TV on the Radio - Dear Science
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Free Music Notes for Dear Science
Free Music Review: Art Rock Of The Highest Order - Get The Deluxe Edition!
Hit: 5 Stars
This album is genius. TVOTR bring a mind-blowing combination of soul, post-punk, techno, funk . . . . . no description is really adequate because they draw from all of these places and more to come up with something all their own. DEAR SCIENCE is awash in their trademark hazy atmospheres sounding like alien radio transmissions. These songs are sophisticated and dense with sound yet they never sound cluttered. Not only are they loaded with electronic programming but each one features horns, flute and/or strings, all beautifully scored. Audiophiles are complaining about the dynamic compression, that the recording is too "hot," but it's silly to get hung up on such a minor quibble with music this great. Unless you're a vinyl afficionado with $3,000 to blow on top of the line tube speakers, there's really no need to get bent out of shape over this issue (OK, that's a lie meant to tee off audiophiles. Supposedly you can get great sound for $200 or less by buying old equipment from the 50s and 60s, but whatever. I could never get the dust out of the grooves of my old records and all the clicking and popping just annoys me, so I was happy to switch to CDs).
DEAR SCIENCE feels like a celebration. It's far more positive than their previous album, RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN, which was pretty bleak. This despite lyrics that lament war and the largess of the societal elite. The lyrics are very creative and full of imagery, but they're pretty enigmatic and inscrutable. Many listeners felt that way about COOKIE MOUNTAIN, but I thought that album was clearly about addiction, effed-up relationships and the search for redemption. And while the lyrics on DEAR SCIENCE are hard to decipher, it's still fun trying to interpret them (one exception - "Lover's Day" is clearly about sex).
For me, "Crying" is a gorgeous standout with a great disco-fied guitar and a soulful chorus. "Dancing Choose"" has rapid-fire versus while the chorus features a gorgeous melody. "Golden Age" is joyous and funky while "Family Tree" is shimmering and beautiful. "Family Tree" is the only track without percussion (that is, until the end of the song). It features heavenly piano chords with heavy reverb and achingly meloncholy singing. "Shout Me Out" is another killer that finishes off with a wailing post-punkish guitar solo. Every track here, in my humble opinion, is a 5-star song. And the drums and percussion/programming are some of the best I've heard on any album - ever!
Definitely get the Deluxe Edition with the bonus tracks. Unlike anything on the album proper, they're really sexy. "Make Love All Night Long" has a bouncy, sexy groove - "I'm gonna turn you on/ Make love all night long." And "Heroic Dose" is a super sexy slow burner with strange, seductive vocals done in French with a deep, Barry White voice. The vocalist is uncredited, but he doesn't sound a thing like high-pitched wonders Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe. This over seven minute track is totally wigged out. It kinda reminds me of Roxy Music's "The Bogus Man" and "For Your Pleasure" - very trippy. Also, the two remixed tracks are great, sounding even more electronic and techno-fied than the originals.
I agree with what some other reviewers are saying: this one's a strong candidate for album of the year. "Album of the Year" may be a marketing ploy to sell magazines, but it's still fun to compile your own "best of" list. Honestly, I don't think DEAR SCIENCE is nearly as good as COOKIE MOUNTAIN, but an album this creative is still going to give everyone else a run for their money. Highly recommended!!!
Free Music Review: Truly TV on the Radio,
Hit: 5 Stars
TV on the Radio's new album has an experimental vibe, and it is not a coincidence that the albums name is 'Dear Science' because the band treats the studio like it's a lab for creating new sounds. The layers of influence and experimentation make it hard to describe TVOTR with one adjective or use one band to compare them. The only way to do this is would be to use a 4 band combo-- If Ray Charles, Prince, Outkast, and Radiohead made an album together it would end up sounding something like `Dear Science'.
This is the type of band that people in the 80's would predict you would hear in the 21st century, as there are songs that sound like combining Louie Armstrong with a Nintendo player--the strength of TV on the Radio is the combination of old and new and creating something entirely new. There is risk taking and creativity splashed all over the album but the one thing that band doesn't forget to do is keep a melody and a vocal hook present. Underneath most great works by great bands are the combinations of captivating drums and vocal melodies that goes back to our tribal ancestors; TVOTR does not break that rule as there is a discipline underneath the experimenting as harmony, drums and vocals are the dancers to funky and trippy rifts throughout the album.
Their lyrics match their musical ambition as they are poetic and political without sounding boring--here are your best local slam poets who can carry a tune applying their words to songs. There is poetry in the songs, but there is more the influence of a preacher, as the genre of gospel hasn't been shown off this proudly since Ray Charles. If you had to give this a label I would call it digital soul, as underneath the experimenting and mixing are uplifting gospels that carry the same weight as TVOTR classics such as `Starring at the Sun' and `Ambulance'.
