| TV on the Radio | |
|---|---|
TV on the Radio performing at the 2008 Treasure Island Festival |
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| Background information | |
| Origin | Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Indie rock, art rock, alternative rock |
| Years active | 2001 – present |
| Labels | Touch and Go Records 4AD Interscope |
| Associated acts | Celebration, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, David Bowie, Dragons of Zynth, Nine Inch Nails, Jane's Addiction, Maximum Balloon, Rain Machine |
| Website | tvontheradio.com |
| Members | |
| Tunde Adebimpe Kyp Malone David Andrew Sitek Jaleel Bunton |
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| Past members | |
| Gerard Smith (deceased) | |
TV on the Radio is an American art rock band formed in 2001 in Brooklyn, New York, whose music spans numerous diverse genres, from post-punk to electro and free jazz to soul music.
The group has released several EPs including their debut Young Liars (2003), and four critically acclaimed studio albums: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004), Return to Cookie Mountain (2006), Dear Science (2008), and Nine Types of Light (2011).
For the bulk of their existence, the core TV on the Radio lineup has been Tunde Adebimpe (vocals/loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars/keyboards/loops), Kyp Malone (vocals/guitars/bass/loops), Jaleel Bunton (drums/vocals/loops/guitars) and Gerard Smith (bass/keyboards) as official members. Smith died from lung cancer on April 20, 2011. The band has replaced Smith for their current tour but have not yet announced their long term plans as a band without him.
Other contributors have included David Bowie, Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead, Martin Perna of Antibalas and Katrina Ford of Celebration.
Contents |
The first release from TV on the Radio (initially just founding members Adebimpe and Sitek) was the self-released OK Calculator (the title being a reference to Radiohead's album OK Computer[1]) They were later joined by Kyp Malone, and released the Young Liars EP in 2003 to critical acclaim. This was followed by the full-length Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes which earned the band the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize. They released a second EP, New Health Rock, later that year.
Their third album, Return to Cookie Mountain, leaked in early 2006 and garnered pre-release praise from such outlets as Pitchfork Media[2] before its official release in July overseas. U.S. and Canadian release was in September on Interscope. The album received critical acclaim after its release from many sources, including Spin magazine which named Return to Cookie Mountain its Album of the Year for 2006.[3] The album features guest appearances from David Bowie, Celebration, Dragons of Zynth, Martin Perna and Stuart D. Bogie of Antibalas, Blonde Redhead, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner. Bowie contributed back-up vocals on the song "Province". In promotion of the album, the band performed " Wolf Like Me" on the Late Show with David Letterman, which has garnered over 1.5 million views on YouTube.[4] During the U.S. tour, the band performed a few covers with Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor.
The band's 4th album, Dear Science, was released September 23, 2008 on Interscope. It was made available for streaming on their Myspace page and subsequently leaked onto the internet on September 6, 2008. The album received widespread critical acclaim. It was named the best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone,[5] The Guardian,[6] Spin magazine,[7] The Onion AV Club,[8] MTV,[9] Entertainment Weekly,[10] the Pitchfork Media's readers poll[11] as well as the Pazz and Jop critic's poll.[12] It was also named the second best album of 2008 by NME and the fourth best album of 2008 by Planet Sound.
On September 22, 2008, they performed "Dancing Choose" in the setting of a flight of outer apartment stairs on the Late Show with David Letterman[13]. They also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on September 30, 2008, performing "Golden Age" and "Dancing Choose", which were the same songs they performed on Saturday Night Live on February 7, 2009. The band performed "Dancing Choose" on the February 9, 2009 episode of The Colbert Report.
On September 3, 2009, Tunde Adebimpe announced that TV on the Radio would be taking a year long hiatus.[14] Guitarist Kyp Malone's solo album, under the name Rain Machine, was released on September 22, 2009 on ANTI-.[15] A solo album by Dave Sitek, Maximum Balloon, was released August 24, 2010 on Interscope, featuring a variety of guest vocals by many of his musician friends such as Karen O, David Byrne, and both of his TV on the Radio vocalist bandmates, and numerous others.[16]
In addition, Sitek produced Holly Miranda's album The Magician's Private Library, which also featured fellow TV on the Radio members Jaleel Bunton and Kyp Malone.[17]
On February 7, 2011, the band announced an end to their hiatus, along with their upcoming album Nine Types of Light.[18][19]
On April 12, 2011, the album Nine Types of Light was released along with a one-hour film under the same name containing music videos for all the songs on the album as well as interviews with various New Yorkers. The film was directed by various directors under the supervision of Tunde Adebimpe.[20]
It was announced in March, 2011, that the band's bassist, Gerard Smith, was diagnosed with lung cancer. On April 20, 2011 the band issued a statement of the passing of Gerard Smith on their homepage: "We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly."[21]
TV on the Radio has said that their eclectic music is due for their liking of very diverse bands, including Bad Brains, Earth, Wind & Fire, Nancy Sinatra, Serge Gainsbourg,[22] Brian Eno,[23] and the Pixies. Adebimpe covered the Pixies song "Mr. Grieves" under the TV on the Radio moniker at the beginning of his career, layering his voice over forty times. The band has also cited Prince's "Purple Rain" as a classic.[24]
As references for their catchy beats and verses, TV on the Radio also named post-punk acts Wire[22] and Siouxsie and the Banshees.[25] They stated that they have "always tried to make a song that begins like (Siouxsie) "Kiss Them For Me". [25]
| Year | Name | Charts | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
U.S. |
AUS |
CAN |
UK |
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| 2002 | OK Calculator
|
— | — | — | — | |||||
| 2004 | Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes
|
— | — | — | 175 | |||||
| 2006 | Return to Cookie Mountain
|
41 | 50 | — | 90 | |||||
| 2008 | Dear Science
|
12 | 26 | 26 | 33 | |||||
| 2011 | Nine Types of Light
|
12 | 25 | — | 33 | |||||
| Release date | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| July 8, 2003 | Young Liars | Touch and Go |
| June 25, 2004 | "Staring at the Sun" | 4AD |
| 2007 – iTunes | Live Sessions | Touch and Go |
| March 27, 2007 | Live at Amoeba Music | Interscope |
| April 14, 2009 | Read Silence | Interscope |
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