By Samuel Rubenfeld
Brooklyn’s TV on the Radio is back with a new album – their first with a major label. Fresh from their Shortlist Award-winning debut – Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes – Cookie Mountain expands upon the ideas found on that release. Demos and leaked versions have been all over the Internet for nearly a year and the record has been lauded in the press prior to its release with good reason.It is impossible to pigeonhole this band into any specific genre. TV on the Radio mixes shoegaze, hip-hop, ambience, alternative rock and spiritual music into one relentless blend that does not stop. Though the band is a longtime darling of the indie-rock community, this record could be their breakout.Each track develops a unique mood through texture and production. The band is notorious for using such techniques to further the mood of the music that, in essence, makes them true artists. Vocalist and frontman Tunde Adebimpe has a background in art; he is an avid painter and an animator on the MTV show Celebrity Deathmatch.TV on the Radio has consistently grappled with politics in its songs and this release is no exception. Post 9/11 anxiety pervades the record, as exemplified in the song “Province:” “Suddenly, all your history’s ablaze/ Try to breathe as the world disintegrates.” Notable icon David Bowie lends backup vocals to this urgent track. Bowie’s been a source of major support to the band since 2003, when founding member David Sitek sold him a painting, as well as giving Bowie some of the band’s earliest recordings. Bowie has advised them on everything from dealing with record executives to releasing a one-off track recorded in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.The lead single “Wolf Like Me” features fuzzy bass, shimmering guitars and galloping drums, as well as Adebimpe and backup Kyp Malone’s eerie swirling vocals. As they build up into a fuzzing headtrip, it all disappears into light drums and instrumentation, with Adebimpe’s vocals more audible than ever. Suddenly, the fuzz is back and the track reaches the climax with both parts of the song (soft and loud) vying for supremacy.The one problem with the record is that it may be too overwhelming for the casual listener, an aspect that will hopefully not hurt record sales.