Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga

Last updated

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
GaGaGaGaGa.jpg
Studio album by
Spoon
ReleasedJuly 10, 2007
RecordedSeptember 2006 – January 2007
Studio
Genre
Length36:26
Label
Producer
Spoon chronology
Gimme Fiction
(2005)		Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
(2007)		 Transference
(2010)
Singles from Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga
  1. "The Underdog"
    Released: July 5, 2007
  2. "Don't You Evah"
    Released: April 8, 2008

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga is the sixth studio album by American rock band Spoon. It was first released on July 10, 2007, through Merge Records and Anti-. It received critical acclaim and appeared on several year-end album lists. The album debuted at number 10 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and at number 1 on the Billboard Top Independent Albums, selling 46,000 copies in its first week. [1] By January 2010, the album had sold 318,000 copies in the United States. [2] It was supported by two singles; "The Underdog" and "Don't You Evah".

Contents

Production

"Don't Make Me a Target" was originally written by Daniel while Spoon was producing its previous album, Gimme Fiction . The band practiced it "quite a bit" before the release of Gimme Fiction, but ended up shelving it for a year after unsuccessful attempts to work out an arrangement they liked. [3] When it was recorded a year later, the drum part was recorded without tom-toms the first time. Drummer Jim Eno then recorded the tom-toms separately with a drastically different microphone arrangement. This gave them a much more reverb-laden sound, as if "in a tunnel". [3]

The track "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" was a song the band "really struggled with". [3] This led them to record it three different ways, including a "space rock" version found on the bonus disc and heard distantly at the end of the album arrangement.

At the beginning of "Don't You Evah", Daniel can be heard repeatedly asking "Jim, can you record the talkback?". According to Daniel, he was asking Jim Eno to record the talkback microphone that was being manned by producer Mike McCarthy to a separate track. McCarthy would make comments to Daniel over the talkback microphone at the studio desk as Daniel was singing, and Daniel and Eno considered McCarthy's comments to be ridiculous. [3] As the intro continued, Daniel began singing along with the guitar line, which can also be heard on the final mix. [3]

The vinyl version has no run-out groove on side two. Instead, it ends on a continuous loop of music that appears after the end of the song "Black Like Me".

Packaging and release

The album's title is the former title for the song "The Ghost of You Lingers", which was meant to sound like the song's staccato piano part. [4] The band changed the song's title, but decided to adopt the name "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga" as the album title, with Britt Daniel calling it a "great little Dadaist term". [4] Its cover art comes from a portrait of the artist and sculptor Lee Bontecou, taken by the Italian photographer Ugo Mulas in 1963. [5] The completed sculpture on the right is now in the collection of the Honolulu Museum of Art. [6]

An iTunes-exclusive bonus track, "Deep Clean", was packaged with Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga. A limited edition copy of the album was released along with a bonus disc entitled Get Nice! The disc includes 23 minutes of mostly instrumental songs and a few demo tracks. Early buyers of the album also received a free 7" containing a demo of "The Underdog", and the B-side "It Took a Rumor to Make Me Wonder, Now I'm Convinced I'm Going Under", which had previously appeared on the UK edition of the "Sister Jack" single.[ citation needed ]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic 84/100 [7]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svg [8]
The A.V. Club B+ [9]
Entertainment Weekly A− [10]
The Guardian Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
MSN Music (Consumer Guide)B+ [12]
Pitchfork 8.5/10 [13]
Q Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [14]
Rolling Stone Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [15]
Spin Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Uncut Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [17]

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga received critical acclaim from music critics. [7] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84 based on 33 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". [7] In a review for Entertainment Weekly , Sean Howe complimented the "inventory of sounds" on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, calling it "one of those 'taking stock' records that refines and collates everything that came before". [10] PopMatters ' Zeth Lundy cited the album as the band's "most groove-oriented effort", thanks in part to the addition of Eric Harvey and Rob Pope to the band's recording line-up, and concluded by writing that "there's plenty on Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga to suggest that the band harbors its most intimate operational relationships outside the norm." [18] Heather Phares of AllMusic praised its "remarkable blend of focus and creativity" and noted that "even if Spoon's modus operandi seems overly regimented on paper, the results are just as elegant as they are fun." [8] Giving it a "Best New Music" designation, Eric Harvey of Pitchfork called the album a "wonderfully singular indie rock record". [13]

