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Liberator 5.2
TV On The Radio
Return to Cookie Mountain

Brooklyn's finest returns with a brilliant manifesto--complete with NME-induced mania, smart mashups of Afro-beat, electronica, broken beat sampling and fuzzy guitars with understated political cleverness. Following up 2004's Short list Music Prizewinning debut, "Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes," TV On The Radio's "Return To Cookie Mountain" goes for the crown and delivers. On the debut album, the band's architect/multi-instrumentalist/producer Dave A. Sitek provided the sonic wallops that anchored Nigerian-bornvocalist/videodirector Tunde Adebimpe's captivating voice and soaring observations of the post 9/11 landscape. On "Return," TV On The Radio sounds more like a band, with worthy contributions from each member igniting a more expansive, ambitious recording. The band's "we can do what ever the fuck we want" attitude shines with an unbridled confidence and maturity. There's a sense of glorious urgency underneath the roaring guitars and adventurous drum programming throughout the album, beginning with hyperpost-punk guitars of "Playhouses." Distorted guitars, industrial hip-hop beats, piano breaks and multi-tracked vocals complete the euphoric centerpiece, "I Was a Lover" which addresses the mood since the Iraq War--"I was a lover/ before this war"--and the alienation--We don't make eye contact when we have run-ins in town/ just barely polite nod." Friend and mentor of sorts, David Bowie does background vocals on slowburner "Province" while Katrina Ford of Celebration bolsters the rich tapestry of the avant-pop track "Snakes and Martyrs." Adebimpe calls for redemption over the haunting melody and tribal percussion of "Tonight": "the needle, the dirty spoon/ the flames and the fumes/ just throw them out tonight." The surreal marching blues and experimental boom-bap of "A Method" marks another high point on the album as Adebimpe's wailing, chant-like vocals invoke a sense of mystery and yearning with the refrain "There is hardly a method you know." The frenzied pace continues with the explosive "Let The Devil In," the nostalgic "Blues From Down Here" (a Nick Cave tribute) and the modern doo-wop of "Wolf Like Me." The catchy, gleaming romance of "Dirty Whirlwind" fuels the frenzy, sounding like a soundtrack for a serial killer. "Return" also features Martin Perna and Stuart Bogie from Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra, Kazu Makino of Blonde Redhead and Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear. An American original," Return To Cookie Mountain" confirms that the U.S.--where experimentation is not only allowed but also encouraged--can produce modern greatness. TV On The Radio officially joins the ranks of indie rocks Holy Grail, Radiohead, Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene.
(Jon Jon)