Dear Science is the third studio album from New York band TV on the Radio.  I'm really enjoying it, I'm sure you will as well.  

RECUERDA, PARA ESCUCHAR EL PROGRAMA, DAR CLICK A LA DERECHA.

4to Bloke:
* Rihana - Rehab.
* Ska-P - Crimen Solicitationis [Letra explicito].
* Keane - The Lovers Are Losing [Radio Edit].

NeoNeo.

Also, I have found it: the definitive list of 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die. Ok, maybe not the list, but it's certainly worth a look... (Although, I must say, I do not know how one could cite Illinoise as Sufjan's best work and include The Arcade Fire, but not Coldplay or Muse. I mean, come on..)

And despite the fact that this has very little to do with music, you must see this, which is possibly the best website ever, designed and sponsored by one Suresh Joachim, multiple Guinness World Record holder. Oh, the excellence...

Finally, in case you were wondering, here's a composite list of what music I've been up to lately:

• Smog (this man makes music that is pure sex)
  
• Black Eyed Peas (think "Hey Mama")
  
• Simon & Garfunkel (Concert in Central Park...changed my life)
  
• Bloc Party ("If they want to kill themselves, then buy them the gowns: It's called progress.")
• Wilco (surprisingly good for alt-country)
  
• Ozomatli (salsa, anyone?)
  
• RHCP (sadly, I still mostly like the songs everyone else does..)
  
• TV on the Radio (I still really want to see them live..insert pouting)
  
• Britney Spears (new school..don't hate)
• Jethro Tull (definitely check him if you haven't already..very deep and chill)
  
• The Stills (some good, good indie..and I'm seeing them in two weeks!!)
• Devendra Banhart (Latin American with a preference for nudity..makes really good music- seriously!)

And th-th-that's all, folks!

LisaM.

For the full interview, go to our new site www.drfunkenberry.com

By Layla J. Merritt

The AmNews

TV On the Radio is a band on the verge. Their sophomore, full-length CD, “Return to Cookie Mountain,” is a collage of (primarily), harmonious contradictions. Even the band’s racial composition has already been noted with surprise and interest from the musical community: All but one member of this five-piece, rock ensemble are Black. TVOR masterfully crushes racial stereotypes with their electro-washed, alternative, rock experiment that’s quite often good.

Sampling, layering and multi-syncing lend an electro-industrial sound to TVOR’s palate of rock. Tracks like the artful melodica, “Blues Down Here,” and “Let the Devil In,” are refreshingly unpredictable in their musical approach, meshing techno-inspired, electro samples over acoustic sounds and rock and staples. Occasionally, the group over-embellishes, resulting in cacophonous noise reminiscent of nails on a chalkboard. Penchant to playing with different pitches and vocal harmonies, TVOR has undoubtedly been influenced by British rock, which may be why David Bowie is such a huge fan and even lends his pipes on “Providence,” a slowly crooned piece about America.

While TVOR’s signature style may be fusion, the influence of rock on the group is obvious. “Wolf Like Me,” beats with the insatiable lust of an indie, rock classic and is instantly likeable. Its medley of gyrating drum beats, wicked guitar and an intense, vocal rush provokes a salacious ebullience guaranteed to extirpate the rebel within. If this song gets any airtime, it will be a hit.

Lyrically, TVOR is leagues ahead of established rock bands. At times clever and cute, and at others, unsettling and desperate, the verses are sensual, intelligent and drenched in an immutable temperament of romantic realism, honest and surreal as the ocean.

But the CD does otherwise suffer from an ineluctable melancholy that blankets the listener in an ethereal and dark atmosphere. There is a haunting sensuality, a supreme desolateness about TVOR’s songs, with which it is easy to identify. Like the quintessential mutineer boy band of the 1980’s, the Clash, TVOR is desperate for something, deep inside, and it’s more than just fame and money.