The album appeared on several year-end and decade-end lists released by music publications. cokemachineglow rated it the best album of 2007. [19] Pitchfork ranked it the 7th best album of 2007 [20] and later ranked it the 35th best album of the decade. [21] The album was at #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. [22] Delusions of Adequacy rated it the 2nd best album of 2007 and the 43rd best of the decade. Tiny Mix Tapes ranked it the 9th best of the year. [23] Treble ranked it the 3rd best album of 2007 [24] and the 31st best of the decade. [25] Q and Glide also ranked it the 66th and 28th best albums of the decade respectively.

Track listing

All songs produced by Britt Daniel, Jim Eno and Mike McCarthy, and engineered by Jim Eno and Mike McCarthy, except "The Underdog", produced by Jon Brion and Spoon, and engineered by Greg Koller.

All tracks are written by Britt Daniel, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."Don't Make Me a Target"3:55
2."The Ghost of You Lingers"3:34
3."You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb"3:08
4."Don't You Evah" (written by Julian Tepper, Max Tepper, Derek Vockins)3:36
5."Rhthm [ sic ] & Soul"3:30
6."Eddie's Ragga" (written by Britt Daniel, Jim Eno, Eric Harvey, Eddie Robert)3:39
7."The Underdog"3:42
8."My Little Japanese Cigarette Case"3:03
9."Finer Feelings"4:54
10."Black Like Me"3:25
Total length:36:26
iTunes edition
No.TitleLength
11."Deep Clean"3:45
Japanese edition
No.TitleLength
11."I Summon You (Cool)" (from the Get Nice! bonus EP)1:28
12."You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb (Garage Reverb)" (from the Get Nice! bonus EP)3:13

Get Nice!

The first pressing of the Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga CD release included the bonus EP Get Nice!, which contains alternative versions of "I Summon You" (from the previous album Gimme Fiction ) and "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb". It also includes many previously unreleased instrumental tracks. [26]

No.TitleLength
1."I Got Mine"2:34
2."Be Still My Servant"1:24
3."Leave Your Effects Where They're Easily Seen"0:56
4."I Summon You (Cool)"1:28
5."Mean Mad Margaret"1:37
6."Love Makes You Feel"2:38
7."You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb (Garage Reverb)"3:13
8."Tasty Fish"1:18
9."Dracula's Cigarette"1:24
10."1975"1:39
11."I Can Feel It Fade Like an AM Single"3:12
12."Curfew Tolls"1:33
Total length:23:03

Bonus 7-inch single

Pre-orders for the vinyl release of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga included a 7" vinyl single with a demo version of "The Underdog". The B-side of the single is "It Took A Rumor To Make Me Wonder, Now I'm Convinced I'm Going Under" a song which has been previously released under the name "It Took A Rumor To Make Me Wonder Now I'm Afraid I'm Going Under" on the UK release of "Sister Jack".

No.TitleLength
1."The Underdog (demo)"3:12
2."It Took A Rumor To Make Me Wonder, Now I'm Convinced I'm Going Under" (from the "Sister Jack" UK release)4:47
Total length:7:59

Personnel

Notes

Release history

CountryDate
AustraliaJuly 7, 2007 [30]
United StatesJuly 10, 2007
JapanDecember 5, 2007 [31]

Charts

Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga debuted at number 10 on the Billboard 200 at 46,000 copies sold. In week 2, it fell to 35 with 19,000, then 55 with 12,000 on August 1, 2007. In week 4, it fell to number 58, selling 11,000—a total of 88,000 copies in 4 weeks.

The song "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" was ranked number 16 on Rolling Stone 's list of the 100 Best Songs of 2007. [36]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoon (band)</span> American rock band

Spoon is an American rock band from Austin, Texas, consisting of members Britt Daniel, Jim Eno (drums), Alex Fischel, Gerardo Larios and Ben Trokan. The band was formed in Austin in October 1993 by Daniel and Eno. Critics have described the band's musical style as rock, pop, art rock, and experimental rock.

