TV on the Radio

TV on the Radio’s live performances have gotten mixed reviews that range from load-blowing acclamation to boner-crushing critiques of their sound as tangled webs of white noise and barely audible vocals. No matter the sound quality, one thing that remains ever present is the group’s unrelenting hustle on stage. With the loss of bassist Gerard Smith, it’s been a trying few months for the band. Smith played crucial roles to TV on the Radio’s previous three albums and passed away this past April due to lung cancer. After a brief hiatus and some canceled shows, the soul-tickling Brooklynites returned to the stage and have been playing with the youthful vigor of horny adolescents. The group’s Pitchfork performance will be their first at the festival and one can expect a set list packed with tracks from new album Nine Types of Light, with the soul of Smith wrapped tightly within every note. (Sunday, 8:30-10, Green Stage) –text: James H. Ewert

Glasvegas, LA Riots, Lykke Li, Rise Against, Santigold, TV on the Radio

GLASVEGAS
While Glasgow rockers Glasvegas have been around since 2003, it wasn’t until 2008 that they got around to releasing their self-titled debut — which sold an astounding 56,000 copies in the first week of its release following the buzz created by their 2007 hit single “Daddy’s Gone.” Since that time they have released a Christmas mini-album, headlined the 2009 NME Awards Tour and supported Oasis on their largest-ever U.K. stadium tour. For Glasvegas, procrastination has certainly paid off. (Saturday, 5:30-6:30, Vitaminwater Stage) –text: Jyn Radakovits–photo: Steve Gullick

LA RIOTS
When I first heard LA Riots a while back I thought to myself, “damn, this is a straight-up club banger.” Apparently I wasn’t too off the mark, as URB describes LA Riots as “straight up, hot-as-shit club bangers.” Based in L.A. and consisting of the duo Daniel LeDisko and Jo’B, they’ve remixed the likes of Justice, The Ting Tings, The Cure, Hot Chip and Nerd, among many others, on their way to club banging preeminence. (Saturday, 6-7, Perry’s) –text: Anthony Spina

LYKKE LI
The ephemeral and dreamlike club sounds of Lykke Li will make you remember how it feels to fall in love, but only for a little bit. This Swede begins with the most basic emotion and pulls you in from there, her tunes recalling a childlike nostalgia that only adult retrospection can conjure. She’ll make you laugh until you cry, but you’ll feel great as you wipe off your tears and walk away. (Saturday, 6:30-7:30, Citi Stage) –text: Alexis Nido-Russo–photo: Marcus Palmqvist

RISE AGAINST
Still feeding off the moderate-to-warm praise of last year’s Appeal to Reason, Chicago punk rockers Rise Against have their meat hooks buried deep in the flesh of a summer tour. Well, as much as strict vegetarians and PETA supporters can have their meat hooks stuck in something, anyway. And with a split release with Face to Face rumored by year’s end, there should be a lot more of Rise Against to chew on in the near future. (Saturday, 6:30-7:30, Chicago 2016 Stage) –text: Derek Wright

SANTIGOLD
Earlier this year Santi White had to change the first “o” in her stage name Santogold to an “i” to become Santigold because an infomercial jeweler named Santo Gold threatened to sue (although Santigold makes much more sense). White often gets compared to M.I.A. but on last year’s self-titled debut, she demonstrated her originality. Influences of pop and reggae run rampant on popular songs like “Lights Out,” “L.E.S Artistes,” and “Shuv It,” all of which have been employed in movies, TV shows, and trailers to a sickening degree. Last summer, White teamed up with Diplo for a remix album called Top Ranking where several songs by Santigold and others were reimagined (The Clash’s “Guns of Brixton” cleverly became “Guns of Brooklyn.”) Santigold continues to strike while the iron is hot, and she’s reportedly in talks to work with David Byrne, Jay-Z or The Beastie Boys in the future. (Saturday, 5:30-6:30, PlayStation Stage) –text: Garin Pirnia

