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Underground > Radio & Music >

TV On The Radio

14:29 / 11.07.06

Ol' Johnny come lately here has just bought the new TV on the radio album 'Return To Cookie Mountain' and its brilliant.

The track 'Wolf Like Me' is (IMHO) a definite contender for the best track of the year so far. Imagine mixing the new wave cool of Television, or the first Strokes EP with a thumping pixiesy bass line and then adding a big gospely Middle 8. Fucking genius.

The rest of the album veers of in various directions with backwards strings and beats reminiscent of early Tricky on album opener 'I Was A Lover' to Beach boys-esque harmonys and whistling on 'A Method'.

This album is rapidly turning into the best thing i've heard all year. Anybody else got it or listening?

I had downloaded some earlier tracks but not really found anything that had grabbed me - I thought 'Young Liars' was good but everything else had been a bit of a disappointment- is the earlier stuff worth getting?

Barbelith you are welcome to point me in the right direction to hear the best of their earlier stuff, i'm all ears.

15:03 / 11.07.06

I was just listening to Return To Cookie Mountain and considered starting a thread on it. I've listened to it four times now and it keeps growing, or rather revealing all it's layers, and feels already like one of 2006's best albums.

You draw interesting comparisions: the three things it first reminded me of are The Arcade Fire, in how grand and layered it is; The Liars's "Drum's Not Dead" because of the drums and strange rhytms and dreaminess, and Wolf Parade for the vocals and rockiness. I have however been listening to and loving those three albums lately, so perhaps that influenced me.
Also, I find that when I try, I could drop endless hip references, but still never quite sum it up, which might describe TV On The Radio well.

I agree that "Wolf Like Me" is just fantastic, but it feels wrong to take a song out of context from this album: it all works together and the pacing is great.

TV On The Radio's debut album, "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes" is also very good, but "Cookie Mountain" definitely shows that the band has grown.

Jawsus-son Starship

17:32 / 11.07.06

Was thinking of buying this today. Really love Desperate Youth, love the, I have no way of explaining this, blade runner quality to the sound. That's not right, but it sounds so clean, crisp - deliberate, like they've spent months on each song. Which, I guess, is why I don't see the comparison with Arcade fire - while Arcade Fire sound a little rough around the edges (in a great way, as I love that band). Both haunting though, in very different ways.

Maybe TVOTR have just confused me by using synths and drum machines. I am quite a fool.

09:19 / 12.07.06

It initially reminded me of The Arcade Fire too; something about the vocals and a certain kind of layered, operatic quality. But it’s richer and more exciting – more nightmarish than dreamy. But, you know, in a good way.
Shit, I’m terrible at talking about music.

lonely as a cloud...

09:05 / 13.07.06

I picked up Cookie Mountain more or less on a whim, having glanced at this thread...and I'm glad I did. Excellent album. On first listen, Wolf Like Me is definitely my favourite track.

As an aside, just looking at the cover, and its design, I was almost sure it was a 4AD release - recognised Oliver Vaughan's style from my collection of Pixies/Breeders/Muses albums. And I was right. Anybody else notice this...?

11:15 / 13.07.06

It is a 4AD release- i normlly love Vaughn Olivers stuff but IMHO it seems a little old fashioned and bland for TV on the Radio- i guess I associate his art work with specific sounds as well- i did flick through the album insert to see if it was him or just someone ripping him off, a bit depressing that he's now doing poor imitations of his best work...

Jawsus-son Starship

16:35 / 17.07.06

Brought the album on saturday - it's quite a development on Desperate Youth... I also now see the Arcade Fire comparison. This one seems a little less clinical than the last. And Wolf Like Me deserves to be the anthem of this summer.

Jawsus-son Starship

00:03 / 22.12.06

Seriously. Wolf Like Me. Amazing. Still listening to it. Over anf Over.

21:20 / 24.09.08

Dear Science is the best record of the year!

Take what i said about Wolf like me/ Cookie mountain- then add a big lump of Parade era Prince (funk, Strings n beats_) throw in some lets dance meets station to station era Bowie - more funk.... then add some electro in the style of gary numan... roll it all together and you get the best record of the year- i'm totally blown away.

This is a band about to go massive- absolute genius.

anyone else?

13:39 / 25.09.08

Well, I'm now going to go to the trouble to listen to some tracks, so while I can't join you in your happy place just yet, I am watching you from afar with my binoculars.

Or something.

13:43 / 04.11.08

I don't know what happened to TVOTR between RTCM and Dear Science, but I don't like it. Granted my favourite of their work is OK Calculator (since it's pretty diverse and interesting), I still thought RTCM was their most accomplished (read: poptastic) to that point.

Where nearly every track on RTCM was a winner, the inverse is true for Dear Science. The words jagged, grating and annoying spring to my mind when I try to listen to it.

A great pity to me, much like how I feel about the new Islands album. Two of my most anticipated new albums of the year, only for these bands to try *mature* or *darken* their sound... or something.

10:46 / 21.12.08

Don't be daft froglet- its still the best record of the year!

I'm surprised you don't like it, to me it builds on everything they had done before. Filtering out a lot of the jokey lo-fi stuff and making a perfect pop record.

I was disappointed they didn't make a bigger impression on the public consciousness, I really thought they were going to have their moment in the limelight this year.

The campaign behind the album in the UK seems to have been rather half hearted (do 4AD have any real clout anymore?) and I thought the video for Golden Age was terrible.
I believe there were distribution problems in the UK, I tried to buy it in Zavvi on Oxford Street the week it was released but they didn't have it in stock, a big balls up for a record getting pretty universally great reviews.

Was i the only one that cared for this record?

Despite moaning about the Golden Age video, I do quite like the last video for the fabulous 'Dancing Choose', kindof talking heads meets the residents, via Franz Ferdinand

14:15 / 21.12.08

I was actually quite disgusted by the new 'TV On The Radio' record.

19:29 / 21.01.09

Mm, I was a bit surprised that I didn't like it either, I am (was?) a big TVOTR fan, I played all their albums to death at one point and tell everybody who would listen that I did love them, truly and deeply. So yeah I was really looking forward to the new one.

I think that "funk" thing you mentioned is maybe what turned me off this album. I don't like "the funk", maybe as much as I don't like "the jazz" (and by jazz I mean post-war jazz, I'm seriously hep to anything pre-war).
Both, I dunno...overcomplicate music in some way making me unhappy.

20:05 / 22.01.09

fuck off the pair of yous- its bloody great- sounds like bowie and prince!!! trust nana and the zenfroglet.... or me???