Between movie trailers and French presidential campaigns and your mom’s iPod, “Kids” was pretty inescapable in 2008. And while Ray Tintori’s just-released video for the Oracular Spectacular standout doesn’t look like it would’ve taken eight months to complete, trippy things come to those who wait. We’re basically getting three clips in one, starting with scenes of monsters terrifying a child, then a televised puppet show, and as the final segment a psychedelic cartoon. The band appears briefly in silver garb and facepaint (obvs). MGMT promise no children were harmed in the making of this video. I think the kid’s therapist will have to confirm that in twenty years.
UPDATE: Yep, that’s Joanna Newsom.
You can catch the band on drugs on tour:
06/09 Little Rock, AR @ The Village
06/11 Memphis, TN @ Minglewood Hall
06/13 Manchester, TN @ Bonnaroo
07/01 Brooklyn, NY @ Prospect Park
07/21 Jersey City, NJ @ All Points West
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I hate this band so much.
Elaborate.
then why are you reading this article?…
Maybe he ran across it and spent 10 seconds on the one paragraph and decided to share his thoughts.
Video sucks. MGMT sucks. Stereogum sucks.
IF U DONT LYK IT N CANT SAY SUMTHIN POSITIV THAN DONT COMENT. “SUX” IS NOT CONSCTRUCITV.
Anyone else who comments sucks.
Let’s leave the child-traumatizing to Chris Cunningham and the guys who did Wonder Showzen. BTW, the end cartoon looked like the work of a Wonder Showzen animator.
my name is Devin and I watch wonder showzen. I can not imagine any form of animation that could have predated wonder showzen.
OH NO MY WONDER SHOWZEN
i am going to have the best nightmare ever.
pretty good video…for GWAR
Best part of the video? The quotes at the beginning, which are actually from Nietzsche, not Twain.
Muppets.
Yeah, I know I get Nietzsche and Twain mixed up all the time….or not. I mean, you’d think if someone was getting this ready for public consumption they would check their sources.
Maybe it was intentional? Like, tongue-in-cheek?
I don’t know…..I mean I guess it is possible, but I mean that is a pretty deep reference. I don’t think it would really fit with the mood of the video or the song to be tongue in cheek. I suppose it is a possibility though. I, personally, don’t think it is though. Who would understand it?
Kids who went to Wesleyan?
Yeah.
They also got some of the letters in “TWAIN” wrong, but it must be because I’m so smart OMG neatchee is so smrt! i rly lik him hes deeeeeeeep
Actually… for all you quote experts who have done so well to enlighten the fuck out of us… it wasn’t Nietzsche who wrote those words, it was Walter Kaufman, the poet, who translated Beyond Good and Evil from 19th century German in to English… and who also poeticized epigram number 146 in the process… which is the “quote” (not technically a quote in the first place) you see at the beginning of the video. MGMT and you guys probably get your quotes from similar websites… probably the same places people find “quotes” from Einstein saying something retarded like “yeah, I’m not Christian, but Jesus seems like God to me”.
Advice: make sure you know your shit before you correct people.
So that’s your defense? It’s okay to incorrectly cite Mark Twain because this is the translation of Nietzsche? So for any translation you have to cite the translator INSTEAD of the writer? (Common practice is both in academic writing).
I own numerous translations of Nietzsche. And I admit, he sucked at poetry. Still, the idea is what matters, mate. I like MGMT’s music, but they screwed up on this one. It’s not a big deal, just something that bothers me as a fan of Nietzsche and philosophy in general. But you, trying to argue against giving proper credit, by pointing out it’s a translation? It makes you look worse than the know-it-all fact checkers you’re dissing.
And your argument fails. IT WAS NIETZSCHE-not Twain.
I dare say–in the grand scheme of things–Nietzsche has had and will have more fans than MGMT. I happen to be one of them.
Oh, and <3 to Twain as well. The clever bastard is probably the most-credited-for-cool-quotes he didn’t create individual in history.
One who battles with windowlickers must be careful to not become a windowlicker himself, for staring at an empty headed twat for too long will cause the empty headed twat to stare back.
