Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Move over, Secret Machines!, 10 Jul 2006
I've always been aware of TV On The Radio but, shamefully, have never listened to an album of theirs in earnest until this one, and it's a revelation. I know we're only halfway through 2006, but I was starting to think Ten Silver Drops by Secret Machines could not be beaten in the intelligent, inventive US rock stakes. Well, Return To Cookie Mountain is giving it a run for its money. This album is so rhythmically interesting as much as anything else; haunting, rocky, soulful in a way that comes close to the Afghan Whigs, which is a high compliment, and I also hear shades of the Psychedelic Furs too, which you don't often say, and plenty of early solo Peter Gabriel. Really well worth a listen if you prefer your rock music grown-up, spooky and questioning.
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14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Return to TV on the Radio, 14 Aug 2006
TV on the Radio gave some serious reinvention to indie rock, with their debut "Desperate Youth Blood Thirsty Babes." Then they sort of dropped off for awhile, apparently to tinker with their future sound.
Well, "Return to Cookie Mountain" is an evolution of what they've done before -- the art-rock sound, the grimy electro, and the rough edges that don't need polishing.This isn't quite "there" enough to be their masterpiece, but TV on the Radio is definitely sounding wonderfully mature.
It starts off with the year's best intro -- drum beats, clashes, and an offbeat horn symphony that cuts itself off, before repeating again. As the jagged electronic beats come on, Tunde Adepimbe begins to croon, "I was a lover/before this war... I'm locked in my bedroom/so send back the clowns..." It's a bittersweet song with a warm, rich feeling.
The closest thing they have to typical rock is the heart-pounding "Wolf Like Me," with its howled bridges and eerie feeling, and the expansive, tinkling, explosive "Playhouses." There's also the rustling, stomping art-rock of "Let the Devil In," the swirling electro-rock, the soul-rock, and the epic bass-rock of the finale "Wash the Day Away."
Don't expect TV on the Radio to really rock out in "Return to Cookie Mountain," since they got recognition for their equally dense debut. The songs that follow are too grandiose, too looped, and too dense to be toe-tappers. The only real flaw is their tendency to sometimes neglect music in place of atmosphere -- although even their failures are fascinating.
And that atmosphere is of a dangerous, beautiful place -- campfires, tribal dances, wild animals and flying over mountains. The repetitive drums, bass and more typical instruments are loaded down with flutes, samples, electronic beats, mellotron, cymbals. It's all tangled into a series of loosely-strung, hypnotic melodies that seem to swirl around on themselves.
But the most hypnotic instrument is the vocals. Adepimbe can be deep and soulful, desperate howls, or higher and soaring; either way, he hasn't got the typical disinterested rock voice. And the jumbled, colourful lyrics are hard to make out at times, and eventually they simple become another repetitive pattern in the music.
TV on the Radio have one-upped themselves with "Return to Cookie Mountain," and yet there's a feeling of unfulfilled promise, hinting that they'll get even better as time goes on.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
1 star - you just HAVE to be kidding don't you!, 8 Feb 2007
I just don't get the negative feedback for this. I've held off writing a review because it seemed so self-evident to me that this was a good album and I find it difficult to believe anyone can find that much wrong with it. 1 star - you just HAVE to be kidding don't you!
As it stand this is a great collection of songs fantastically performed. Original? Yes I'd say so though I'm not that much into Bloc Party that I actually bother to listen to them too much! As for this being one of the best albums of last year? Okay so this is always going to be contentious but you only have to look at the near universal presence of this album on end of year lists to believe that most critics/listeners can't be that wrong!
Great track to start with in "I Was A Lover" and this is continued with "Hours" next up. Undoubtedly the highlight (Wolf Like me) comes in the middle so if anything it does suffer from this being a premature high. But this track IS excellent - moves along like an express train but doesn't suffer from getting louder as it gets faster - a common fault. "Let The Devil In" is another stormer - I just don't get that it goes off completely after "Wolf". "Dirtywhirl" is another great track - if this is derivative please tell me from whom...I can't think of anything.
Overall this IS one of the best albums of last year - without doubt. It really has grown on me. Give it a chance and don't let the naysayers rule your life!
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