THE Best Band of 2006-2015, Brooklyn art-rock outfit TV On The Radio, a proper Appreciation Thread!

[Hugh_Lebowski]

TV on the Radio:
Tunde Adebimpe – vocals, loops, keyboards
Jaleel Bunton – drums, bass guitar, guitar, programming, organ, synthesizer, vocals
Kyp Malone – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, synthesizer, clarinet, flute, viola
David Andrew Sitek – programming, synthesizer, guitar, bass guitar, samples, vocals
Gerard A. Smith – bass guitar, organ, samples, synthesizer, vocals (thru 2011)

They never got super-famous but were revered by music critics, and for very good reason. In 5-10 years they'll be talked of like Velvet Underground, The Stooges, Big Star, etc. Bands that weren't famous in their time, but were brilliantly ahead of it. Mark it!

I was turned onto them by the end-of-the-year polls in the music magazines in 2008, regarding their album from that year Dear Science

Dear Science was named the best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone,[19] The Guardian,[20] Spin,[21] MTV,[22] Entertainment Weekly,[23] the Pitchfork's readers poll,[24] and the Village Voice.[25]

I listened to it on repeat in the early days of the BHO presidency, and it was just perfect for that era.

Their earlier 2006 album Return to Cookie Mountain also received similar raves (Bowie did backing vocals on one track), though personally I find it to one of those 'amazing albums' from a creativity standpoint ... that I don't actually want to listen to that often, save for a handful of songs. Many maintain it's their greatest record but it's a little too dense and short on hooks for my taste.

With Dear Science they got much more catchy will still maintaining the creativity of RTCM.

After a 2 year hiatus after a huge tour supporting the success of Dear Science, the group convened in LA in 2011 at the new studio of band mate/producer Dave Sitek to record Nine Types of Light which is arguably a little bit uneven and by that I mean a couple songs aren't my faves, but at the same time, it's still mostly absolutely brilliant songs and is overall excellent. 9 days after that album was released, the groups bass player Gerard Smith died of lung cancer.

They put out one more album called Seeds in 2014, and it's their most polished album, and uniformly excellent, covering all the things the band were great at. While I'd argue none of the tunes top their absolute best from earlier records, they're all still really really good songs.

Since then, nothing really. I would be incredibly excited if they got back together and put out something even nearly as good as what they did in their heyday.


So without further ado ...

From Dear Science, I think Prince would have loved to have put his name on this jam

Also from Dear Science (2008), for me this was the soundtrack to the Obama victory ...

This one of their best known songs, also from Dear Science, since it was background to an iconic scene in Breaking Bad

From Nine Types of Light (2011)

One of my absolute favorites from TVOTR, from Nine Types ... I play this so fucking loud every time, cause it sounds freaking amazing ... if you don't love the first time, play it again. Trust me. It's SO good.

From Seeds (2014)

Also from Seeds

Also from Seeds, and just in case you're wondering if these New Yorkers can play some CBGB-worthy punk rock ...

First, the original, then watch TVOTR kill this song on Letterman with the beloved eponymous track from their debut 2003 EP. This song is badass ...

Tunde and friends destroy the Letterman stage with a highlight from Return To Cookie Mountain