TV on the Radio

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Not to be confused with TV radios.
This article is about the band. For the English radio broadcaster sometimes dubbed "TV on the Radio", see Tommy Vance.
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio performing at the 2008 Treasure Island Festival
TV on the Radio performing at the 2008 Treasure Island Festival
Background information
OriginBrooklyn, New York, U.S.
Genres
Years active2001–present
Labels
Associated acts
Websitetvontheradio.com
MembersTunde Adebimpe
David Sitek
Kyp Malone
Jaleel Bunton
Past membersGerard Smith (deceased)

TV on the Radio is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe (vocals, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Kyp Malone (vocals, guitars, bass, loops), and Jaleel Bunton (drums, bass, vocals, loops, guitars). Gerard Smith (bass, keyboards, loops) was a member of the band from 2005 until his death in 2011.

To date, the band has released five studio albums: Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes (2004), Return to Cookie Mountain (2006), Dear Science (2008), Nine Types of Light (2011), and Seeds (2014), alongside several EPs.

History[]

The first release from TV on the Radio (initially just founding members Adebimpe and Sitek) was the self-released OK Calculator (the title being a reference to Radiohead's album OK Computer[2]). They were later joined by Kyp Malone, and released the Young Liars EP in 2003. This was followed by the full-length Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes which earned the band the 2004 Shortlist Music Prize. They released a second EP, New Health Rock, later that year.

Their second album, Return to Cookie Mountain, leaked in early 2006 and garnered pre-release praise from Pitchfork Media[3] before its official release in July overseas. U.S. and Canadian release was in September on Interscope. Spin magazine named Return to Cookie Mountain its Album of the Year for 2006.[4] The album features guest appearances from David Bowie, , Celebration, Dragons of Zynth, Martin Perna and Stuart D. Bogie of Antibalas, Blonde Redhead, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner. Bowie contributed back-up vocals on the song "Province". In promotion of the album, the band performed " Wolf Like Me" on the Late Show with David Letterman, which has garnered over 2 million views on YouTube.[5] During the U.S. tour, the band performed a few covers with Bauhaus singer Peter Murphy and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor.

The band's third album, Dear Science, was released September 23, 2008 on Interscope. It was made available for streaming on their Myspace page and subsequently leaked onto the internet on September 6, 2008. The album was named the best album of 2008 by Rolling Stone,[6] The Guardian,[7] Spin magazine,[8] The A.V. Club,[9] MTV,[10] Entertainment Weekly,[11] the Pitchfork Media's readers poll[12] as well as the Pazz and Jop critic's poll.[13] It was also named the second best album of 2008 by NME and the fourth best album of 2008 by Planet Sound.

On September 22, 2008, TV on the Radio performed "Dancing Choose" in the setting of a flight of outer apartment stairs on the Late Show with David Letterman.[14] They also appeared on Later... with Jools Holland on September 30, 2008, performing "Golden Age" and "Dancing Choose", which were the same songs they performed on Saturday Night Live on February 7, 2009. The band performed "Dancing Choose" on the February 9, 2009 episode of The Colbert Report.

On September 3, 2009, Tunde Adebimpe announced that TV on the Radio would be taking a year-long hiatus.[15] Guitarist Kyp Malone's solo album, under the name Rain Machine, was released on September 22, 2009 on ANTI-.[16] A solo album by Dave Sitek, Maximum Balloon, was released August 24, 2010 on Interscope, featuring a variety of guest vocals by many of his musician friends such as Karen O, David Byrne, and both of his TV on the Radio vocalist bandmates, and numerous others.[17] In addition, Sitek produced Holly Miranda's album The Magician's Private Library, which also featured fellow TV on the Radio members Jaleel Bunton and Kyp Malone.

In March 2010 the band's lead vocalist, Tunde Adebimpe, designed a charity T-shirt for the Yellow Bird Project to raise money for Haiti Relief via Partners in Health.[18]

On February 7, 2011, the band announced an end to their hiatus, along with their upcoming fourth album Nine Types of Light.[19][20]

On April 12, 2011, the album Nine Types of Light was released along with a one-hour film under the same name containing music videos for all the songs on the album as well as interviews with various New Yorkers. The film was directed by various directors under the supervision of Tunde Adebimpe.

It was announced in March 2011, that the band's bassist, Gerard Smith, was diagnosed with lung cancer. On April 20, 2011, the band announced the death of Gerard Smith on their homepage: "We are very sad to announce the death of our beloved friend and bandmate, Gerard Smith, following a courageous fight against lung cancer. Gerard passed away the morning of April 20th, 2011. We will miss him terribly."[21]

In May 2013, the band headlined and curated the All Tomorrow's Parties music festival held at Pontins holiday camp in Camber Sands, England, at which they debuted the new song "Mercy."[22] The band began streaming the studio version of "Mercy" online on July 30, 2013 and released the song for sale on digital music outlets a short time later. The band also made the multitracks from Mercy available to fans so they could make their own remixes. The next single "Million Miles." was released digitally a few months later. Both songs were later released physically on either side of a 12 Inch single, released through Dave Sitek's Federal Prism label.

On November 8, 2013, via their Facebook page, the band announced they were at work on a new album. The band made an official announcement July 29, 2014, that this new album, titled Seeds, was scheduled for a late 2014 release.

