TVOTR are a band I have mentioned before on these pages and quite rightly so. Their latest album easily earned them a spot on mybest of 2008 list and is still on heavy rotation at Cougar Microbes HQ. Having missed their previous London shows I was delighted to have bagged a ticket for Brixton Academy (no sponsor mention): one of my favourite London venues.
Did they live up to my (admittedly heightened) expectations? The short answer: YES!
The band crept onto the dimly lit stage, unassuming and unpretentious, and eased into the quieter track ‘Love Dog’ – an original way to open a show. As the song intensity grew (and with it the light show and band performance) so did the crowd reaction. On this note, it is worth mentioning that the audience was a well balanced mix of old and new fans alike demonstrating if it was ever needed that TV On The Radio have a vast appeal.
The set borrowed heavily from ‘Dear Science,’ featuring no fewer than 8 of its 11 tracks with the audience enthusiastically shouting every word. Clearly others were as impressed as I was by the new material. Sadly ‘DLZ’ didn’t make it this time but in compensation we got a thunderous rendition of ‘Wolf Like Me’ , a firm crowd favourite, in amongst the older gems.
At times the vocals were slightly muffled in the mix but this didn’t subtract from my overall enjoyment with a particularly intense ‘Red Dress’ sounding thunderous. Being joined by members of support band The Noisettes for 2006’s ‘A Method’ and ending with a rave-like rendition of ‘Staring At The Sun’, complete with big beat and raving crowd, was a nice touch and meant Brixton was vacated by a euphoric crowd.
Thank you to everyone who came down on Saturday night to ‘Hands Up Who Cares‘. I really enjoyed my DJ set and it seems most people enjoyed my picks(particularly you drunk guy shouting “brap/blur/brap” randomly). Kick Up The Fire put on a great show showcasing some new material and got some bodies moving. Next ‘Hands Up Who Cares’ is on the 11th of July, see you there?
Here is a sample of the tracks I played:
MP3’s:
The Rolling Stones – You Can’t Always Get What You Want (Soulwax Remix)
Come party your dick/tits off on June 20th at Hands Up Who Cares at Bunker Club in New Cross!!!! Three quid in! Bands till 12, DJ’s till 3! Cheap drinks, real, honest to goodness awesome people and good times. Come down, watch three (we promise you) GOOD bands and get drunk till three, we dares you…. Oh, we double dares you… We’ll be doing it… and we’re probably your mates, so wicked!
HOW TO GET THERE: Get the 53 or 453 bus from central London, or the 47 from Shoreditch High Street, buy a beer, crack it open and sink the motherfucker on the back seat. Fuck you Boris… Deptford Bridge DLR is about one minute walk away, Deptford and New Cross overground stations are about three minutes walk. Do it.
Live music from Youves, Venice Ahoy and Kick Up The Fire and an exclusive dj set from yours truly where I will be spinning some Cougar Microbes indie/dance favourites including:
Haven’t we heard this one before: Hollywood starlet (or her management team) eyes an opportunity to milk a few more $$$ out of the fans by branching out into the music world. Usually the next step is a dismal release or two after which she returns to the relative safety of her day job.
That was what I was thinking when I was told Zooey Deschanel was teaming up with alt-country darling M. Ward but boy was I wrong. Instead, under the moniker She & Him, they may well have released one of the most interesting albums in recent years transporting you back to a when music was about style over substance. The resulting album Volume One sounds just like the old 60s albums my dad used to play me in his car dipped in sentimentality and following in the tradition of songstresses like Joni Mitchell and Dusty Springfield.
Zooey, I owe you an apology.
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It’s amazing what a few months can do to a bands profile. Back in November I was coming to terms with TV On The Radio‘s latest effort. Now their tracks have rooted themselves firmly in my subconscious making Dear Science, the go to album when people ask me for something that will appeal to fairweather music fans and enthusiasts alike. I’m not really surprised that in December TOTR were featured prominently on New Year programs for the BBC and Channel 4 alike and were also played repeatedly on the office stereo.
In preparation for my trip to Big Apple this week I spun as many bands from the NYC area as i could. The one band that got more attention than any other was TV On The Radio largely due to the release of their new record ‘Dear Science,‘
I am the first to admit that i have a difficult relationship with the Brooklyn gang. In the past press for their endeavours made me to believe I would automatically enjoy their releases with little or no effort. The truth is that, as anyone who “gets” the band knows, TV On The Radio are not a band designed to be consumed rapidly and disposed of but rather one that should be slowly savoured and enjoyed over time.
Having finally come to terms with and grown to love ‘Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes‘ and ‘Return To Cookie Mountain‘ i eagerly anticipated their new release would blow my proverbial socks off. However, this wouldn’t be a TOTR review if I had been love at first spin. No ladies and gentlemen, I was in for another struggle. You see, The band appear to have ditched the elaborate multi layered instrumentalism and paranoid melodies for a more concise effort that, dare i say, could be ready for mainstream consumption.
This was not what I was expecting at all and I had to effectively force the album on my ears for a week for the pieces of the puzzle to come together but when they did it was very gratifying. All of a sudden I was recognising familiar melodies and appreciating the subtle developments that only a band like TV On The Radio could pull off. The lyrical content remains dark, and often cryptic, but this time it is all embellished by a crazy juxtaposition of new wave, funk, pop, rock and electronica and even 60s doo-wop all while maintaining that detached New York cool.
Other artists have toyed with the dangerous balancing act of trying to enhance their sound whilst increasing their audience and failed miserably. TV On The Radio differ here because the band have not compromised their instincts for a killer melody, try for yourself.
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TVOTR are a band I have mentioned before on these pages and quite rightly so. Their latest album easily earned them a spot on my best of 2008 list and is still on heavy rotation at Cougar Microbes HQ. Having missed their previous London shows I was delighted to have bagged a ticket for Brixton Academy (no sponsor mention): one of my favourite London venues.
