BoldMushroom
09-24-2008, 07:24 PM
Genre:
"Experimental rock" is the genre most frequently attached to them. Their music contains elements of post-punk, electronic music, soul music, and drones/noise.
Albums:
Young Liars EP (2003)
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004)
Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
Dear Science (2008)
The band's earliest release was called OK Calculator (an homage to Radiohead's OK Computer, probably one of their influences). It was burned to CD-Rs and distributed by hand and at early shows. It's probably really hard to find now, except maybe on the internet.
The band got a lot of buzz for their debut EP, Young Liars. Their debut full-length album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, won positive acclaim from most critics (and musician David Bowie, who would guest on their second album), though some people thought the album didn't live up to the potential suggested by the Young Liars EP.
Their second album, Return to Cookie Mountain, earned unanimous acclaim and appeared on many best-of lists for 2006. Their third album, Dear Science, seems to be repeating this trend in 2008.
From what I've heard of the band's music, it varies from album to album. (I can't comment on Young Liars or Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes very much, because I haven't heard most of the songs from those two albums.)
Return to Cookie Mountain is an album of texture - dozens of noises and instruments and loops and samples, intertwining with each other, surrounding the vocals. An influence from soul music is prominent throughout. The album sometimes gets compared to shoegaze bands for the way this album is produced.
Meanwhile, Dear Science is more organic. Physical instrumentation (guitars, horns, strings, bass, drums) are all more prominent and more pronounced, and while the songs still have many layers, there's no prominent "wall of sound" and there's a lot less noise. In addition to the soulful feel of Return to Cookie Mountain, a strong funk influence is present on many songs on Dear Science, and generally the album has a stronger pop sensibility than the "soundscape" feel of some songs from Return to Cookie Mountain.
Most songs are fantastical vignettes that serve as commentaries or metaphors of modern American life, especially of a political nature (though they have a few love and lust songs). The lyrics use lots of dark imagery and are often bleak, but occasionally hopeful or rousing. The vocalists (Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone) are probably the main reason for the comparisons to soul music.
Samples:
The deluxe edition of Dear Science can be streamed from Last.fm (http://www.last.fm/music/TV+on+the+Radio/Dear+Science+(Deluxe)).
The standard version of the album can be streamed from the band's Myspace (http://myspace.com/tvotr).
Dirtywhirl and Wash The Day can be streamed from Last.fm's Return to Cookie Mountain page (http://www.last.fm/music/TV+on+the+Radio/Return+To+Cookie+Mountain).
The official videos for Staring at the Sun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uo2WLQ2LVA), Wolf Like Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUB1xSAAADk), and Province (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqI0FYN-r5cis) are on Youtube.
Dry Drunk Emperor (http://www.tgrec.com/media/3544.mp3) is a non-album track that was offered as a free download.
I got into these guys earlier this year after hearing all of the positive buzz, when I found a free download of Wolf Like Me. Then I got ahold of Return to Cookie Mountain and it seriously hooked me after a few listens. I'll probably be buying a copy of Dear Science soon - I've streamed it every day since its release and I'm really impressed with it. (I'm not sure if it tops Return to Cookie Mountain, since the sounds on that album are more my style, but it's definitely an enjoyable listen.)
I'm not sure how popular these guys are, but hopefully someone gives it a listen and enjoys it.
"Experimental rock" is the genre most frequently attached to them. Their music contains elements of post-punk, electronic music, soul music, and drones/noise.
Albums:
Young Liars EP (2003)
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004)
Return to Cookie Mountain (2006)
Dear Science (2008)
The band's earliest release was called OK Calculator (an homage to Radiohead's OK Computer, probably one of their influences). It was burned to CD-Rs and distributed by hand and at early shows. It's probably really hard to find now, except maybe on the internet.
The band got a lot of buzz for their debut EP, Young Liars. Their debut full-length album, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, won positive acclaim from most critics (and musician David Bowie, who would guest on their second album), though some people thought the album didn't live up to the potential suggested by the Young Liars EP.
Their second album, Return to Cookie Mountain, earned unanimous acclaim and appeared on many best-of lists for 2006. Their third album, Dear Science, seems to be repeating this trend in 2008.
From what I've heard of the band's music, it varies from album to album. (I can't comment on Young Liars or Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes very much, because I haven't heard most of the songs from those two albums.)
Return to Cookie Mountain is an album of texture - dozens of noises and instruments and loops and samples, intertwining with each other, surrounding the vocals. An influence from soul music is prominent throughout. The album sometimes gets compared to shoegaze bands for the way this album is produced.
Meanwhile, Dear Science is more organic. Physical instrumentation (guitars, horns, strings, bass, drums) are all more prominent and more pronounced, and while the songs still have many layers, there's no prominent "wall of sound" and there's a lot less noise. In addition to the soulful feel of Return to Cookie Mountain, a strong funk influence is present on many songs on Dear Science, and generally the album has a stronger pop sensibility than the "soundscape" feel of some songs from Return to Cookie Mountain.
Most songs are fantastical vignettes that serve as commentaries or metaphors of modern American life, especially of a political nature (though they have a few love and lust songs). The lyrics use lots of dark imagery and are often bleak, but occasionally hopeful or rousing. The vocalists (Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone) are probably the main reason for the comparisons to soul music.
Samples:
The deluxe edition of Dear Science can be streamed from Last.fm (http://www.last.fm/music/TV+on+the+Radio/Dear+Science+(Deluxe)).
The standard version of the album can be streamed from the band's Myspace (http://myspace.com/tvotr).
Dirtywhirl and Wash The Day can be streamed from Last.fm's Return to Cookie Mountain page (http://www.last.fm/music/TV+on+the+Radio/Return+To+Cookie+Mountain).
The official videos for Staring at the Sun (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uo2WLQ2LVA), Wolf Like Me (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUB1xSAAADk), and Province (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqI0FYN-r5cis) are on Youtube.
Dry Drunk Emperor (http://www.tgrec.com/media/3544.mp3) is a non-album track that was offered as a free download.
I got into these guys earlier this year after hearing all of the positive buzz, when I found a free download of Wolf Like Me. Then I got ahold of Return to Cookie Mountain and it seriously hooked me after a few listens. I'll probably be buying a copy of Dear Science soon - I've streamed it every day since its release and I'm really impressed with it. (I'm not sure if it tops Return to Cookie Mountain, since the sounds on that album are more my style, but it's definitely an enjoyable listen.)
I'm not sure how popular these guys are, but hopefully someone gives it a listen and enjoys it.