The Ruby Suns, Sea Lion

Nota de Sal: 9/10

Esta é a estreia da Nova Zelândia aqui no blogue e que estreia! No entanto, os Ruby Suns são um pouco mais do que isto e este comentário poderá parecer despropositado. Já lá vamos. Sea Lion é o segundo disco de originais desta banda de Aukland, cujo líder e principal mentor é o californiano Ryan McPhun. É dífícil descrever o som dos Ruby Suns, já que pode passar da forte influência dos Animal Collective em There Are Birds, para o tribalismo de Oh Mojave ou para os sintetizadores eighties da segunda parte de Morning Sun. Sea Lion é principalmente uma delícia para os ouvidos, tal como um sonho colorido e infantil que se tem vergonha de contar aos amigos. Momento grande do ano musical do ano.

TV on the Radio, Dear Science,

Nota de Sal: 9/10

Fazer melhor que Return to Cookie Mountain era uma tarefa assombrosa e, por isso mesmo, não foi com assombro que os TV on the Radio regressaram. Digamos que a fasquia foi igualada, o que, em si, não é propriamente mau. Pelos projectos e actividades musicais paralelas de Sitek e Kyp Malone, os cérebros musicais da banda, era perceptível que havia potencial de ideias e talento para que a banda pudesse prosseguir o caminho imaculado do disco anterior. TV on the Radio é um disco facilmente divisível em duas partes, não exactamente separadas. A nebulosidade e o cinzentismo electrónico de Sitek revê-se em temas fora-de-série como Shout Me Out, DLZ e sobretudo no fabuloso Stork And Owl, onde quase é possível distinguir um Ian Curtis regressado. A segunda parte está sob a influência do funk moderno de Malone, com influências seventies, afro-punk e de um Prince que ressoa aqui e ali.

Kings of Leon, Only by the night

Nota de Sal: 9/10

Os irmãos Followill regressam mais polidos em todos os aspectos. Surpresa? Desilusão? Mal seria se não mudassem o guarda-fato ou fizessem a barba depois de anos em digressão pelas principais cidades norte-americanas e, sobretudo, pela Europa. Os Followill são genuínos e essa genuinidade foi fortemente abalada ao ultrapassarem a fronteira do estado onde nasceram. Tal foi vindo a notar-se de disco para disco e Only by the night é a revolução e a revelação da banda. Os rapazes sabem bem que ou são aceites ou arrasados. E muitas das estrelas que estou a dar a este disco devem-se precisamente à coragem que aqui revelam. Não falo só falo só dos coros de Use Somebody, falo sobretudo de letras como Crawl onde a banda revela a sua posição enquanto norte-americanos sulistas que são constantemente olhados de lado por toda a Europa: "the reds and the whites and abused, the crucified USA". Crawl é também uma das melhores músicas do ano, uma espécie de súmula resumida da história do rock.

Uma nota muito insonsa para o elitismo provinciano que já não se usa e que foi empregue na crítica a este disco feita esta semana na Ipsilon.  A sério, já não se usa. 

TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe recorded a pretty little cover of Neil Young's "Unknown Legend." The cover's for the movie he's starring in, Rachel Getting Married, which is out now in select theators. The track's only available on the movie's soundtrack, but I'd pay for this cover alone.

Unknown Legend - Tunde Adebimpe

Here's the original Neil Young song, in case you don't know it.

Via [The Playlist]

Today I fly back home from Gulf Shores, Alabama. I like Alabama. Especially after I found an unlikely yoga studio -- which happened to be the first ever yoga licensed yoga studio in the state. I'm also a big fan of their shrimp Poboy -- Alabama's, not the yoga studios. I'll leave you with a few of my favorite memories of L.A. (Lower Alabama.)

$1 of the sale of this shirt is donated to the River Revitalization Foundation to restore urban river trails and waterways.

Take one of the finest experimental bands and let it soak up some pop for two years.

Tastes A Lot Like: Indie 103.1 Jam- acceptable by the masses while still tasting a bit unique.

On August twenty-third, TV on the Radio released a much anticipated (well, I know I was excited) new album by the name of Dear Science. I got my hands on the album immediately but had a hard time deciding how I felt about it. My first thought: "Dude, did TVOTR collab' with Chromeo?" I was put off by the electronic pop intifada, waiting for the album's ambiently unsettling "Dreams" or an indie-rock-explosion showstopper like "Wolf Like Me", neither of which came. Their previous albums all had tracks that absolutely blew me away whereas Dear Science just sounds like someone took the core of TVOTR and layered it with pop. "Crying" sounds like it should be on Fancy Footwork and "Family Tree" sounds like a Coldplay song. It's TV on the Radio... but not.

