WesBands of the Past and Present: MGMT

Who knows, some of you may already be MySpace friends with MGMT. Some of you may have seen them on tour with Of Montreal. But did you know they are (mostly) WesAlums?

My frosh year, I was hanging out in a friend's room. She introduced me to the concept of "hipsters" and "indie" music...something that was entirely foreign to a (then) emo boy like me from the NJ 'burbs. It was in this room that I first heard The Postal Service's Give Up and, for the rest of the year, proceeded to think I was really cool for listening to that album. Moments later, she played me a song called "Kids" by a little old band called The Management. I fell in love with it immediately.

The Management includes Andrew VanWyngarden ('05), Ben Goldwasser ('05) and a third member who did not attend Wesleyan. After Wesleyan, they changed their name to MGMT, recorded a new album, and went on tour with Of Montreal.

MGMT makes electro-indie-pop tunes that make you dance.

• MGMT- Kids: A song with nonsensical lyrics that somehow defines my experience at Wesleyan.
  
• MGMT- Time to Pretend: This is a newer jam by the band.
  
• THE MANAGEMENT- Just Becuz: This song doesn't have the punch of "Kids", but this is an exclusive that you probably won't hear many other places on the net.
  
• ANDREW VANWYNGARDEN & ETHAN LEINWAND- Supervolcano!: This was a final project by a member of MGMT and another student at Wes for the class "Hazardous Earth: Stuff that Will Kill You". Yes, classes with titles like that DO exist. The professor is still hosting it on his Wesleyan webspace.

Take a trip to their website at Cantora Records, or friend them on MySpace. Watch a music video they made for a song called "Boogie Down" directed by Max Goldblatt ('05), a man whose name appears on the back of a seat in the Center for Film Studies. He'll hate me for writing this, but Max was also in Heavyweights.