TV ON THE RADIO
Brooklyn-based critical darlings TV on the Radio have ruled the annual “best of” lists in recent years. 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain and last year’s explosive Dear Science were both heavily hyped and praised and kissed all over (and deservingly so, for the most part). Beginning with a self-released EP in 2002 entitled OK Calculator, TV on the Radio have been on a prolific stint ever since. Having graced the labels 4AD, Interscope and Touch and Go, the band has been impressing crowds with their dynamic, detonative live shows for years. As the concept goes, you know a band is exceptional when they’re better live than on record. This high-minded art-rock 5-piece continues to merge the borders of diverse genres such as alternative rock, jazz, electronica, hip-hop, soul, and garage. At times their sound is dark and brooding before immediately morphing into enlightening, exhilarating sonic booms. (Saturday, 6:30-7:30, Budweiser Stage) –text: Katie Knaub–photo: Michael Lavine

TV on the Radio

TV On The Radio’s sound is an attempt at capturing and creating beauty. I don’t know how to say it without it sounding pretentious. But I don’t want to put myself in any other kind of box but that.

story by Timothy Dwenger
photo by Michael Lavine

TV On The Radio began life as an experimental 2-piece in the small basement clubs of Brooklyn, where founding members David Sitek and Tunde Adebimpe laid the groundwork for what the band would later become. Their sparse and experimental blend of electronica and hip-hop was soon fleshed out when guitarist/vocalist Kyp Malone joined the fray along with the powerhouse rhythm section that is bassist Gerard Smith and drummer Jaleel Bunton. Together, these five men have methodically refined Sitek and Adebimpe’s early digital meanderings into a hard-hitting yet melodic sound that doesn’t quite resemble anything else out there.

Though they have been on the scene crafting their sound for seven years now, TVOTR exploded into public consciousness with their 2006 release, Return To Cookie Mountain. Their third full-length album (if you count their rare 2002 self-released demo OK Calculator as their debut rather than their more official 2004 Touch & Go Records debut Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes), the major-label release of Cookie Mountain landed the band on the top of many year-end lists, including the number one spot in SPIN. While the record did feature an appearance by David Bowie on backing vocals, the strength of the songwriting and musicianship alone was enough to push this album up the charts.

Picking up where Return to Cookie Mountain left off, TVOTR’s just-released new studio LP Dear Science blends Cookie Mountain’s angular, digitally-infused style with punctuating horn lines and driving funk rhythms to create a hybrid of music that sounds like the future of rock and roll. It’s a sound that might take some getting used to for newcomers, but it is artfully crafted as always and draws inspiration from everyone from Michael Jackson to Radiohead.

While Dear Science retains many of the signature sounds that fans have grown used to, guitarist Kyp Malone does admit that they have evolved in the years between recording sessions. “We use guitars on this record much more sparingly and, in fact, it may be the first TV On The Radio record where guitars actually sound like guitars,” Malone said in a recent interview from his home in Brooklyn. “There is less guitar as ‘wall of sound’ and more guitar as ‘here’s the riff presented contextually in the song when it’s supposed to be there — and then it’s gone when it’s not supposed to be there.’”

The record kicks off with pounding drums and a wall of sound that is reminiscent of older TVOTR before revealing a perfect example of this new technique in the second track. “Crying,” a song penned by Malone and Bunton, uses a well-placed guitar riff to evoke the feel of old-school soul and offers an interesting countermelody to the vocals while much of the song’s foundation remains percussive.

There isn’t one principal songwriter in TVOTR and while songs are fleshed out by the whole group in many cases, the genesis of the ideas seem to happen in little pockets within the band. When discussing his contributions to this record, Malone shares credit with several different people and reveals a deep interpersonal respect that exists within the group. “If there is another TV On The Radio record in the future, I would really like the band as a whole to be writing more. I feel that you are hearing more of the band progressively, but I feel like Gerard is a voice that hasn’t been heard. He’s a really good songwriter and a really good musician and a really great musical mind. While he’s not a completely untapped resource within the band, I want people to hear more of his stuff,” said Malone.

There is, and probably always will be, conversation within the indie music community about how a band’s sound will get watered down and/or destroyed when they sign with a major label. However, there seems to be a paradigm shift occurring with the industry as more and more bands are being allowed to maintain complete creative control of their records, even on major labels.

When TVOTR signed with Interscope (a division of Universal Music Group) they insisted on creative control and got it. As a result, the recording sessions for Dear Science, their second since signing with Interscope, were identical to sessions for past albums and the label had no input on the record at all. “No one is coming into the studio — ever,” said Malone. “That will never happen; if it happens, the record will not get made. No disrespect to anyone and I’m sure that outside ideas help some people, but this is our thing. The personalities in our band would consider it interference.”

