MGMT began as musical terrorists who practiced electroclash but swiftly evolved into an interesting, intelligent pop band with psychedelic undertones. Ben Goldwasser and Andrew Van Wyngarden, two first-year art students at Middletown, Connecticut's Wesleyan University, started MGMT in 2002. Initially going under the name of the Management, the group's live performances largely consisted of background tapes, synthesizers, and prerecorded vocals as Goldwasser and Van Wyngarden interacted with the crowd in a way that hovered somewhere between performance art and traditional punk animosity. By their senior year, the duo had significantly calmed down onstage and started enhancing their live sound with additional musicians. Following graduation, MGMT signed with the modest independent label Cantora Records and put out the electro-rock EP "Time to Pretend" in 2005. Good acclaim (especially for the title single, which would subsequently break the U.K. Top 40) and considerable touring attracted Columbia Records' AnR executive and British producer Steve Lillywhite, who signed the group to a significant long-term deal in 2006. Kevin Barnes started outlining concepts for his side project, Blikk Fang. MGMT's touring obligations kept them busy, and all side projects were briefly put on hold as the band spent the better part of two years on the road, despite Blikk Fang's plans to release an album in 2009. MGMT started working on their second album, "Congratulations," with producer Sonic Boom in 2009. The album was released in the spring of 2010. The band combed through their record collections the next year to compile a new mixtape for the "LateNightTales" series..

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