Anyway, I think there was something lost in translation between my original post and your response… so lets clarify… because obviously the ability to read English doesn’t necessarily coincide with an ability to comprehend sentence-long statements…
I wasn’t making a “defense”, as I have nothing to defend. Yes, they misquoted Nietzsche… but I was playing the “devil’s advocate”… because really, a translator is a second author, not a computer program that takes words and transliterates. Nothing translates verbatim. New word play, nuance, and restructuring need to occur if one is to get the “gist” of an original language text across to new readership from another language. I think my point, quite obviously, was to sound like a douche to those of you who sound like douches to me, namely, those of you who think its cool to have Nietzche quotes memorized.
That was (by my count) 4 kinds of awesome.
Your avatar is scary.
“…a translator is a second author…”
That’s highly contentious at best. When someone performs a cover of a song, the original songwriters still get credit regardless of the individual twists the new performing artists put into the recording. Likewise, a translator copies ideas and changes their form, but the ideas are not their own. By suggesting that this quote finds its actual source in Kaufmann, you’re implicitly making the claim that EVERY English translation that has ever been attributed in quotation to Nietzsche should actually be attributed to Kaufmann or Hollingdale (most likely one of those two, anyway), and, frankly, that’s preposterous.
Daebhid, you fail at life.
Not only are translators NOT cited as the author of texts, but this is probably a Thomas Common translation because it is certainly NOT a Walter Kaufmann translation.
YOU WOULD ONLY KNOW THAT IF YOU READ A BOOK (WHICH WOULD PUT YOU IN DANGER OF GETTING AN AUTOGRAPH).
Video is good, but the quote at the beginning is from Nietzsche, not Mark Twain. C’mon MGMT.
Jesus.. that’s a horrible thing to put a child through. That was like watching an emotional snuff film.
I know, I remember when I used to be scared of ham too.
Agreed. Absolutely.
Agreed. As a dad, I literally felt sick thinking of what that little boy was going through. MGMT might claim that the child wasn’t “harmed in the making of this video” but those tears were real. Bad art is a terrible excuse for the exploitation of a child’s emotions.
Dudes: I’m really thinking/hoping the monster hands, etc. were super-imposed. It’s definitely possible and I think more than likely.
I completely agree. I first watched this video at 5am, the only time when MTV actually plays music videos. It sickened me so badly from the very start that i wanted to cry. This child is in TEARS from the horror. Even if, which its unlikely that it is, but even if he isn’t crying from the horrible experience he’s having on the set of this video, he’s still crying, meaning something is wrong and rather than nurture him, he’s being exploited. I no longer have any respect for this band.
Screw what you think about the band… this video is beyond awesome.
So last year. Or two years ago. What’s going on with Wavves? Is he putting out a remix album? “I’m soooooooooo-ber (woooooooooooooahhh)!”
The song has some good synth sounds, but the vocals are kind of annoying and the video made me kind of angry. That poor kid!
Just a little to late.
http://www.allmylittlewordsonline.com/
is this a joke?
MGMT is indeed a joke.
Just seen this video thanks to Stereogum, must say i like it but it is weird. I guess it’s what you should expect from MGMT really.
I think this is a great song. From my first listen of Oracular Spectacular, this was definitely a standout track. I think the lyrics lend themselves to a lot of interpretations and metaphors. Problem: videos like this simplify and overwhelm the audience’s interpretation of the song. Luckily the song has been around long enough for people to have already developed a relationship with it. All in all, the video starts out promisingly but goes nowhere. Video FAIL
I liked the exploding food.
FFFFFF Nietzsche NOT Twain FAGS
still dig the song though
Just in time for last summer!
let’s not forget eric wareheim’s awesome video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EURZuzHyWb0
doing stuff like this to chidren is what makes the olsen twins do so much cocaine
Joanna Newsom’s parenting skills kinda suck.
First she dates Andy Samberg and now she’s in a MGMT video?
Poor Joanna. The universe hates her.
Replace “universe” with “agent”.