No album is perfect, though as it goes from great to good losing steam around song 6. The second half the album is not bad, they are good songs but they do not have that `wow factor' of the first half of the album. They just aren't as good by comparison, but you won't want to skip them either. For the few flaws of this album, it has a specific place in the marketplace of music-- it is the album for people dissatisfied with music right now and wanting to hear something new, authentic, and creative. This is your band, if you have want music with any of those attributes.
Basically, this is a music lover's album.
Free Music Review: Album of the year
Hit: 5 Stars
"Just like autumn leaves, we're in for change" - TOTR "Province"
"Album of the year," a statement that needs little debate to accentuate its logic. "Dear Science," is truly a natural progression for this band. "Return To Cookie Mountain" flourished with gritty effects and steroid infused percussions. "Dear Science," still features some of these signature effects famous of TV On The Radio. However, most gritty effects have been replaced with well orchestrated string and horn arrangements and the steroid infused percussions have been relieved by beats and timing that is just impeccable. Let me tell you, dear listener, do not worry yourself that TOTR have lost much of their sound because they have not. They have augmented it and ultimately improved upon it.
Listen to "Love Dog," the pinnacle of TOTRs new maturity, and concern yourself not that TOTRs less gritty sounds are not capable of relentless "wow." Listen to "Halfway Home" and remember why you loved TOTR for years of gritty, melodic beauty. This is my personal favorite because I am just amazed by its complete structure, a progressing song until halfway (pun intended) when the song changes up losing its current gritty edge and turns into a gorgeous atmospheric concert dominated by Tunde Adebimpe iconic falsetto vocals.
"Family Tree" shows us more of TOTRs maturity. The songs moves from the near acapella beginning to loud dominating strings, adding a repetitious piano, subtle bass and ending with a simple beat that could not be more hypnotic.
There are many more great songs to dissect to continue this grand review. However, the album itself will be much more persuading. TV On The Radio are a unique commodity. They transcend genres and blend so many styles they are truly difficult to label. Whatever you may consider them to be, the musical consensus should agree on "genius."
Free Music Review: Arty and accessible!
Hit: 5 Stars
I had never heard of New Yorkers TV on the Radio until I read a glowing review of their new CD in my favourite music magazine, Q. Now Q are notoriously stingy about handing out even four stars to albums, so I was really interested when I saw they gave this CD five stars.
TV on the Radio are a 5 man band led by Nigerian-born Tunde Adebimpe. Adebimpe is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, and besides being a musician is also an actor and director. All this artiness carries over to their sound which is a hybrid of Rock, Electronica, Jazz, and even Afrobeat. Having never heard anything else by them, I can't be snooty like some reviewers and say this is less experimental or more commercial or whatever. What it is, to my ears at least, is edgy and interesting.
The sunny horn-peppered "Red dress" is Afrobeat-tinged, as is the groovy "Golden age" (the latter with creepy electronic effects). Opening cut "Halfway home" is a shimmery dreamy rocker with handclaps and a staccato of beats with Adebimpe alternating between lower vocal register and falsetto. The bouncy "Dancing choose" features a buzzing riff and spit fire vocal delivery. "Love dog" is a tender piano sprinkled ballad with skittery beats. "DLZ" is an interesting droning song (nice "La la la" refrain).
Standout, in my opinion, is the sprawling Arcade Fire-style ballad "Family tree".
A very interesting album which doesn't yield up all its secrets after only a few listens. Albums this arty are usually easier to admire than listen to, but this is a winner!
Free Music Review: The Most Infectious Music I've Heard In Years
Hit: 5 Stars
Wow... Right out of the gate, this album erupts with a tsunami of sound. "Halfway Home" is easily one of the more powerful tracks, and certainly the best album opener in recent memory, from anyone - with a cute Ramones vibe up front giving way to an absolutely EPIC sonic ballast. But then the hooks start coming, particularly with track 2, "Crying." I challenge even the most morose and clinically miserable person to not allow a stupid little grin or an involuntary booty shake while that song plays.
If you cant be bothered to smile at the overall freshness, hook, and pop-tart-meets-wall-of-noise that this album represents, well, just go ahead and give up now.
As an aside, there are a couple of turds on this album. But the sheer power of the majority of material means that I can't deduct a star. The few times I have 'reviewed' albums on Amazon I have hesitated to dole out 5 stars because I think it's a designation reserved for some of the true genius of modern history (Abbey Road, et al). But this album has such a drastic emotional and head-bobbing impact that I had to go all out. go ahead and grab this one, folks. even if it doesn't have the same gut-punch on you as it does me, you're bound to at least enjoy it and keep it in regular rotation. If you're wired like me you'll be back here gushing about it.