TV on the Radio

[botley]

New video on FoD for "Happy Idiot" starring Paul Reubens & Karen Gillan

[imail724]

Seeds leaked. It's pretty great.

[pwing47]

Just listened to it for the first time through. Yep, it's good. I'll be buying this on vinyl.

I can definitely tell a lot of these tracks will grow on me quite a bit after several listens, especially Ride. Fav new tracks are probably Love Stained and Right Now.

Going in for spin #2.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

not too into it so far. theres a few great tracks but overall it doesn't have the same creativity that oozes from almost all tvotr albums imo. careful you, test pilot and winter have caught me so far.

there are songs that sound different compared their past catalog but nothing that is that diff from what other bands are doing/have done. hopefully it'll open up with more listens.

[kel]

i love it. a lot.

[pwing47]

i love it. a lot.

Any fav tracks? Just curious, cuz a lot of the ones I discarded on first listen have come back and grabbed my attention.

I'm pretty sure Right Now will end up being one of my fav TVotR songs, which I know is a pretty bold statement. Cannot stop listening to that song.

For those who aren't crazy about the album (yet), my experience with Dear Science and NToL was similar to this on first listen, I think. A few standouts and a lot that I was bored with. It's about "half love, half pretty OK" right now. I really think the entire album will click with me after many more listens.

[richardp]

Most of the tracks definitely did not stand out on the first listen, but every time I go back I'm realizing this album is definitely going to slow creep up and amaze me. Although right off the bat the title track was really fantastic to me.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

ive narrowed down my dislikes to trouble, lazerray, ride and right now (the ugh moment of the album for me)

the other songs have a lot going for them and are definitely growing. winter and test pilot are great.

[Space Suicide]

Strong album, I like it much more than Nine Types of Light. No album will top either Return to Cookie Mountain and/or Dear Science though.

[pwing47]

Pretty good RS interview about Seeds with Tunde:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/fe...sitek-20141106

[kel]

Any fav tracks? Just curious, cuz a lot of the ones I discarded on first listen have come back and grabbed my attention.

I'm pretty sure Right Now will end up being one of my fav TVotR songs, which I know is a pretty bold statement. Cannot stop listening to that song.

For those who aren't crazy about the album (yet), my experience with Dear Science and NToL was similar to this on first listen, I think. A few standouts and a lot that I was bored with. It's about "half love, half pretty OK" right now. I really think the entire album will click with me after many more listens.

ride, love stained, and (my favorite) careful you.

i didn't like the last record much. this one is as good as dear science.

[valiantsteed]

Loving this record as much as I love all the TVOTR records. It's just this great addition to their family of songs. I really enjoyed 9 Types of Light and this is a fun progression of the concepts explored there with a much funkier and poppier sound this time around. There is a lot of happiness, amidst a layer of darkness bubbling underneath. Or maybe it's the other way around. All I know is it's good to have them back. I have the sense that Troubles is going to be incredibly mindblowing live.

[thevoid99]

I heard the record yesterday and man, it is fucking good.

[ghostaustin]

I'm waiting for the actual release date to listen to Seeds (quaint, I know...). But I was wondering if any of you have tried inserting Mercy or Million Miles into the track list? I'm planning on doing that at some point, but only if it feels like there is a place where they'd fit.

[imail724]

I'm waiting for the actual release date to listen to Seeds (quaint, I know...). But I was wondering if any of you have tried inserting Mercy or Million Miles into the track list? I'm planning on doing that at some point, but only if it feels like there is a place where they'd fit.

Why not just throw them on the end with "(Bonus Track)" at the end of each title? The band decided to not include in the tracklist for a reason I assume.

[botley]

ive narrowed down my dislikes to trouble, lazerray, ride and right now (the ugh moment of the album for me)

the other songs have a lot going for them and are definitely growing. winter and test pilot are great.

"Trouble" and "Lazerray" are fantastic live.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

i could see lazerray being better in a live setting but ive seen them 5 times now and I don't think they're very good live in general.

[Canuckle]

Was at last night's concert in Toronto, and aside from being reminded why I don't go to Toronto rock concerts (blows my mind how selfish people become in a concert setting), I was underwhelmed by their performance yet again.

I love this band's studio releases, and I get the live-jam type approach to a concert, but I've always been a bit perturbed at how much they smother the horns, pianos and soft synths with sheer noise in a live setting. Looks like Sitek loves his wankering a bit to much, and Tunde, while unique in his own right, strays off the expected vocal tone of a song a tad too much as well (DMZ live for example).

That being said, I enjoyed both Winter and Careful You from the new stuff, and Province and Blues From Down Here as old favourites.

[botley]

Horns? They have one trombone player on stage. Pianos? They have a couple of samplers. Soft synths? They use one big fat Minimoog bass patch and a couple of leads for colour from Jaleel's Nord.

It may surprise you that it's actually impossible to play the songs live as they are on record with six people.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

if its impossible to get the album sound live as you say they should stop trying. go for a different approach to their live set or something. ive seen a bunch of heavily produced albums translated live into a completely different beast and still as effective.

everyone one of their shows ive seen came off mediocre and full of technical difficulties and poorly mixed vox and instruments.

