Search - TV on the Radio :: Return to Cookie Mountain

One of the most brilliant albums of 2006

Robert Moore | Chicago, IL USA | 07/19/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I was not a huge fan of TV on the Radio's previous album, DESPERATE YOUTH, BLOOD THIRSTY BABES. It was filled with interesting sounds and ideas, but they simply didn't coalesce for me into anything especially compelling or exciting. I'm not sure what happened between that album and RETURN TO COOKIE ALBUM, but whatever it was this is easily one of the most stunning albums I have listened to in a long time.



Not everything on this CD is gold, but all of it is at least very interesting, and at least two cuts stand out as among the best cuts of 2006, and "Playhouses" just might be my favorite song of the year so far. The individual moments are just as interesting and fascinating as on the earlier album, but this time the songs are definitely both exciting and compelling. The other album in the end failed to be truly musical, but this one is exhilaratingly so.



I'm not quite sure who to compare this album to. At times they definitely remind me of Pere Ubu, but not consistently so. Tunde Adepimbe's vocals are truly unique and really don't call to mind any other singer. The band also stands out as arguably the best mainly black rock band since Bad Brains.



I have only three complaints with the disc, complaints that do not outweigh the tremendous delight that I experience listening to the album. First, there are times when I respect it more than like it. Although "Playhouses" and "Dirtywhirl" are sounds that thrill and delight on nearly every level, there are other songs that are interesting only insofar as they are complex and challenging. Second, not all the material is up to the level of the very best songs; this is mitigated by the fact that there are a bevy of really fine songs. Finally, while I love the timbre of Tunde Adepimbe's voice, the band's technique of multi-layering his vocals sometimes obscures the lyrics. Although I have perfect pitch and have always been musical, I also have a sharp high-range hearing loss (the result of a jerk throwing a fire cracker at my head when I was twelve--instant traumatic hearing loss). The main way this effects my enjoyment of music is that I sometimes struggle to make out lyrics (I can easily hear vowels, but consonants on CD sometimes fall into the range of my hearing loss). There are entire songs on this album where I cannot make out more than two or three lines. It definitely impedes the enjoyment of the songs.



Still, this is simply a wonderful album. I simply can't get enough of "Playhouses," but love "Dirtywhirl" very nearly as much. Other highlights include "Hours," "A Method," "Let the Devil In," "I Was a Lover," and "Tonight."



I want to close by saying that while TV on the Radio is often described as an art-rock band--a description that for me, with my preference for garage and punk rock, is usually a dirty word--I didn't find them off putting and pretentious in the least, as I often do with such acts. This is just great music and should excite anyone who loves great music whatever its genre."

Love it.

resident_out_of_touch | Schenectady, New York United States | 12/14/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"TVOTR have won the prize: they followed up a classic with something better. Cookie Mountain finds them with a wider sonic palatte and more open, raw-sounding mix (new engineer perhaps..?). This is also due in great part to the prevalence of live drums on this album as opposed to the plentiful clickery of drum machines on Desparate Youth. Their songwriting, the leftfield wierdness of which attracted me to them in the first place, is as complex as ever, although this album has the illusion of being more conventional in its structure and arrangement. The first couple times through, I thought that they had simply moved more towards standard verse-chorus layouts for some reason. Upon closer inspection though, I think the difference is that they have simply created a greater sense of drama and energy between parts. On Desparate Youth, the tracks tended to build with a strangely hypnotic monotony (once again, driven very much by the synthesized beats). On Cookie Mountain, they are weaving together these incredible mixes of much more distinct harmonies and hooks. Their characteristic many-faceted vocal parts are out in force, and the effectiveness of the cascading vocals over the freewheeling, experimental instrumentation is much more intense.



I don't have a great deal else to say, this album is chock-full of ear candy and mind-boggling vocals. Their production aesthetic has become much more experimental as well, making the overall sound from song-to-song much more diverse, while retaining the characteric tribal rhythms and fuzzed out guitar. Off the top of my hand a couple standouts are "Province", featuring David Bowie, and the manic "Wolf Like Me"



Highly recommended!"

Tv on the Radio: Another new hope in a time of thoughtless m

Brian Wackwitz | Burlington, Vermont | 12/12/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Tv on the Radio has definately stepped it up on this album in songwriting. Their first album I really couldnt get into but this one is just great. Songs like "Let the Devil in","I was a Lover","A Method", are all great songs and definately worth listening to if your into something different."