TV On The Radio Return To Cookie Mountain CD

TV on the Radio: Tunde Adebimpe, David Andrew Sitek.
On its 2006 album, RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN, the Brooklyn-based post-punk group TV on the Radio manages that rare feat of becoming more adventurous and accessible at the same time. While this record isn't a major departure from its eclectic predecessor (the lauded DESPERATE YOUTH, BLOODY THIRSTY BABES), it is notably more cohesive, and even boasts a guest appearance by David Bowie, who slinks into backing vocals on the R&B-tinged "Province." By combining unpolished loops and stuttering beats with shoegazing guitar textures, the ensemble creates an utterly unique sound, particularly when the deep, expressive voice of Tunde Adebimpe and the falsetto singing of Kyp Malone fall into harmony, as on the hypnotic "I Was a Lover." Given that the band's first outing was the self-released, Radiohead-referencing OK CALCULATOR, it's wholly appropriate that with RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN, TV on the Radio has crafted an edgy, soulful counterpart to KID A.
As passionate as ever, but now with a little more polish, TV on the Radio's second album (and Interscope debut), Return to Cookie Mountain, is their most satisfying work since they exploded onto the scene with Young Liars. More than some of their indie rock peers, TV on the Radio seems comfortable on a major label. They've always been a band with a big, unapologetically ambitious sound, and on Return to Cookie Mountain, they give that sound room to breathe with a lush, expansive production. The sonic depth throughout the album is a sharp contrast with the density of their first full-length, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, which was so jam-packed with sounds and ideas that it was nearly suffocated by them. However, Return to Cookie Mountain is hardly slick or dumbed-down for mass consumption. In fact, the opening track, "I Was a Lover," is one of the band's most challenging songs yet, mixing a stuttering hip-hop beat with guitars of Loveless proportions and juxtaposing inviting vocal harmonies and horns with glitches and trippy sitars. "Playhouses" is only slightly less radical, with its wildly syncopated drumming and Tunde Adepimbe's layered, impassioned singing. At times, Return to Cookie Mountain threatens to become more impressive than likeable -- a complaint that could also arguably be leveled against Desperate Youth as well -- but fortunately, TV on the Radio reconnects with, and builds on, the intimacy and purity that made Young Liars so striking. David Bowie's backing vocals on "Province" are only one part of the song's enveloping warmth, rather than its focal point, while the album's centerpiece, "A Method," is another beautiful example of the band's haunting update on doo wop. Meanwhile, the mention of "the needle/the dirty spoon" on "Tonight" cements it as a gorgeous but unsettling urban elegy. As with all their other work, on Return to Cookie Mountain TV on the Radio deals with the fallout of living in a post-9/11 world; politics and morality are still touchstones for the band, particularly on the anguished "Blues from Down Here" and "Hours," on which Adepimbe urges, "Now listen to the truth." Notably, though, the album builds on the hopeful, or at least living for the moment, vibe that emerged at the end of Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. The sexy, funky "Wolf Like Me," which is the closest the album gets to rock in any conventional sense of the term, and "Dirtywhirl," which spins together images of girls and hurricanes, offer erotic escapes. And by the time the epic final track, "Wash the Day," revisits the sitars that opened the album with a serene, hypnotic groove, Return to Cookie Mountain gives the most complete representation of the hopes, joys, and fears within TV on the Radio's music. ~ Heather PharesRolling Stone (p.84) - 4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[F]rontman Tunde Adebimpe sings in a full-throated bellow -- often in harmony with guitarist Kyp Malone's spooky falsetto -- that is among the most soulful and arresting voices in rock."
Rolling Stone (p.102) - Ranked #4 in Rolling Stone's "The Top 50 Albums Of 2006" -- "The deliberate enigma of TV on the Radio's art rock has given way to a spacey magic..."
Spin (p.64) - Ranked #01 in Spin's "The 40 Best Albums of 2006" -- "[They] turn the dystopian wallow of Radiohead's KID A on its ear, finding a shocked freedom in alienation."
Entertainment Weekly (p.73) - "You won't hear airier, more evocative singing on a record this year, from the Beach Boys-like dissonant harmonies on 'A Method' to the eerie counterpoint vocals of 'Hours'." -- Grade: A-
Entertainment Weekly (p.128) - Ranked #2 in Entertainment Weekly's "Top 10 Records Of 2006" -- "TV on the Radio show us that harmony and noise can blissfully exist in the same space."
Q (p.115) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "[I]t's an album full of playful daring, where Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone weave vocal harmonies together over David Sitek's narcotic musical backdrop."
Q (p.121) - Ranked #39 in Q Magazine's "100 Greatest Albums of 2006" -- "[T]heir finest set of songs, with 'Hours' and 'Let The Devil In' combining their oddball sensitivity with smart, memorable hooks."
Alternative Press (p.190) - "The ultimate majesty of RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN is that it reveals something new with each listen. Yes, the journey is often challenging, but that's what makes it unforgettable."
CMJ (p.42) - "[With] misting, compact melodies that could be hits while doubling as the soundtrack for their world domination."
Clash (magazine) (p.76) - "Bold, ambitious, experimental -- it's the sound of a band realising their potential brilliantly."