MGMT returned today with a major surprise for longtime fans. The indie band released a new live album, 11-11-11, on both streaming platforms and limited vinyl versions. The record was originally recorded on November 11, 2011, hence the dated title, as part of MGMT’s music project that they created for the Solomon R. Guggenheim museum’s Maurizio Cattelan retrospective in NYC.
Along with the duo‘s project being a musical reaction to Cattelan’s exhibit, it also marked the first time that the Guggenheim allowed an event of this magnitude in their well-known inner circle section of the gallery — while art pieces were suspended from the ceiling
“We’re creating a musical experience that works for the building and for the construction and presentation of the Cattelan exhibit,” MGMT said in a statement. “It’s an art exhibit done in a completely original way, so it deserves music which is completely original.”
“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,” the New York Times wrote of the original show. “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.”
MGMT’s 11-11-11 is out now. Buy/stream it here.