To enjoy this album I have to look at it completely objectively and not compare it to their monumental albums such as Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, which to this day still leaves me in awe. Looking at it like it's the twelfth album on the Billboard 200, yeah, it's a good album. I can put it on and dance a bit. It's good for driving. But would I consider it a highlight of my Ipod? No.

I'm not necessarily bummed but I'm not impressed.

I read a review that basically said the album reminds them of a friend that they hadn't seen for awhile and had definitely changed but still was the same person. I think that's an accurate description. But those are the kinds of people you comment on Myspace because you don't actually want to talk to them in real life. Sooooo... yeah...

A few blocks away this old man approaches me and says in the most bad ass old school New York accent:
"Whats the attraction to this stuff on the wall?"
I tell him its art...
"Right, these sonsabitches come and put this shit up over night. I own this shop. I'm tryin to get the city to come take this shit off. I don't want it here."

"Look this sonsabitch even welded right onto my shop!"







Last but not least, I get back to Flatbush and see these bastards on my block...

I will admit, however, that I am no life time achievement award when it comes to music appreciation.  At the two years leading up to the turn of the millenium, when boy bands were at their peak and rock music was debatably at its lowest point in probably 40 years (yes, even lower than the disco era), I gave up on music.  I stopped listening.  I stopped buying.  I stopped reading and searching.  I lost the will to seek.  And then something interesting happened.  An 18 year old kid from the US named Sean Parker, over the course of a few weeks, decided to make the international music industry as we know it completely, 100% obsolete.  A kid, who didn't know a thing about programming, taught himself C++ and wrote the infamous Napster - a product that allowed me to start finding music again.

However, while Napster was great, and while it introduced me to a lot of great bands, it wasn't delivering anything completely earth shattering in the context of new bands.  Napster allowed me to find the bands that I knew about, but it was no substitution for finding new bands I'd never, ever heard of before (well, this isn't entirely true, I found a lot of new bands, but the crap-to-awesome ratio was way outta whack - the process was not very efficient).  Only reading and fingering through various zines and papers could do that.  But it was Napster that got me interested enough to dedicate time out of my week to finger the various zines and papers.

Come 2003.  While fingering various zines and papers, I come across a review for an EP by a band called TV On The Radio.  I sample them, and in 30 seconds flat I'm completely hooked.  TOTR's Young Liars EP is still, to this day, one of the best EP's I've ever heard.  For being only 5 songs it's rich, deep, complex, compelling.  It's 22 minutes (!) of highly compelling and engaging music.  It starts off with deep bass, harmonious vocals, and a shock of "Holy Crap! This is Awesome!".  It finishes with a 4 minute a cappella version of The Pixies' Mr. Grieves.  It was my favourite thing in my collection in 2003.

The interesting part of all this is that TV On The Radio didn't have any albums out at the time.  This EP was their first and only published work.  When was their full length LP going to be released?  Unfortunately for those that heard the EP (over, and over, and over, and over again), it would be at least a year until TOTR finally released their debut LP.  For a year there was speculation, anxiety, hopefulness that they wouldn't blunder and show the world that Young Liars was just a fluke.

The 2004 release of "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes" was successful in proving that Young Liars was not a fluke, but 100% intentional.  The album announces itself again with deep driving bass, distorted and muffled drum machines, and a "HERE WE ARE!" horn section.  The lead off track also cements TOTR's schtick of complex vocal arrangements.  It quickly becomes clear to the listener that Young Liars was just a sample of what the band could do.  Layers, layers, and more layers.

Not only does TOTR prove their creative and musical spirits on this album, they also show they're masters of atmosphere.  TOTR have no problem creating scenery in their songs.  They'll make you feel the song, not just hear it.  From anxiety to rambunctiousness, loneliness to love, the album has a knack for making you feel a whole lot of your past.