The video’s funny even though this band is the worst thing ever to happen to Earth and music.
regardless of how incredibly overhyped this band was, (kids and electric feel were the ONLY halfway decent songs on that god-awful record they made) this was a cool fucking video. until they showed up in the fucking forest! these guys have so much style man! they take MUSHROOMS now!. their next album’s gonna be like, crazy bro.
O.K. I used to like MGMT but after watching this I think they’re trying to hard to be weird, traumatizing an impressionable child in the process. The video was painful to watch. I’m not anymore of MGMT’s music. Disgusting video. Horrible video by a bunch of privileged snobs.
Don’t really like MGMT but think the video’s pretty good. Feel sorry for the kid though. I think Teletubbies are scary as well. And what about the band playing in the forest? What drugs make you were those kinda outfits?
My Music Blog: http://www.ronaldsays.com
My Music Twitter: http://twitter.com/ronaldsays
Gah! Stop the blatant self-promotion! It’s why you get at least 25 downvotes every time you post something.
the baby is adorable
I wouldn’t be surprised if human rights groups try to get this video pulled. And to be honest, I would probably support them. I found this really uncomfortable to watch. And I’m not sure what sort of parents would volunteer their kids for that sort of emotional fuck-up.
2:40 = pure terror!
i think mgmt have managed to ruined ‘where the wild things are’ for the kid… which sucks.
terrible band, terrible video. this is Fischer Spooner for the Animal Collective generation, and for kids that think Dazed and Confused is a music magazine.
Come on. We all know why everyone here hates MGMT now. (hint: they became more mainstream)
Err, no. Just never liked these guys. I don’t find the complete lack of live chops + the dated psychedelic posturing + sticky one-hook songs combination to be too appealing. They’re like an American remake of The Mighty Boosh with no jokes and a target demographic of teenaged girls.
No. I like Kids and Electric Feel. Time to Pretend along with the rest of the album bug the shit out of me.
youtube video > this video.
excusing the misattributed quote and the humanitarian concerns, that was just incredibly annoying to watch. mgmt apparently buy into the idea that irritating and then confusing people = some really deep shit, man.
story: in class i hear a kid dressed up in american eagle singing an MGMT song(probably this one), and felt that it was my responsibility as an “indie kid” to say, “MGMT?…nice!”, he replies by saying, “you drop acid?”, as if the only reason i would like or enjoy their music is if i took psychedelic drugs.
moral of the story: MGMT has become the band that bros smoke weed and drop acid to
that may be true, but to not like a band simply because people who you don’t think are as cool as you like it, is in turn very uncool.
What’s your point? You say that as if it’s a bad thing.
wtf that’s not twain, it’s nietzche!!! good god
If I were to make a video for this song it would have a bunch of chimpanzees dressed up in funny clothes, like suits and ties. The chimps would be spinning around and clapping their hands together to the beat. One of the chimps would eat an insect off a plant, the others would still be spinning and clapping. It’d be pretty cool in my opinion.
OH MY GOD!!! IT”S NOT TWAIN, IT”S NIETZCHE!!!!! HOW COME ABSOLUTELY NOBODY ELSE POINTED THIS OUT?!?!?!?!?
Really, though, I kind of enjoyed this video. I liked the idea of the little boy seeing everyone around him as monsters. But the dog-fondling and the nonsensical psychedelia ruined it a little bit.
Also, my God, those are horrifying monsters. I would wet myself if I saw those things walking down the street. The poor child.
Actually several of us pointed out that it’s Nietzsche and not Twain.
either you don’t get sarcasm, or i don’t get double-sarcasm.
Oops, sorry.
you are the worst poster
you are the fucking worst.
I can’t believe that is Joanna Newsom as the mom!!!! She should be working on her next album instead of playing house with monsters.
Short of an idea of how MGMT would have come to believe the quote was Twain’s, isn’t it a bit foolish of you nihilists to assume the misattribution wasn’t intentional? It’s not as if it would be the only act of near randomness in the video.
This kid is going to be so messed up when he gets older
omg the mom is Joanna Newsom!
im so disappointed . . .
ive been looking froward to this for months . . .
i think theyre last video was about a year ago for electric feel, and i love ray tintori (video for evident utensil was amazing) . . .
but this looks like an acid trip . . . a bad one that scars you for life and you repeatedly have scary flashbacks about.
