Already a member?
Sign in
TV on the Radio (Return to Cookie Mountain)
Released September 12th, 2006 – 15 Tracks – (1:11:15) – Touch and Go Records
Standout Tracks: “Wolf Like Me”, “Blues from Down Here”, “Dirtywhirl”
“Album of the year?” I ask myself. Really, Spin Magazine? For those unaware, Spin magazine named TV on the Radio’s latest LP, Return to Cookie Mountain, the best record of 2006. The one issue I have with giving this album such a magnificent title, is well, giving it that title. Cookie Mountain isn’t so much an album as a few minutes of music surrounded by a sea of effects and mixes. I’m not saying that mixing doesn’t mean anything, I just believe that the music itself – the solos, the riffs, the basslines, etc. – should define an album rather than the effects tossed in to add flavor. And I must note that the flavors on this album left a (pardon the pun) bad taste in my mouth.
With few exceptions, there really isn’t much to this album. One song fades to another, and each is filled with fuzzy, dreamlike loops and deep, throaty vocals. Sure, such ambient noise may be good to listen to while working, but this album isn’t anything you can listen to while doing nothing else.
I could go the exact opposite way of Spin Magazine and go off on why you shouldn’t waste an hour of your life with TV on the Radio. But one song, “Wolf Like Me,” just won’t let me do that. On this album, the song is an anomaly (and when it’s a bad album like this one, that’s a good thing). “Wolf Like Me,” unlike the rest of the album, is, well, actually good. Its riff is impeccable, and the accompaniment of fist-pumping vocals make this song a joy to listen to. This song is the only concrete thing amidst the vast, formless void that is Cookie Mountain. It’s quite odd how this song is so unbelievably different than its counterparts. But, it’s quite clear that TV on the Radio needed a solid single and radio song for this album. The song has indeed succeeded on the radio, and yet it serves as a false promise of excellent music. Keep in mind that this album is nothing like “Wolf Like Me.” Songs like “Blues from Down Here” and “Dirtywhirl” may come closer than the rest of the songs on the album to "Wolf Like Me," but everything else is just a vast collection of haze, two-second loops, and soulful vocals.
So, to answer the question I originally asked myself: No, this shouldn’t have ever been considered for Album of the Year honors.
Standout Tracks: “Wolf Like Me”, “Blues from Down Here”, “Dirtywhirl”
“Album of the year?” I ask myself. Really, Spin Magazine? For those unaware, Spin magazine named TV on the Radio’s latest LP, Return to Cookie Mountain, the best record of 2006. The one issue I have with giving this album such a magnificent title, is well, giving it that title. Cookie Mountain isn’t so much an album as a few minutes of music surrounded by a sea of effects and mixes. I’m not saying that mixing doesn’t mean anything, I just believe that the music itself – the solos, the riffs, the basslines, etc. – should define an album rather than the effects tossed in to add flavor. And I must note that the flavors on this album left a (pardon the pun) bad taste in my mouth. With few exceptions, there really isn’t much to this album. One song fades to another, and each is filled with fuzzy, dreamlike loops and deep, throaty vocals. Sure, such ambient noise may be good to listen to while working, but this album isn’t anything you can listen to while doing nothing else.
I could go the exact opposite way of Spin Magazine and go off on why you shouldn’t waste an hour of your life with TV on the Radio. But one song, “Wolf Like Me,” just won’t let me do that. On this album, the song is an anomaly (and when it’s a bad album like this one, that’s a good thing). “Wolf Like Me,” unlike the rest of the album, is, well, actually good. Its riff is impeccable, and the accompaniment of fist-pumping vocals make this song a joy to listen to. This song is the only concrete thing amidst the vast, formless void that is Cookie Mountain. It’s quite odd how this song is so unbelievably different than its counterparts. But, it’s quite clear that TV on the Radio needed a solid single and radio song for this album. The song has indeed succeeded on the radio, and yet it serves as a false promise of excellent music. Keep in mind that this album is nothing like “Wolf Like Me.” Songs like “Blues from Down Here” and “Dirtywhirl” may come closer than the rest of the songs on the album to "Wolf Like Me," but everything else is just a vast collection of haze, two-second loops, and soulful vocals.
So, to answer the question I originally asked myself: No, this shouldn’t have ever been considered for Album of the Year honors.
~Joe Pinsker
SCORE: 3
Joe's Bottom Line: For a band that named their album after a world from Super Mario, this is surprisingly boring. It would be wise to stick to “Wolf Like Me” and go no further.
joe_pinsker |
Latest page update: made by joe_pinsker
, Mar 28 2007, 10:45 AM EDT
(about this update
About This Update
Edited by joe_pinsker
3 words added view changes - complete history) |
|
Keyword tags:
None
More Info: links to this page
|