In 2006, and in typical deep bass fashion, TOTR impaled the masses with their second LP, Return to Cookie Mountain.  With enormous critical success the album built up from TOTR's foundation of deep base and harmonious melodies by incorporating a lot more white noise and a lot more looping.  But each song is almost in its own genre.  Hours is like a bunch of Swirling Dirbies listening to neo-psych rock (at least that's the image it conjures for me). Province is like the childhood song from your youth, with a blazing hot son setting over the lake while you, 3 years old, run around naked on the beach.  Wolfs Like Me bring TOTR back to solid, driving fashion after the minature tour de senses.  The album continues from there, exploring different sounds and rocking your ass.

And like the precise clockwork you would expect from an expert watchsmith, in 2008 TOTR releases their third album, Dear Science, a surprisingly upbeat and, dare I say, happy album.  Of course the album starts with a rich, deep bass, followed by some of the happiest (if not simple) scatting I've ever heard.  We're talking teenager scatting.  The album explore's hiphop (in the most frantic use of the word), soul, funk, and syphonic rock (without all the cliche symphony).  This is, of course, all on top of the foundation built on the previous albums.

Remember the first time you got drunk, and you were like "Oh my Gosh, this is weird!"?  And then remember the second time you got drunk you were too excited so you over did it and said "Oh my Gosh, this is terrible!"?  And then the third time your were more refined and had a better idea on how to pace yourself?  That's TOTR's third album.  It's definitely the most mature of their three and a half albums.  The refined quality runs the risk of it having the least amount of replay value of their collection, but it's still beautiful, atmospheric, and heavily textured.  It's still amazing.  It's still TV On The Radio, and it's still going to make you sit up and take notice.

We have that wicked pledge pakc up for grabs, 4 CD's. See below post.

Other thoughts:

1. TV on the Radio's Dear Science album is off-puttingly quite good.

2. The rideable vacuum is awesome. I want one. That and a unicorn.

Premièrement, la qualité du son de cette album est à jeter par terre. En effet, ce que je "reprochais" aux autres albums du groupe, c'est la qualité brouillon de la production. Les chansons étaient super bonne, mais il me semblais que justice n'étais pas rendu.

Ce n'est pas le cas avec ce disque.

Justice est rendu.

Les instruments sont clairs et nous entendons toutes les subtilités que les gars ont voulu nous démontrer. De plus, il y a un petit côté pop et groovy à la chose et ce n'est que pour le mieux.

David Bowie avait déjà encensé le groupe. Que va-t-il en dire maintenant?

En fait, il ne pourra rien dire...

Il restera bouche bée...

Et croyez moi, juste d'imaginer le Thin White Duke muet, pour moi, ça veut tout dire...

¿A que no han entendido nada? No hay problema, ya lo explico: resulta que el celebérrimo (antiguamente en Faith No More, entre otros grupos) ha unido fuerzas con Tunde Adebimpe, cantante de TV On The Radio, y con Adam Druckler de Subtle, y formarán un supergrupo, que todavía no tiene nombre ni fecha ni nada, pero que tiene la intención de grabar algo antes de final de año. Y la verdad es que viendo lo loco que está Patton (escuchen Fantômas y lo entenderán) y lo friki que es el bueno de Adebimpe, el resultado puede ser una genial ida de olla a la que sin duda habrá que estar atento. Así que lo estaremos. (Vía: Mike PattonNME)

Just some albums and songs I've been enjoying/evaluating lately:

TV On The Radio - Dear Science - Guess what, don't like it as much as everyone else does.  But that's been true with every TVOTR record I've ever heard.  I feel like this band is playing two hand touch on the soccer field and I haven't been invited yet, but they've given me a look up and down a few times.  Maybe I'm not smart enough, but I'm going to be proud of my judgment and not feel like a hipster sheep.  The first half of the record lacks any sense of melody, but the second half is admittedly kicking my ass.  This is definitely their shiniest and catchiest effort to date, thank goodness.  My fave record of theirs so far.  After a few listens through, "Golden Age" (single), "Family Tree", and "Love Dog" are my standouts.  Dave Sitek (guitarist/programmer/producer/brain child of Scarlett Johannson's Tom Waits cover record) did an amazing job, as usual.  His ear for arrangement is unreal, both seen on this record as well as Scarlett's.  Say what you want about that record, the arrangements were incredibly good.  I feel like this band has important things to say so I'm going to stick around.  I just don't know why they have to subject me to shitty Prince dilution the first 5 songs.