<i>Kill the Moonlight</i> 2002 studio album by Spoon

Kill the Moonlight is the fourth album by American rock band Spoon released on August 20, 2002 through Merge Records. The album features a stripped-down, minimal sound that incorporates various different instruments such as tambourines and pianos along with an idiosyncratic production style. The album has gone on to receive critical acclaim with its lead single "The Way We Get By" being used in various television shows, and is regarded as Spoon's magnum opus.

<i>Girls Can Tell</i> 2001 studio album by Spoon

Girls Can Tell is the third studio album by American indie rock band Spoon. Intended as a stylistic departure from the band's previous work, Girls Can Tell features classic rock and new wave influences absent on their major label albums.

<i>Houdini</i> (album) 1993 studio album by Melvins

Houdini is the fifth studio album by the Melvins, released in 1993 on Atlantic Records. The album was the band's major label debut after releasing their previous albums on the independent label Boner Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Britt Daniel</span> American musician

John Britt Daniel is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead singer and guitarist of the indie rock band Spoon, as well as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and singer of the band Divine Fits. Daniel also founded numerous other bands in the early 1990s.

<i>A Series of Sneaks</i> 1998 studio album by Spoon

A Series of Sneaks is the second studio album by the indie band Spoon, released by Elektra Records in April 1998. Despite being overlooked critically and commercially upon its release, the album has since attained cult status.

<i>Gimme Fiction</i> 2005 studio album by Spoon

Gimme Fiction is the fifth studio album by American indie rock band Spoon. It was released on May 10, 2005, through Merge Records in the US and Matador Records in Europe. It debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200. "I Turn My Camera On" was released as a single, and has become one of the band's biggest hits to date. A deluxe reissue of the album was released on December 11, 2015 to commemorate its 10th anniversary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eleanor Friedberger</span> American singer-songwriter

Eleanor Friedberger is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She is best known as one half of the indie rock duo The Fiery Furnaces, alongside her older brother Matthew Friedberger. In the band she contributes the majority of the vocals both on record and during their live performances.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Eno</span> American drummer

Jim Eno is the drummer and one of the founding members of the Austin, Texas band Spoon. He is also a record producer and a semiconductor chip designer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">I Turn My Camera On</span> 2005 single by Spoon

"I Turn My Camera On" is a song by American indie rock band Spoon, the third track on their fifth studio album, Gimme Fiction (2005). It was first released as a download single on March 30, 2005, and later as a 7-inch and CD single on July 4, 2005. It was released through Merge Records in the US and Matador Records in the UK, who also distributed the download release. The song was written by band frontman Britt Daniel and produced by Daniel, Jim Eno, and Mike McCarthy. Daniel wrote the song after hearing "Take Me Out" by Franz Ferdinand, and was influenced by the works of Prince to sing with falsetto vocals on the track. Daniel's lyrics are about "emotional distance", centering around a narrator who documents their surrounding world with a camera instead of actually engaging with it. Musically, the band focused more on creating a sound influenced by dance and soul music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Everything Hits at Once</span> 2001 single by Spoon

"Everything Hits at Once" is a song by American indie rock band Spoon, the first track on their fourth studio album, Girls Can Tell (2001). It was released as the second single from the album on September 10, 2001. The song was intended to be stylistically distinct from the band's past material, incorporating influences from Fleetwood Mac and Elvis Costello and including a mellotron solo. "Everything Hits at Once" has since seen critical acclaim for its arrangement and composition. It was later included on Spoon's greatest hits album Everything Hits at Once (2019), which is named after the song.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Natural History (band)</span>

The Natural History were a band composed of Tepper brothers singer–guitarist Max and bassist Julian, along with drummer Derek Vockins. After playing locally in the New York area and self-recording their own three-song EP, The Natural History caught the ear of local NYC label Startime International, whose roster includes Brendan Benson, The Walkmen, The French Kicks, among others. Recording with Greg Talenfeld at Stonehouse studio in Nyack, New York, the band released the finished product as a self-titled EP in July 2002. The EP was promoted with a year-full of touring with Enon and Spoon, whereupon the band also found time to record their debut full-length effort Beat Beat Heartbeat, which was released in May 2003.