Best video I’ve seen in a long time, I didnt like the cartoon ending to though. I can’t wait till we can see how messed up the kid will be in 15 years though hahah. Someone had to take the bullet though so we could all enjoy ourselves.
This is the worst video I’ve seen in a long time. They’ve been riding the fine line of cheese for a while but now they’ve crossed into “sux bad”. What a waste of resources. Poor fucking kid. I hope he grows up and takes revenge. Idiots.
Well that kids fucked for life.
Hey, anything to keep Joanna from actually singing is ok by me.
“omg it’s joanna newsom” is the new “it’s nietzsche not twain”
Joy, you are awesome.
Wait… this isn’t the Mighty Mighty Bosstones! What the fuck?!
Here we go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8q0xe8oqDE
The Britney Spears of the Indie World. Trying to hard to be weird and strange. Video is brutal. The MGMT college brats need to realize that weird does not equal deep.
Poor Kid
Joanna Newsom, NEW ALBUM SOON PLZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz :*(
I concur, horrible video. poor kid
kind of disappointed in Joanna Newsom..
I just went from thinking “poor kid” to thinking “that lucky bastard.”
I go all this time without hearing MGMT and now I finally hear them and I think “what’s so special about this?”
the song is lame and the video is lamer. Or the other way around.. whichever.
Seriously, it took them 15 months to crank out this video?
I did, however, enjoy the traumatizing aspect of it. My parents used to do things like this to me on home video, and I have only killed three puppies, so – so far, so good.
In agreement on the trying-too-hard pop act sensibility. Though they are less like Britney Spears and closer Lady GaGa. But without a dick.
and everyone failed to mention how fucking sexy Joanna Newsom looks.
The album was incredible and i don’t think im the only one who believes this they deserve their fame because they are that talented.
Are you saying that Joanna Newsom made up to look like a vacuos Beverly Hills trophy wife is sexier than she normally looks? Maybe that says something about you. Or maybe you like the way she carelessly drops the kid on the sidewalk (the funniest moment of the vid) Hmmm, Mother issues?
I have a great mom and I think Joanna Newsom is hotter here than usual.
In fact I never really took note of her looks until now.
andrew vanwyngarden=vince noir
NO, Andrew Vanwyngarden is like a lame kid from my high school who, having seen The Mighty Boosh two years after the fact by viral video, attempts to imprint Noel Fielding’s godly zaniness onto his personal brand of suburban entry-level hipster. And it doesn’t work. But he gets pussy anyway, ‘cos he has long hair and soft features.
The scariest thing about this video is those douchbags are being serious in those silver outfits.
i have such a crush on joanna newsom. also, this band blows.
That poor child! I couldn’t even finish watching – what a terrible video.
That was fucked up. Those were real tears. That baby was truly terrified. I kept wondering what long-term psychological damage the baby was going to have after undergoing this making of this stupid fucking video. I was uncomfortable the whole time watching this baby feel terrified and cry. Mind you, I am an MGMT fan, but it doesn’t excuse them to be so fucking “hip” that a baby undergoes psychological trauma for their pseudo “avantgarde” video.
Maybe.
OR, this experience will make him an emotional Hercules with the ability to laugh in the face of anything life throws at him. “Do your worst vile fiend, as a child I looked deep into the eyes of pure evil and walked away unscathed!”
But, nah, he’ll probably be brain-screwed. Poor little guy.
