

Dragonette’s Martina Sorbara, As Unique As They Get

Jeremy Singer — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 03:26:09 +0000

Martina Sorbara’s music career has been like one one-night-stand after the next.

The lead singer of Electro-Pop group Dragonette has been involved in many projects – both as a solo singer and in group settings – but she has yet to be part of a follow up album – until now.

Dragonette’s second album Fixin to Thrill, was released last month, and Sorbara’s feeling of the album’s completion is sublime.

“It’s a huge deal for me,” Sorbara, 31, tells andPOP. “Just putting out a second album is kinda like a milestone. I just think that every time we finished a song, that was a big high point for myself.”

Following the solid reception the band received in Canada and the UK for their 2007 debut album Galore, which earned them a Juno Award nomination for Best New Group, the four-person group -comprising of Sorbara on vocals, Bassist Dan Hurtz, Guitarist Chris Hugget and Drummer Joel Stouffer- approached their sophomore album like any other.

“We were pretty focused on moving on where we left off,” says Sorbara, “and trying to make a cool follow-up.”

With a musical style resembling the syth-folky textures of MGMT, Dragonette was formed in 2005 by -now married couple- Sorbara and Hurtz. Martina laughs at the aspect of working with a spouse, and admits that her greatest gift can also sometimes be a curse.

“It’s challenging,” says Sorbara, “because we wrote most of the album in our basement studio in London, ON, so you’re locked inside with your husband 24/7. There’s moments where it gets intense, because there’s no feeling of ‘Ok, I’m just going to go home now to my family,’ because it’s always there.”

“But believe me,” adds the artist chuckling, “It’s been way more fun than I thought it would be. The album is a lot more serene than the battles that went along with it. But the hysterical battles brought us to where we needed to be.”

The Canadian-native describes the finished product as “a mouthful,” mentioning that it’s also “aggressive, yet emotional at the same time- still holding the story-telling aspect.”

And as a songwriter, storytelling is one of Sorbara’s favorite pieces of the album’s puzzle- it gives her the chance to take what inspired her and inspire everyone else.

“I guess I like taking a topic that means something to me,” says Sorbara, “and be able to say an interesting take on it that’s never been done before. It would be a story that’s familiar to people, but I can go and put it in a unique language. A unique angle, that’s what gets me to write.”

Only, there’s one small obstacle in the way.

“I have almost zero discipline as an artist,” she says laughing.

“So if I’m not having fun, then I’ll just go and ride my bike or something.”

But Sorbara’s figured out a sure-fire way to keep herself content when boredom strikes. No doubt riding on the bus for the next two months with all the guys during their Fixin to Thrill tour across Canada, the US, Europe and Australia – can get a bit overwhelming.

Her fix?

“I love to knit,” she says. “I love to create, that’s how I shut out the world.”

A sweater or scarf was the first assumption. But that was quickly corrected.

“Dude, I’m so much more advanced than that,” she raves. “I’ve knitted dolls, a lion, a sheep, a poodle…and they all have names. And another thing I did was a full double sided queen size blanket; took me two years.”

Continues the singer, “this year, I’m gonna knit a pig. It’s the only way. I need something to show after sitting on my ass doing nothing. The boys watch movies, and I knit.”

“Though there’s one rule above the rest,” she says that her husband made.

“There’s no knitting in bed.”

Dragonette’s 2009 Canadian Tour Dates:

Waterloo, Ontario- October 7, 2009- 8:00 pm

Toronto, Ontario- October 8, 2009- 8:00 pm

Winnipeg, Manitoba- October 12, 2009- 8:00 pm

Calgary, Alberta- October 14, 2009- 8:00 pm

Edmonton, Alberta- October 15, 2009- 8:00 pm

Vancouver, British Columbia- October 17, 2009- 8:00 pm

Victoria, British Columbia- October 18, 2009- 8:00 pm

Matt & Kim Get Soul, and Other Collabs This Week

Emma Renda — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 13:30:08 +0000

The line between electro-rock and hip-hop was never exactly straight in the first place, but this year has more or less witnessed its disappearance. The most recent installments in the collabo hall of fame popped up on Pitchfork this week.

First, there was Matt & Kim’s reworked “Daylight (Troublemaker Remix).” Now, this song is perfect just the way it is but with rap legends De La Soul on the remixed track, there is a whole other dimension of mind-boggling pop mastery.

The signature chorus (“Cause in the daylight I don’t pick up my phone”) is looped atop an amplified version of the song’s backbeat, with a spaced out synth riff to boot. In between, De La Soul spit their classic rhymes (“Leave your message after the tone/while I lay around actin’ like I’m too old for this shit”), transforming the song from hair-shaking hipster dance party to a groovy soul redub.

The song will be featured on the NBA Live 2010 soundtrack when the game is released on Oct. 6. It will also appear in every playlist I make for the next month.

Kid Cudi is another notorious collaborator, and so far he hasn’t gone wrong. He has already remixed the third single from his new album, “Pursuit of Happiness” with two Brooklyn mainstays, MGMT and Ratatat. The song, already a totally blazed tune in true Cudi form, is even more hazy with the addition of MGMT’s spacey harmonies on the chorus.

Cudi’s long-awaited debut, Man on the Moon: The End of the Day is set for release Sept. 15 and he will hit The Late Show with David Letterman to promote it on Sept. 11, with Ratatat as his backing band.

In a more obscure pairing, WHY? and Themselves have joined forces for an extremely chill toe-tapper “Canada”. Why?’s mastermind Yoni Wolf brings his critical eye and genre-bending to the soundscape, while the duo of Themselves add the minimalist hip-hop undertones. “Canada” is the product of a match made in heaven, and considering the two have been known to travel in the same circles, it’s no surprise they finally got together. About time, too.