2008 Woodie Awards
The Future Shocks So Fine
TV on the Radio Makes John Mango `10 Squeal
John Mango
Issue date: 10/2/08 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Dear Science bites. In a really good way. TV On the Radio is one of those silly little groups that transcends a single musical category, something of a mixing pot of musical sounds, baking something disjointed and hollow while being entirely rhythmic and soulful.This album, a bit more accessible than their slaying third album, Return to Cookie Mountain released in 2006, but it still has that TVOTR nip, that sense of fear that resonates behind Tunde Adebimpe's full vocals. And rightfully so, its title is something of an ironic exclamation, a letter addressed to our future fears.
The opening track, "Halfway Home," is reminiscent of the synth drive on Cookie Mountain's "Wolf Like Me," peppered with guitar static and shaped by the sound of claps in a long hall. Adebimpe's rough crooning complements the forward pulse. But from there they depart from the traditional TVOTR wall of synth, for something a bit more tundra-esque.
TVOTR has been labeled dark, brooding, and in my humble opinion this categorizing, while reductive, is not entirely off-base. On their website Kyp Malone (vocals, guitar) explains that he grew up listening to Joy Division, The Cure, and The Smiths, the gods of the depressed and angsty. However, he goes on to clarify that he liked them because he could identify with the music; there was some of him in it. He's quoted saying "It made me feel less alone, you know? If I could be that for someone else, that would make me happy. It'd be a real form of success for me." It's hard to listen to TVOTR and not put yourself in the music. In fact it demands to be seen just as much as heard, existing as a soundscape. Inside of this acoustic area it's sometimes jarring, but often subtle, and eclectic. Songs like "Family Tree" evoke a fuzzy memory, a gray day, in an entirely beautiful way.
This is the real triumph of TVOTR, in this album, as well as Cookie Mountain. They embrace the ugly, the overwrought, blasting synths and squealing guitars, and manipulate them in a succulent way. When I'm there I'm not sure whether I should break into hysterical laughter or cower in some corner. And this melding of uncertainty and rampant optimistic certitude might just be the central element behind this album.
The opening track, "Halfway Home," is reminiscent of the synth drive on Cookie Mountain's "Wolf Like Me," peppered with guitar static and shaped by the sound of claps in a long hall. Adebimpe's rough crooning complements the forward pulse. But from there they depart from the traditional TVOTR wall of synth, for something a bit more tundra-esque.
TVOTR has been labeled dark, brooding, and in my humble opinion this categorizing, while reductive, is not entirely off-base. On their website Kyp Malone (vocals, guitar) explains that he grew up listening to Joy Division, The Cure, and The Smiths, the gods of the depressed and angsty. However, he goes on to clarify that he liked them because he could identify with the music; there was some of him in it. He's quoted saying "It made me feel less alone, you know? If I could be that for someone else, that would make me happy. It'd be a real form of success for me." It's hard to listen to TVOTR and not put yourself in the music. In fact it demands to be seen just as much as heard, existing as a soundscape. Inside of this acoustic area it's sometimes jarring, but often subtle, and eclectic. Songs like "Family Tree" evoke a fuzzy memory, a gray day, in an entirely beautiful way.
This is the real triumph of TVOTR, in this album, as well as Cookie Mountain. They embrace the ugly, the overwrought, blasting synths and squealing guitars, and manipulate them in a succulent way. When I'm there I'm not sure whether I should break into hysterical laughter or cower in some corner. And this melding of uncertainty and rampant optimistic certitude might just be the central element behind this album.
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