[eversonpoe]

if its impossible to get the album sound live as you say they should stop trying. go for a different approach to their live set or something. ive seen a bunch of heavily produced albums translated live into a completely different beast and still as effective.

everyone one of their shows ive seen came off mediocre and full of technical difficulties and poorly mixed vox and instruments.

i saw them open for the faint not long after "desperate youth..." came out and they were amazing. it felt like being at a gospel revival or something. i haven't seen them since (so it's been over ten years), but that is still one of my favorite shows i've ever attended.

[richardp]

The one time I saw TVOTR live it was absolutely fantastic. It was so energetic and everything sounded way better than it does on album. Not sure it's possible you got 5 bad shows from them.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

It was actually 6

electric factory 08 - one of the early shows of that tour and they didn't sound like they knew what they were doing on half of the dear science songs
central park summer stage 09 - horrible sound throughout and PA cut out halfway through their encore
prospect park 09 - low sound for an outdoor show
music hall of williamsburg 11 - bad mixing on vox through the first half of the show
williamsburg waterfront 11 - low sound and badly mixed guitar and vocals
radio city music hall 11 - best show ive seen from them but with exact same set lists it got too predictable by that point

yes. it's possible to see 6 bad/mediocre show by tvotr. with each new album i keep hoping they'll figure out how to translate it live but I'll be holding out on this new round of dates.

[botley]

if its impossible to get the album sound live as you say they should stop trying. go for a different approach to their live set or something. ive seen a bunch of heavily produced albums translated live into a completely different beast and still as effective.

everyone one of their shows ive seen came off mediocre and full of technical difficulties and poorly mixed vox and instruments.

Did you read my last post? They're not trying to sound like the album, the arrangements are different (and bad sound is another separate issue, try standing in a different part of the venue next time, or don't go to outdoor festivals or whatever).

[TheyCallMeDrug]

imo it always sounds like they're trying to recreate the album live. especially here.

rushed tempo, thin sound and the best thing about that song is the 3 horns which they didnt even take on the road with them. you can't even clearly hear a good bass sound and the chord changes because of it. sitek isn't even noticable in this, or many, of their arrangements. bring up the synth, heavier bass, thin out the treble and mix the drums better. also tunde's voice sounds like crap with that reverb effect they have on it.

this is what im getting at. i'm glad you guys think they're great live, but they're very underwhelming and sloppy sounding if you've been to enough quality shows.

[botley]

imo it always sounds like they're trying to recreate the album live. especially here.

rushed tempo, thin sound and the best thing about that song is the 3 horns which they didnt even take on the road with them. you can't even clearly hear a good bass sound and the chord changes because of it. sitek isn't even noticable in this, or many, of their arrangements. bring up the synth, heavier bass, thin out the treble and mix the drums better. also tunde's voice sounds like crap with that reverb effect they have on it.

this is what im getting at. i'm glad you guys think they're great live, but they're very underwhelming and sloppy sounding if you've been to enough quality shows.

Even if I agreed with any of this (I don't), you should still realize if you've been to enough quality shows (seriously! I fucking do this for a living, dude) that live sound in a real venue is totally different from how bands are mixed when they play on live TV. It's fine that you don't like the band's live show but playing your 'I know better than all of you' card is lamesauce.

[TheyCallMeDrug]

when you go to see a band and they consistently under perform and sound/mixing is a constant issue, then who's to blame? When you see them on tv and they also have the same issues, then what? as far as I'm concerned they don't know how to translate their material live, and I'd personally blame it on sitek and tunde's voice. I've seen kip malone solo at mercury lounge and with rain machine at BAM and he didn't have any sound or mixing issues. When i saw tunde open for the yyy's with his band higgins waterproof at union pool his voice also sounded like crap

i don't mean to be condescending to others opinions or play any cards just speaking from experience of going to a lot of shows over the past 20 years. after awhile you figure out what you can blame on the band vs. the venue. especially since I've seen quality sounding shows from other bands at every venue I've seen TVOTR at. (and if you're a sound guy i'm even more shocked your ears don't ping after hearing a live performance like the one I just linked) as such a good band on record they stand out like a sore thumb out of the shows i've been to as one of the most disappointing live acts Ive seen. and it's surprising coming from such a talented group of musicians.

[botley]

The Letterman performance was over-compressed (they always are) and sometimes, the vocals are a little low at their shows — but I think that's by design and I personally don't mind it. Your mileage obviously varies.

[Canuckle]

Did you read my last post? They're not trying to sound like the album, the arrangements are different (and bad sound is another separate issue, try standing in a different part of the venue next time, or don't go to outdoor festivals or whatever).

That was my point Botley. That their approach to live shows doesn't jive with me; which is OK as that is just my preference (Note I didn't say they were bad live).

I think TVOTR's strength is on the back of the subtle nuances in their studio albums, and I think they purposefully focus on trying to provide a 'rock concert' over a replication of their albums. A few of those nuances are lost live which is where I become underwhelmed. Some songs they are able to kill live ('Dancing Chose', 'Wolf Like Me', 'Blue From Down Here') and others simply feel bleh ('DLZ', 'Staring at the Sun'), but again, this is my opinion and they usually rock-out pretty well for 2/3 of their set.

[armogi]

I am just returning from Japan where I picked up the japanese version of seeds with the two vinyl bonus tracks, glad i waited to pick this one up!

they still have many tower records over there, brought back some good memories too.