Taking the helm at the controls, Sitek assumes the role of producer, along with his multiple instrumental duties. He is a wizard in the studio and in addition to producing all the TVOTR records he has helmed projects by Liars, Foals, and Scarlett Johansson, among others. Dear Science is as densely layered as past TVOTR albums, effortlessly weaving countless digital samples into the sound.

It is that vast array of sonic textures that present a challenge when the band hits the road, as they can be hard to reproduce in the live setting. “Rehearsals have been going very well, I am excited by the way the new material is coming together,” Malone said as he discussed arranging the new songs for the stage. “I play bass on several songs on this record and I play bass on some songs live now as well. While I am playing bass, Gerard is playing multiple keys, organ and Rhodes and I believe that Tunde is going to be triggering samples along with Jaleel on a separate MPC. We are working it all out now.”

Regardless of how the song arrangements come together for the live show, Malone is confident that the integrity of the songs will remain intact. “The primary thing is having the idea that you believe in and if a song stands on its own strength as a song, then it can be played by a person with a single voice and ukulele and it will still be that song and it will have the power of that song. The arrangement and the different instrumentation is just a different way to present the idea,” he said.

It is clear that each member of the band holds that concept close to their hearts as they work through the months of rehearsals necessary to bring TVOTR to the stage. The result is a live show that is as mesmerizing as the recorded songs. In his role as the band’s de facto frontman, Adebimpe twitches and jerks around the stage strangely in time with the music as he sings over the soaring sonic landscape that his bandmates create. They invigorate audiences and provide a rare opportunity to truly let loose and be completely absorbed by a unique musical experience.

“TV On The Radio’s sound is an attempt at capturing and creating beauty,” Malone said. “I don’t know how to say it without it sounding pretentious. But I don’t want to put myself in any other kind of box but that.”

TV on the Radio :: with The Dirtbombs :: Riviera :: October 22.

Cafe Tacuba, Pearl Jam, TV on the Radio

CAFÉ TACUBA
For those who have never seen Café Tacuba live, bring your dancing shoes. But not the white ones — because they surely will be stomped and dirty by the end of the show from all the jumping and shit kicking that is bound to ensue. Wherever this Mexico City quartet goes, they bring with them boundless energy that borders on pandemonium. Having started in 1989, Café Tacuba’s lineup has remained in tact along with their patented Mexican-style folk-infused rock. That said, however, if there is one thing Café Tacuba isn’t, it’s exactly that: one thing. The variety of styles implemented and use of meticulous technique, as well as their notorious stage performances, makes Café Tacuba perhaps the most preeminent band that has ever come out of Mexico. Yes, that is quite the statement I know, but go see them live and then come talk to me. (Sunday, 7:15-8:15, Adidas Stage) –text: James H. Ewert Jr.

PEARL JAM
When Pearl Jam takes the stage on the final day of Lollapalooza, it will be exactly three days after the 15th anniversary of the band’s first performance at the festival — when it made its touring stop at the World Music Theatre in Tinley Park. (Thankfully this will be no sentimental trip back to that much-reviled outdoor venue.) So, from 1992 to 2007, what’s there to expect out of Pearl Jam these days? Well, for starters, the Seattle outfit is 17 years into a career that has made them one of the premier bands to experience live. Although the band’s most recent studio effort (Pearl Jam) was hyped as a return to form — when in fact it did little to diverge from a path already walked — Pearl Jam continues to find a way to connect with its ever-loyal fan base when gathered together for a concert, particularly one as monumental as this. (Sunday, 8:00-10:00, AT&T Stage) –text: Chris Castaneda–photo: Danny Clinch

TV ON THE RADIO
TV on the Radio is living the fantasy of every indie rock star wannabe across the world. On their most recent release, Return to Cookie Mountain, the band got to work with rock god David Bowie. Not only that, but the album has been flying off the shelves while the band has been selling out venues across the world and playing to gigantic festival crowds — backed by a hard-to-achieve crossover support from both the indie and mainstream rock crowds. For a short week or two, MTV decided to champion the band’s video for their most radio-friendly hit “Wolf Like Me”, playing short clips of the video after shows like “Super Sweet 16″ and “The Real World”. Even with all the newly acquired fame and the nonsense that surrounds it, the band has kept their cool while continuing to win over new fans daily with their unique and ferocious live show. (Sunday, 7:15-8:00, MySpace Stage) –text: Hal Conick–photo: Roman Barrett