Sep 232008
 

It’s good to hear a band make something worthwhile out of the scrapheap of Yamaha DX-7 synths and Linn drum machines that was the ’80s. Whether sounding like Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark on human growth hormone on “Halfway Home” or INXS with the shades pulled back and a window opened on “Crying”, human hands firmly guide the mouse. Unlike Gnarls Barkley, another practitioner of Silicon Soul, there’s a muscular sexuality at the core of TV’s productions. Like mid-period Roxy Music, you can take this band to a fancy restaurant but you suspect all sense of decorum is out the door once back at your place. Guitarist/producer David Sitek deserves a lot of credit for the success of this album. An affectless, wheezy, 4-note bass synth pattern underpins the Prince-worthy party of “Golden Age”. It’s a subtle triumph of minimalism that ties back to Brian Eno and David Byrne’s subversive commercial highwater marks. The album closes with “Lover’s Day”, with a martial snare beat and an orchestral coda worthy of the Portsmouth Sinfonia.

TV On the Radio, “Golden Age”

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  5 Responses to “INSTA-REVIEW: TV On the Radio, Dear Science

  1. saturnismine

    It’s a twitchy little tune, isn’t it?

    a very self consciously “cool” vibe.

    what the hell is he singing about in the verses? how CRAZY and overstimulating our highly caffeinated, fast-paced times are?

    that’s some heavy shit, man.

    i don’t know if i can handle it.

    it’s only a matter of time before pop / rock becomes stonerly and melodic again.

    and maybe THAT, would be the “golden age comin’ round” that the choruses praise.

    and i DO like the chorus, not just for the sentiment it expresses, but because of its….size. they could’ve gone for major, cast-of-thousands BIGness, but it’s muted instead.

    the bridge is gorgeous, too.

    but these guys always struck me as a bunch vety smart nerds who are just DYING to be in with the cool kids.

    i can’t get past that.

  2. hrrundivbakshi

    Totally agree with Sat on this one — the song is a killer!

  3. hrrundivbakshi

    That is, I agree with Sat except for all that smart/nerdy kids nonsense.

  4. saturnismine

    HVB,

    verses: thumbs down. chorus: thumbs up. bridge: thumbs WAY up!

    and as far as all that “smart / nerdy nonsense” goes, it’s just a gut feeling.

    They sound like they’re trying too hard to sound like cool cats. They’ve always sounded that way to me.

    WHERE, you may ask, are the specific parts that reveal this to me? I don’t know. Let me ask my gut and get back to you.

    It’s not important. At least they’re giving us something different sounding. I’d take TV on the Radio over just about anything new out there right now.

    And besides. By the time I’m done writing this, they will have become THAT MUCH COOLER because…as I write this…they are probably doing alot of hanging out with the cool kids…and all that coolness is rubbing off.

    and so by the time I hit send, I’ll be wrong about what I wrote above…and if I was ever right…we’ll never know.

  5. I think “Golden Age” is far from the best track on the record. It sounds stiff, whereas many of the songs have much more of an organic flow and remind me of Brazilian psych updated for the 00’s.

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