Mardeen - Read Less Minds - alright, now for some straightforward, WYSIWYG Canadian rock.  This record has been high on my playlist recently.  Not overly a new release, but these songs are irrefutably fun.  Think good 90s Halifax Pop Explosion (Sloan, Super Friendz, Thrush Hermit) meets The Stills meets diluted Interpol meets dudes singing Exile in Guyville.  This is proof that Halifax still produces world class powerpop.  Three lead singers, a good dichotomy of machismo aesthetic and teeny, vulnerable lyrics.  Single "Kids" is an anthemic tetebanger, "Things Are Hot" could be track 7 on the Stills' Logic Will Break Your Heart, and "Telephones" showcases their young abandon in a very rock and roll way.  Find them on MySpace, buy at Zunior.

Mogwai - Hawk is Howling - Surprisingly like it.  I find Mogwai tiring sometimes, just a slightly improved version of watery Explosions in the Sky.  But Hawk is Howling offers smarter arrangements, fun song titles ("I'm Jim Morrison", "I'm Dead", "Daphne and the Brain", "Thank You Space Expert"), and some earnestly moving songs.  If you like instrumental, post-rock, ambient styles, give this some time.  Glad they impressed me, they've been around long enough.

The Killers - Human single - produced by Stuart Price (who did Madonna's Confessions on a Dance Floor), the disco gloves are officially coming off.  Production sounds good on the track, but the Killers need to realize they still need at least touch on what makes them the buckers - anthems.  I wanted a "When You Were Young" inspired track, and it still could've been dancey!  I just wanted some big tones!  The chorus is a huge letdown and the verses are completely aimless.  The only part that gets me going is the interlude directly after the first chorus.  I like the arrangement for the most part, but there is just not enough song in there.  I saw them on SNL, Brandon's voice actually stood up and sounded good!  Miracle on 30 Rockefeller.  I'm proud of him, it's about time he started catching up to his mouth.  Hear it streaming on their official website.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

Nota Bene. After listening to "Human" some of the day, the chorus totally permeated the stuck in head routine.  Also realized it sounds like Lionel Richie circa 2000.

So the country is plummeting towards an imminent recession… Is there anything that can be done to escape?

Reports on the BBC website today suggested that we are already in the firm grip of a recession…. But not technically.

An investigation into the country’s financial turmoil has concluded that: 'Britain is already in a recession, which is worsening and could see unemployment rise by 350,000 by next year, a business group has warned.'

Today, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), which represents small and medium sized companies, stated that a recession has already begun.

The BBC article goes on to explain that: 'Technically the UK is not yet in recession - defined as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth'

From bad to worse

All we know for sure is that things are going from bad to worse.  The US bailout package, which passed through Congress on Friday, does not seem to have restored confidence in the World’s economy.

Indeed as the credit crunch hits Europe, BBC reports suggest that ‘the UK government is poised to announce details of a comprehensive rescue package for the banking system.'

No prizes for guessing who is footing the bill for this…That’s right tax payers, it’s you!

TV On The Radio provide an ominous soundtrack

It’s quite ironic that the song, which I have interpreted as commenting most effectively on this ‘recession’ comes from the American band TV On The Radio (ironic as this is where the financial problems first began).

The New York based band, whose music fuses too many influences and styles for me to list here is finally beginning to make waves and win over hordes of new fans.

The tenth song from their most recent album ‘Dear Science’, (released last month) 'DLZ', can be interpreted as a vicious comment on the state of the World’s economy and the people that allowed it to reach this sorry situation.

From the opening sustained synth lines and atmospheric, doom-laden drums, complete with dreamy wordless falsetto vocals, it’s obvious that TVOTR inhabit a dark world.