In early 2015, it was announced that the band would perform at the Shaky Knees and Boston Calling Music Festivals in May 2015.[23] On April 9, 2015 they announced a 2015 North American Summer Tour to promote the new album. The tour began in May and ran through a concert in Morrison, CO at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre on July 27.[24][25]

Style and influences[]

TV on the Radio has said that their eclectic music is due to their liking of very diverse bands, including Bad Brains, Earth, Wind & Fire, Nancy Sinatra, Serge Gainsbourg,[26] Brian Eno,[27] and Pixies. Adebimpe covered the Pixies song "Mr. Grieves" under the TV on the Radio moniker at the beginning of his career, layering his voice over forty times. The band has also cited Prince's "Purple Rain" as a classic.[28] TV on the Radio also named post-punk acts Wire[26] and Siouxsie and the Banshees.[29] Sitek stated: "I've always tried to make a song that begins like [Siouxsie's] "Kiss Them For Me" [...] with that element of surprise mode where all of a sudden this giant drum comes in".[29]

Members[]

Current members[]

  • Tunde Adebimpe at Harvest Festival
    Tunde Adebimpe – co-lead vocals, backing vocals, programmer, sequencer (2001–present)
  • Dave Sitek
    David Andrew Sitek – lead guitar, programming, sampler, bass, synthesizer, horns, percussion (2001–present)
  • Kyp Malone in 2009
    Kyp Malone – co-lead vocals, backing vocals, guitar, bass, synthesizer, strings (2003–present)
  • Jaleel Bunton – drums, percussion (2005–present in studio; 2005–2011 live); guitar, Rhodes, organ, synthesizer, backing vocals (2005–present); programming, strings (2008–present); bass (2011–present)

Touring members[]

  • Dave Smoota Smith – trombone, percussion, Mellotron, Moog, bass (2011–present)
  • Jahphet Landis – drums (2011–present)

Former members[]

  • Gerard Smith – bass, organ, piano, sampler, programmer, Rhodes (2005–2011; his death)

Former touring members[]

  • Stuart D. Bogie – saxophone (2008–2009)
  • Colin Stetson – saxophone (2008–2009)

Discography[]

Main article: TV on the Radio discography

Studio albums[]

References[]

  1. ^ Phares, Heather. "TV On The Radio – Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved July 26, 2015.
  2. ^ Harrington, Richard (April 13, 2007), "TV on the Radio: Coming in Loud and Clear", Washington Post, pp. WE06, retrieved September 30, 2008
  3. ^ Dahlen, Chris. "Return to Cookie Mountain Archived 2007-07-14 at the Wayback Machine". Pitchfork Media, July 5, 2007. Retrieved on June 24, 2007.
  4. ^ "The 40 Best Albums of 2006". Spin, December 14, 2006. Retrieved on November 2, 2007.
  5. ^ ""Wolf Like Me" on YouTube". YouTube. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  6. ^ "The 50 Best Albums of 2008". Rolling Stone. 2008-12-25. Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  7. ^ Jonze, Tim (December 12, 2008). "No 1: TV On the Radio – Dear Science". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  8. ^ "The 20 Best Albums of 2008". Spin.com. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  9. ^ "The best music of 2008". The A.V. Club. December 10, 2008. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  10. ^ Montgomery, James (2008-12-17). "The Best Albums Of 2008, In Bigger Than The Sound". MTV.com. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  11. ^ "10 Best CDs of 2008: Leah Greenblatt's Picks". EW.com. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  12. ^ "2008 Pitchfork Readers Poll". Pitchforkmedia.com. 2008-12-12. Archived from the original on 2009-02-27. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  13. ^ "New York Pazz and Jop". Villagevoice.com. 2009-11-10. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  14. ^ "TV on the Radio – Dancing Choose on Letterman". YouTube. Retrieved 2012-03-30.
  15. ^ Montgomery, James (2009-09-03). "TV On The Radio To Go On Hiatus". MTV.com. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  16. ^ "Rain Machine". ANTI. Archived from the original on 2010-01-03. Retrieved 2009-11-17.
  17. ^ Billy Jones (June 14, 2010). "an interview with Dave Sitek of Maximum Balloon (the TVOTR guitarist/producer's new project w/ many guest vocalists)". Brooklyn Vegan. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
  18. ^ Matheson, Whitney (2011-03-30). "Cool book alert: 'Indie Rock Poster Book'". USA Today. Retrieved 2013-11-28.
  19. ^ "TV on the Radio Return!". Pitchfork. Retrieved February 7, 2011.
  20. ^ "NEW ALBUM, Nine Types of Light, COMING SPRING 2011 – BAND TO PLAY RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL APRIL 1". Myspace.com. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  21. ^ "TV On The Radio's Gerard Smith dies at 36". Marquee.blogs.cnn.com. Retrieved 19 November 2014.
  22. ^ "ATP curated by TV On The Radio". atpfestival.com. Retrieved 12-10-2014
  23. ^ Ollman, Jonah. "Boston Calling Announces May 2015 Lineup". Sound of Boston. Retrieved 15 January 2015.
  24. ^ "TV On The Radio 2015 North American Tour Schedule". April 16, 2015. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  25. ^ "ANNOUNCED: TV On The Radio East Coast Tour". April 9, 2015. Archived from the original on April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  26. ^ Jump up to: a b Harris, David. "TV on the Radio (David Sitek): Interview". Tinymixtapes.com. September 2008
  27. ^ "SoundToys Fanatic – David Sitek" Archived 2010-05-17 at the Wayback Machine Soundtoys.com.
  28. ^ Keyes, J. Edward. "TV on the Radio"[dead link]. Rollingstone.com.
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b "Icon: Siouxsie", The Fader Magazine, The Icon Issue 67, April/May 2010. Page 74

External links[]

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