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11•11•11
Live album by MGMT
Released	11 November 2022
Recorded	11 November 2011
Venue	Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, Manhattan, New York City
Length	42:30
Label	MGMT Records
MGMT chronology
Little Dark Age (2018) 11•11•11 (2022) Loss of Life (2024)

11•11•11 is the first live album by American rock band MGMT, released on 11 November 2022. The album contains original music performed at the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan, New York City. It marked the first major release by the band since 2018's Little Dark Age.

Background

MGMT was commissioned by the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum to write an original composition for the retrospective of installation artist Maurizio Cattelan, featuring 130 art pieces suspended in mid air. The new material would be performed at the exhibits private opening on 10 November 2011, and then again at the exhibits public debut the next day. In a statement by the band, they stated "The art exhibition is done in a completely original way, so it deserves music which is completely original", also stating that they were "creating a musical experience that works for the building and for the construction and presentation of the Cattelan exhibit."

Reception

Writing for Pitchfork, Evan Rytlewski enjoyed the record, giving it a 6.7/10. They stated that the band "they floated new ways to balance their melody-forward sensibilities with their artier, more exploratory instincts" during the performance. Furthermore, believing that for having such a small audience, there's "a lot of creativity here", sounding like a lost studio record at its most inspired. Albeit, stating that "in its mellower lulls and boxy acoustics the recording sounds more like what it is: background music for an art show".

They described tracks such as "Invocation" and "I Am Not Your Home" as being "formal" and casting "the oblique shadows of Radiohead". On the other hand, they stated that the instrumental pieces on the record "frolic into sheer whimsy", with tracks such as "Forest Elf" playing like "celestial on-hold music", while "Whistling Through the Graveyard" conjures up "old children's Christmas music by way of circus calliopes and lost exotica records". Overall, the record "inevitably takes on a different context than it would have if the band hadn't waited over a decade to release it, since now we know how their arc played out", stating that "as a record, it's fine, but as a career move, it felt like a retreat", overall, believing that "11•11•11 invites nostalgia for when this band was still torn between its impulse to entertain and its personal mission to challenge".

According to The New York Times upon the original shows release, "after 10 p.m., band members of MGMT, standing on a stage covered in white faux-fur, played a 45-minute piece, composed for the occasion, at times the music sounded like Laurie Anderson's, and at others like a Caribbean slow jam. A slick young crowd stood mesmerized while a Vegas-bright kaleidoscope of color flickered through the rotunda".

Track listing

References

1. ^ "MGMT: 11•11•11". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
2. "11•11•11, by MGMT". MGMT. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
3. "MGMT Release 11-11-11 Live Album: Stream". 2022-11-11. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
4. Moore, Sam (2022-10-27). "MGMT announce new live album '11.11.11'". NME. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
5. "MGMT Announce Live Album '11-11-11' | Exclaim!". MGMT Announce Live Album '11-11-11' | Exclaim!. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
6. "MGMT Announces Release of New Live Album". This Song Is Sick. 2022-10-26. Retrieved 2024-01-28.
7. "MGMT Drops Live Album '11-11-11' Of The Groundbreaking Guggenheim Show". UPROXX. 2022-11-11. Retrieved 2024-01-28.

• 2022 live albums
• MGMT albums