The song's oblique lyrics can be interpreted in several ways, however in light of recent events, the first verse of the song seems to summarise the slow choke of a recession very accurately:

‘Congratulations on the mess you made of things,

On trying to reconstruct the air and all that brings,

And oxidation is the compromise you own,

But this is beginning to feel like the dog wants her bones saved’

The song builds from its atmospheric opening into a fast, frenzy of angrily delivered vocals: ‘Eternalised, objectified, you set your sights so high.’  Is this a comment on the greedy bankers whose unchecked actions and risk-taking has affected us all so deeply?

The song grows in tension, and an evermore complex soundscape, into a climax, which finally bursts into a euphoric release, replete with a disconcerting, quite frankly scary Tim Burton-esque whistled melody line, which is ladened with dark undertones…

Unfortunately this euphoric release doesn’t last long enough for the listener to get comfortable as the song soon fades into a dark, scratchy, feedback-drenched nothing: ‘This is beginning to feel like the dawn of the loser forever’.

…Let’s hope this isn't the new dawn that the recession will bring.

826NYC and The Bowery Presents present Revenge of the Book Eaters, a one-night-only event that brings together some of our most celebrated comedians, writers, and musicians for a rare evening of intimate performances, including Paul Simon, This American Life host Ira Glass, National Book Award winner Jonathan Franzen (reading from his entry on New York in State By State: A Panoramic Portrait of America), beloved actors Patricia Clarkson, Parker Posey, & Bobby Cannavale, TV on the Radio members Tunde Adibempe & Kyp Malone, brand new Grizzly Bear project Department of Eagles, arrestingly talented Thao Nguyen of Thao With The Get Down Stay Down, indie-pop darling Zach Rogue, and Daily Show correspondent (and Briton) John Oliver, that promises once and for all to try to settle the debate: words or music-- which is better?

The evening will benefit 826NYC, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting students ages 6 to 18 with their creative and expository writing skills, and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster.com. For a chance to win a pair of tickets to this event, e-mail nypromo@theonion.com with 'Literary Vengeance' in the subject line.

Town Hall
123 W 43rd St.
(212) 840-2824
$46 / $101

Daarnaast bracht het voorbije weekend, naast een kater van jewelste, ook enkele mooie beelden op. Zo mocht schoonheid Jenny Lewis haar ding doen bij Conan O' Brien (klik, link jammergenoeg dood), leverde TV On The Radio een mooie prestatie bij Jools Holland (klik) en verschijnt het tv debuut van Department Of Eagles op Youtube (klik).

Verder vormden we definitief ons gedacht over 'All We Could Do Was Sing' van Port O' Brien (klik) en werden we met verstomming geslagen door de Black Cab Sessions van Calexico (klik). Meer van dat, soon ... .

...hate to keep telling you to "buy it" but there happens to be a bunch of really good records coming out as of late.  I'll feature many of them soon(Vivien Girls, Hercules and Love Affair, etc) but I just want to say, there is no safer bet this season than the new TV on the Radio album.  After listening to it a lot I came away thinking these are the only guys of the last ten years who can creatively match a band like Radiohead - hell they took the Radiohead post rock sound and turned it into futuristic psychedelic funk.  This is an fan-tastic record.

Golden Age by TV on the Radio - also note that they just played this song on Jools Holland and there is a video of that performance floating around the interwebs.  Does this song remind anyone else of an old Michael Jackson dance song from back when he was still cool (and still black).

Don't Stop Till You Get Enough by Michael Jackson:

"Heartbreak"

"Evergreen"

OK, you can't slag off TV on The Radio if you consider yourself a sophisticated music fan. And I have no intention of doing so, but the hysteria that the critics have bestowed on Dear Science is a little full on.

This is a very good record. But I feel it is less genre-changing and more derivative than one might imagine having read the reviews.

It is a solid mix of harmony, funk, rock and electronica.

It leans heavily on Talking Heads' back catalogue, fusing in bits of Outkast and several of the songs are actually quite wide of the bullseye.

On the other hand... Family Tree is one of the best songs I have heard in a long time. Very beautiful and moving. Wouldn't have been out of place on Seldom Seen Kid by Elbow. If Elbow was black.

Golden Age is pretty good too.

]

This album may yet find its way into my year end list, but I'd be cautious of the hype it's getting.