Poor Baby!!!!!!
mgmt sucks = vote down
mgmt is awesome = vote down
this video is awesome = vote down
this video sucks = vote down
what a bunch of negative nancys.
p.s. i’m calling out every single one of you who liked mgmt before they caught commercial success but hates them now. i know you’re out there. fuckin bite your tongue until more vampire weekend news comes out and then spring into action to trash them more for the same scenario. damned elitist reverse-bandwagoning. you have your next target: passion pit.
i can see in my mind curt shaking and mumbling to him/herself whilest his bp skyrockets after this lame-o rant
i can too
What Kurt said! Silly hipsters. Well put dude. And if you think this is traumatic to the kid, grow up. Seriously, is it lonely up there on your pedestals? This is no grand artistic statement…they’re just taking the piss…and, no, the kid will not be tormented for life! He forgot about it 30 seconds after it happened….whatever you people think “it” is. Instead of regurgitating P-fork reviews, listen…it’s a damn good song and band.
o wow, i totally did not realize how freaking pretty the singer of mgmt is. he’s gorgeous. looks like he could be jessica stam’s sister.
Really?! I don’t think he has anything on Stam. But perhaps I’m having trouble seeing past the ridiculous get up.
wow man. Are you THE Geoff Travis? Nuff respect!
I’m sure this wasn’t filmed the way it looks. Like, they didn’t have monsters dancing around in front of the kid. Probably all kinds of editing stuff. Further evidence of this, in my opinion, is that babies are unpredictable and probably wouldn’t have reacted perfectly the way it’s shown in the video, thus requiring it to be shot as little bits and pieces and put back together to make it look how it does now.
Re: the Mark Twain/Nietzsche confusion, it must be satire considering 1) that is probably Nietzsche’s most famous quote, and Wesleyan boys should know that, 2) Mark Twain is known for his satire, and oh yeah, 3) it says it on the band’s website.
Still I don’t think it’s funny/witty, but to each his own.
I like the band, but this video is too much. Very disturbing. Honestly i stopped it after 30 seconds.
Aw, c’mon….they found that kid in the garbage anyway, so it doesn’t matter.
your comment is worse than the vid itself. are you human?
Yeah.
The animated portion seems a bit of a rip offfrom Of Montreal’s Id Engager video, especially in the transitioning.
great video. can’t believe so many of you don’t understand editing or camera tricks. ray tintori is brilliant. losers
the baby clearly didn’t come close to any of the monster / zombie whatevers. Its amazing what computers can do these days. Ever seen a Charlie Sheen & Michael Jordan Hanes ad – they’re not on the same set either! Sheesh… What a bunch of idiots
Worst Where the Wild Things Are trailer yet.
wow. I like MGMT but this video is so wrong. I hate little kids, despise them but this is just cruel. Totally felt sorry for the little kid, he is gonna be fucked up. I wouldn’t be surprised if they get sued by him when he gets older.
You all care far too much about your own opinions and others’.
The kid should grow a set and get over it. I don’t want no pansy ass kid.
the ending kind of reminds me of the video for paranoid android.
The beginning is a Klaxons rip-off.
i don’t think this kid is an amazing little actor. i think he might honestly want to shit his pants. And i feel bad for him. Also, the mother looks like a whore. Why is the band dressed up like that? this video is what I’d like to call wack. the animations at the end were cool though.
My best guess would be the point of the video was to re-create how a child might see the world. Often scary, and other times fascinating, everything new and unfamiliar.
this reminds me of liquid television on mtv…anyone remember that? i thought that show was the raddest thing when i was a kid its trash but its entertaining trash.. and wondershowzen!
wow, i could barely get through that it made me feel physically uncomfortable. I guess thats the point. good lord that poor little bastid
A cautionary tale on why you should never do acid…
i thought that quote was by Nietzsche?? anyone know??
omg ur right
Wow this is pretty late. Album’s two years old, the single was released last year, and NOW they decided to make a video?!
Did the animators of Super Jail do that last part? It looks just like the show.
Wow, some of you people are really fucking stupid. I highly doubt this kid is going to be emotionally traumatized in the future. Unless he grows up to be a complete dumbass, I’m 99.99% sure that he will eventually find out none of this was real and that he was in a music video (which he will probably think is pretty sweet; I know I would).
Now that all that is off my chest, I must say this is a pretty good song from MGMT. I’m definitely not feelin’ the silver outfits, though. That was just weird
this video reminds me of superjail and the mighty boosh simultaneously. its fucking insane, but its fun to watch
MGMT would have been better off using the flag football scene from Gossip Girl
My favorite part was when that baby stated fucking that lady!
