Archived entries for TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: LCD Week

Where were you when your eardrums exploded? Yesterday will almost certainly go down as one of the most infamous days since D-Day or 9/11. The day that the internet stopped giving a shit about what we were doing and decided to lay too much on us at once. Broken Social Scene and LCD Soundsystem records leaked on the same fucking day? I handled this as any sensible human being would, rigging up two massive stereo systems and playing them both simultaneously about an inch from my face until my nose starting bleeding. I wanted to find the hidden message contained within, if any. I didn’t.

I don’t want to talk about both at once because after that traumatic experience, it’ll only bring up bad memories. So, instead we’ll focus on them one at a time. One today, one tomorrow. Or the day after tomorrow. Or next week, if I get lazy.

Yes, it appears that David Bowie has finally created yet another record to add to his canon. Something intertwining all of his styles, from his mid-period dance pop that combined elements of punk and synth, to his 70s era records with smart, innovative pop music. Wait a minute. This isn’t a Bowie record, you say? It’s done by James Murphy, otherwise known as LCD Soundsystem? Someone has some explaining to do. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 11

Guitar records are the shit when they’re done well. It’s a simple statement that I think is pretty true. Great guitar records have a certain aesthetic that isn’t matched by even the best records in different genres. The Arcade Fire and Animal Collective are two of the best bands of the past decade, but I’ll still put a White Stripes record on before them any time.

I’m not entirely sure why that is, to be honest. It just feels right in a way. There’s something to be said for bands like Animal Collective pushing forward and creating new ways to look at pop music. But, there’s also something so pure about music at it’s simplest. Just drums and a guitar lick and somebody wailing into a microphone. Maybe that’s why I like guitar records so much.

This week’s Hiatus Watch is the polar opposite of the last one, where we checked out MGMT’s incredible new album. The new Harlem album, called Hippies, is stripped down guitar rock at its finest. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 10

It’s been a little while since I wrote up a hiatus watch, mainly because I hadn’t found anything really worth sharing. Good music has come and gone, but great music? That’s been tough to find the past month or so. So, after my brief self-imposed exile last week, I’ve returned to inform you of some straight awesomeness.

In case you haven’t heard, there’s a new MGMT album coming out in a couple weeks. They released a song for download a week or two ago, and now they’re streaming the album from their website. As a result, folks have been letting their thoughts known for a little bit now. And all of their thoughts are fucking insane. Let’s get this out of the way right now: There is no “Kids” on this album. Nothing overly poppy. However, there is legitimately no reason for all of these reviewers to make it sound like MGMT has just made the WEIRDEST FUCKING ALBUM EVER. Shit, the way people are talking about this, you’d think that Andrew VanWyngarden and Ben Goldwasser were throwing piles of feces at a kick drum while reciting Arabic chants.

No, there’s no true pop on this album in the same vein as Oracular Spectacular. But, it’s still got its moments of catchy-ness. And, oh yeah, it’s fucking amazing. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 9

This review’s timing is not coincidental.  After I posted my Instigation Monday column, complete with Wu-Tang bad-assedness, I realized I’d made a huge mistake in my music listening from the past few months.  I’m an appreciator of all things Wu, yet there I stood having not completely consumed the critically acclaimed follow up to Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…

I’d heard all the praise and Raekwon is probably my favorite of all the artists in Wu.  I think I was holding out based mostly on the hype, really.  These days, hype in hip-hop is as common for a Raekwon record as it is for that shitty freakshow LMFAO.  Hype is really all that’s left in hip-hop, with every album that drops the “next big thing,” in the eyes of the promoters and diehard fans of the genre.  Yet every year I find myself only gravitating towards 2 or 3 hip-hop records at most.  As my friend Elliott said yesterday, it’s not often that a modern hip-hop record actually lives up to the hype it gets.

Not in this case.  Raekwon’s much-anticipated follow up, Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Pt. II, is absolutely absurd in its greatness.  Mobster storytelling is back.  It’ll probably disappear after this for another 10 years, but fuck it. Enjoy it while it’s here. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 8

I’m trying to keep this current run of reviewing albums that haven’t come out yet.  That’s the point of blogging, right?  Break some news or post some tracks that people haven’t really gotten down on yet. At least, I think that’s what it’s supposed to be.  Here at Hood Rich City, we just post whatever the fuck we want, which leads to brilliant shit like Disco Dracula from awhile back. So what it’s thirty years old? It’s awesome.

But again, I like the run I’m on with getting some leaks and letting you guys in on it.  So let’s keep it going with an album that’s coming out in early February from an artist you’ve probably heard of (or, at least heard).  And, based on the guest vocalist on the opening track, it’s entirely appropriate for the Hiatus Watch.