<i>Dont You Evah</i> 2008 EP by Spoon

Don't You Evah is the fifth EP by the indie rock band Spoon. It was released on April 8, 2008, by Merge Records. It was released to promote the title track, the second single from their album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga.

<i>Transference</i> (album) 2010 studio album by Spoon

Transference is the seventh studio album by the American indie rock band Spoon. It was released on January 18, 2010, in Europe, and on January 19 in North America. In Australia, it was released by Spunk Records on January 15.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Underdog (song)</span> 2007 single by Spoon

"The Underdog" is a song by indie rock band Spoon. It was released as the lead single from their sixth studio album, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007), on July 5, 2007. The song was written by frontman Britt Daniel and produced by Jon Brion along with the band. The song reached No. 26 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart.

<i>They Want My Soul</i> 2014 studio album by Spoon

They Want My Soul is the eighth studio album by American indie rock band Spoon. It was released on August 5, 2014 through the band's new label, Loma Vista Recordings. It is the band's first album to feature Alex Fischel, who plays keyboards and guitar.

<i>Hot Thoughts</i> 2017 studio album by Spoon

Hot Thoughts is the ninth studio album by American rock band Spoon. It was released on March 17, 2017, through Matador Records. It is also the first Spoon album since 2002's Kill the Moonlight to not feature multi-instrumentalist Eric Harvey, who quietly left the band after finishing a world tour in support of 2014's They Want My Soul.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spoon discography</span>

The discography of American rock band Spoon consists of 10 studio albums, four extended plays (EPs), and 26 singles. Formed in 1993 in Austin, Texas by Britt Daniel and Jim Eno (drums), Spoon released their debut studio album, Telephono, in 1996 on Matador Records. Their follow-up full-length, A Series of Sneaks, was released in 1998 on Elektra, who subsequently dropped the band. Spoon went on to sign with Merge Records, where Spoon gained greater commercial success and critical acclaim with the albums Girls Can Tell (2001), Kill the Moonlight (2002), and particularly Gimme Fiction (2005), which debuted at number 44 on the Billboard 200 and sold over 300,000 copies in the US. The group's next three albums - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (2007), Transference (2010), and They Want My Soul (2014) - reached the top 10 of the US charts, while the latter two peaked in the top 20 in Canada and the top 50 in Australia. The band's ninth album, Hot Thoughts, was released on March 17, 2017.

Julian Tepper is an American writer and musician. His novels include Balls (2012), Ark (2016), and Between the Records (2020). He co-founded the Oracle Club, a literary salon in New York City that was open from 2011 until 2017, and was formerly a member of the indie rock band The Natural History.

<i>Lucifer on the Moon</i> 2022 remix album by Spoon vs On-U Sound

Lucifer on the Moon is a dub remix album of songs from Lucifer on the Sofa, the tenth studio album by American indie rock band Spoon. It is a track-by-track reworking, with all remixes by British dub producer Adrian Sherwood. It was announced on September 21, 2022, and released by Matador Records on November 4, 2022. Sherwood was given access to the entire album's original multi-tracks tapes. Sherwood and his On-U Sound colleagues provided additional instrumentation. Contributors include bassist Doug Wimbish and drummer Keith LeBlanc. It is Spoon's first remix album. They previously released a remix EP for the song "Wild" in May 2022, featuring contributions from Jack Antonoff and Dennis Bovell.