That was a typo, i meant to say “started fucking that lady” – not “stated”. I mean, that doesn’t even make sense.
aw come on, didn’t any of you grow up in the 80s? labyrinth? return to oz? things like this at young ages shape a person’s ability to react with the world, which is WAY more fucked up than some people in plastic monster suits.
God, this band can’t even do “pretentious” right.
Kids of today are bad-ass.
WTF??? that was so mean!!!
i love this song so much but the video sucks
Was anyone else thinking of Superjail with the ending animation?
The animation is like the intro to a couple of savage steve holland films from the 80′s. Better off dead! ONe Crazy SUmmer! I want my two dollars!
As an artist I understand they were attempting to show the world as seen through the eyes of a child, where everything is new and scary. However, they went beyond ?re-creating? and actually terrorized and traumatized the child both physically and mentally. Below are specific examples:
At 1:15 the baby boy is in a crib in the dark and surrounded by monsters (made of realistic expensive Hollywood class monster suits). There are 5 shots edited together where the child is shown screaming in fear as monster claws physically grab onto the boy and pull him back several times. The fifth shot at 1:25 shows the child screaming as he is pinned against the hard crib rails by a monster hand pressing against his chest. These 5 shots are all very short, but were taken over a longer time and edited down to seconds. Next the child is shown lying on it’s back screaming. At 1:40 there are monsters hovering over the crib with large hands that drop some kind of liquid into the crib. The child is then shown with three monsters behind him. The child is standing up, trying to escape the crib, with it’s arm stretched out for help, with a visibly disturbed face with flush red color, all while three monsters are behind it. This is followed by more shots of the child screaming with a distressed and fearful look in his eyes. From 2:00 to 2:30 the baby is held by a human female, who carries the baby past monsters on the sidewalk. The child is obviously now terrified of these monsters, but the female does nothing to console him, and instead ignores him while she texts on her phone. Around 2:32 the female literally throws the baby down to the ground from 4 feet in the air. The child is clearly too young to realize this is an act and will land safely. In slow motion, the baby is seen reaching out for the female before it disappears from the camera shot to fall on what we assume is the concrete sidewalk below. Hopefully there was some kind of safe “stunt” landing for the baby off camera, but it happens so fast it seems impossible to do this without some kind of whiplash to the young boy’s neck. This is the equivalent of shaking a baby. Not to mention that falling from 4 or 5 feet for a baby is like a grown person falling from 15 feet. Adults in stunt falls understand what’s happening while the child does not. Not to mention adults have a choice in participating in stunts while this child did not. The female, still uncaring about the dropped child, keeps texting on her phone. At 2:40 the child is shown running in fear down the sidewalk past monsters for 10 seconds. The child is crying and holding it’s hands forward for help as it runs. Around 2:45, you can see a hand appear into the shot from the right side of the screen. Clearly someone is off camera and getting the child to run down the sidewalk by holding out their hand to child yet running away at the same time. This is in effect teasing the child by telling the child to come here while running away from it.
The rest of the video shows the child in a car seat, being subjected to more monsters in a car next to them. The child is then forced to watch sinister and violent puppets on the car lcd tv. The images include an evil wolf in a druggy background and a menacing puppet beating another puppet at 4:25.
The video ends with animation, which is a much better and humane way to express artistic ideas without actually physically and mentally traumatizing a child.
The evil wolf on the druggy background is obviously supposed to be The Wolfman from The Hilarious House of Frightenstein. Not really a scary show.
Okay, who really gives a flying fu** about this kid being traumatized? I’ve had worse nightmares than this – and yeah, there is a message behind it. Clearly the parents thought he could handle it, and christ, its not like he’s being murdered on camera. Ever been in a haunted house as a kid?
And seriously, do people come on here just to rag on any band that makes a headline? Go back to your underground white noise.
wow, still the best thing is the line underneath it catch them on drugs :p
Repetitive, pointless track, could have been about 22 seconds long and been just as crappy. At 18 minutes or however long it drones, it’s just indefensible filler with sludgey production. The video is dreadfully trite and amateurish as well.