I don’t care if they’re last album was really terrible.  Massive Attack has a new album coming out for the first time in 7 years, and that qualifies as newsworthy for those of us who like good music.  It’s called Heligoland.  And good news for those of us that give a shit: it’s good.  It’s not Mezzanine, but still pretty damn good. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 7

Man, what an awesome weekend.  I got good and weird, watched a couple good movies on Friday and Saturday, and then the worst of all bad movies, The Room, last night.  Holy shit, that’s the greatest movie I’ve ever seen.  I was actually starting to question my own sanity watching that film.  I mean, how does this thing exist?  Even though every scene isn’t an absolute laugher (but, believe me, the majority are), what makes the entire film funny is the fact that writer/director/star Tommy Wiseau actually thought this was good.  I mean, he wrote it, shot it, edited it and thought “This is good enough to be released and people will love it.”  I mean, the fucking guy was comparing it to Tennessee Williams’ work when he started marketing it.  Wow.

That’s neither here nor there, of course, as Hiatus Watch has nothing to do with film discussion.  A shame, really, but we’ll focus on the music so Pretty Tony doesn’t yell at me.  I promised last week that I’d write about the new Spoon record, and I’m nothing if not a keeper of promises.

Transference is really fantastic.  Another step forward from the album with all the Ga’s, they continue to shape their pop sentiments while expanding the range of sounds and melodies in their repertoire. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch: Week 6

Man, I’ve been lazy the last couple weeks. I mean, really lazy.  I haven’t done shit and I haven’t written barely anything for this site, with the exception of the SHA about Soul Asylum. Why? Because it’s the New Year, I’m cutting back on my nicotine intake, and I’m looking at what I’ve done to my body over the holidays. All of those things make me irritable and whenever Tony wants me to write something I just fucking SNAP!

It’s Hiatus Watch time, and for once I’m not talking about a record that came out like a month ago.  No sir, I’m writing about a record that hasn’t even come out yet. The future is now, people! I do sincerely believe this is going to be the first record of the New Year that makes everyone in the indie world flip a shit. Oh, it’s good.

Nope. Not Vampire Weekend. Those guys are gay. Beach House’s new record Teen Dream is an airy bit of stoner’s delight. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch, Week 5

I feel as though I’ve been letting our readers down by neglecting to make any extra posts while doing these Decade Retrospectives, so for that I apologize. But no longer. Here’s a Hiatus Watch to tide you over and get you through the week before Christmas, which begins to feel like a month starting on Tuesday.

I got turned on to these folks about a month or two ago from a friend at work and they’re pretty solid. A bit under the radar, as they haven’t been detected too much stateside, but I think that’ll change within the next couple years.

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The group in question is Bombay Bicycle Club, whose debut I Had the Blues But I Shook Them Loose is a nice exercise in pop sensibilities. Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch, Week 4

I’m a literary nerd. Not in the sense that I’ll correct your grammar or make obscure references to Chaucer to prove a point, but in the sense that I’m a complete sucker for anything that’s well written or cleverly presented. As a result, I’m usually attracted to music that has fantastic lyrics and equally turned off by music with shitty lyrics.

Which brings us to this week’s Hiatus Watch. It’s been weeks since TV on the Radio announced their hiatus and we’re still in the dark a bit on the new music front. I’m shivering, I haven’t combed my hair in days and there are bits of Snickers hanging from my beard.

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However, an album came out earlier this year that gives us some more hope. Brilliantly written, strongly executed and excessively affecting, the album is quickly shaping up to take my personal top honors this year (there’s no trophy for this award, but, trust me, everybody fucking cares). The album is The Antlers “Hospice.” Continue reading…

TV on the Radio Hiatus Watch, Week 3

Ryan Gosling is a total candy-ass.

I don’t mean that. He seems like a decent enough dude, I suppose, and he’s a solid enough actor. I’ve never wanted to punch him in any of his roles. Except for Remember the Titans. I wanted to punch him then. He looked like a total doucher in that movie. Plus, everyone was being racist so my blood was already a-boilin’.

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But that main reason I hate Gosling isn’t because of anything he’s done. It’s because my girlfriend wants to bone him. Like legit animalistic boning. So I have to pretend I hate him to uphold the image: I don’t approve of your desire to bone this total lose-box. It gives me great pain, then, that Gosling’s band is the subject of this week’s TVOTR Hiatus Watch. Dead Man’s Bones is pretty legit, the album is awesome, and it makes my girlfriend want to bone him even more. FUCK! Continue reading…

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