References

  1. ↑ Katie Hasty, "T.I. Holds Off Pumpkins, Interpol To Remain No. 1" Archived June 8, 2013, at the Wayback Machine , Billboard.com, July 18, 2007.
  2. ↑ "Spoon Kicking Off 'Transference' Tour at SXSW". Billboard . January 12, 2010. Archived from the original on August 23, 2014. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "About the Album: Spoon's Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Britt Daniel" Archived July 16, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , eMusic Magazine, July 5, 2007.
  4. 1 2 Joe Gross, "In Tune with Spoon" Archived October 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine , Austin360.com, July 5, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Pitchfork.com". Archived from the original on June 29, 2007. Retrieved July 11, 2007.
  6. ↑ "Honolulu Museum of Art » Untitled". www.honolulumuseum.org. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 "Reviews for Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga by Spoon". Metacritic. Archived from the original on April 4, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2012.
  8. 1 2 Phares, Heather. "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga – Spoon". AllMusic. Archived from the original on January 9, 2021. Retrieved September 4, 2020.
  9. ↑ Murray, Noel (July 10, 2007). "Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". The A.V. Club . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  10. 1 2 Howe, Sean (July 7, 2007). "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on September 24, 2015. Retrieved August 1, 2015.
  11. ↑ Costa, Maddy (July 6, 2007). "Spoon, Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". The Guardian . Archived from the original on October 5, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  12. ↑ Christgau, Robert (September 2007). "Consumer Guide". MSN Music . Archived from the original on June 24, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  13. 1 2 Harvey, Eric (July 11, 2007). "Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". Pitchfork . Archived from the original on August 16, 2015. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". Q (254): 96. September 2007.
  15. ↑ Hoard, Christian (July 18, 2007). "Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga : Spoon". Rolling Stone . Archived from the original on August 24, 2007. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  16. ↑ Peisner, David (August 2007). "Sketch Artists". Spin . 23 (8): 104. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". Uncut (124): 95. September 2007.
  18. ↑ Lundy, Zeth (July 10, 2007). "Spoon: Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga". PopMatters . Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved July 31, 2015.
  19. ↑ Sinacola, Dom. "Top 50 Albums 2007". cokemachineglow.com. Archived from the original on September 27, 2015. Retrieved October 18, 2014.
  20. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2007". Pitchfork . December 18, 2007. Archived from the original on October 17, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  21. ↑ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 50–21". Pitchfork . October 1, 2009. Archived from the original on August 22, 2013. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  22. ↑ Robert Christgau, David Fricke, Christian Hoard, Rob Sheffield (December 17, 2007)
  23. ↑ "2007: Tiny Mix Tapes Favorite Albums of 2007". tinymixtapes.com. Tiny Mix Tapes. December 2007. Archived from the original on April 7, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  24. ↑ "Top 50 Albums of 2007". treblezine.com. Treblezine. December 17, 2007. Archived from the original on August 20, 2015. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  25. ↑ "The Best Albums of the '00s". treblezine.com. Treblezine. January 18, 2010. Archived from the original on August 21, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2015.
  26. ↑ Paul Thompson, "Spoon Augment Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga With Bonus EP" Archived December 18, 2008, at the Wayback Machine , Pitchfork Media, posted on May 24, 2007 at 3:57 pm
  27. ↑ On February 25, 2005, The Natural History performed "Don't You Ever" at Maxwell's in Hoboken, New Jersey. The concert can be found here Archived October 30, 2007, at the Wayback Machine at eMusic; Please note that eMusic has mislabeled "Don't You Ever" as "Princeton Junction".
  28. ↑ "Anti.com". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2007-07-11.
  29. ↑ Cecchini, Mike (July 7, 2017). "Spider-Man: Homecoming Uses Music Perfectly". Den of Geek. Archived from the original on October 4, 2017. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  30. ↑ Spunk! Records – Artists: Spoon Archived September 11, 2009, at the Wayback Machine , Spoon's Artist Page on the Website of Australian record label Spunk!
  31. ↑ Fiveman Army Release [ permanent dead link ], Release list of the Japanese record label "Fiveman Army".
  32. ↑ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 264.
  33. ↑ "Spoon Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  34. ↑ "Spoon Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  35. ↑ "Spoon Chart History: Alternative Airplay". Billboard . Retrieved October 17, 2022.
  36. ↑ No byline (December 11, 2007). "The 100 Best Songs of 2007" Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-21

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.