knowncutter's Full Review: Return To Cookie Mountain by TV On The Radio
To pigeonhole TV on the Radio as an indie rock group is to do great injustice to the novelty and unbridled freshness found in their music. Hell, to even attempt to categorize something so eclectic as rock and roll requires a certain expansion of the genre. With Return to Cookie Mountain the band flings you into an alternate dimension of its own, landing somewhere between My Bloody Valentine, with low-level, atmospheric walls of sound, and Motown style vocals and harmonies, quickly making it clear that you’ve never tread these waters before. And still, despite, or perhaps because of, the foreign feel acquired from entering their world, you can’t help but feel this an area you’ll be returning to time and time again.
One distinguishable trademark of TV on the Radio is that they do a fabulous job of building up a song, Cask of Amontillado style (meaning brick by brick), until it reaches its exuberant and seemingly unattainable climax. What makes the build ups even more stunning are the different approaches the band takes in getting there. For example A Method opens with a rather quiet, calming whistle, series of claps, and Tunde Adebimpe’s incredible vocals. As the track builds steam the drums kick in forcefully, as if preparing a tribal sacrifice, and multiple brilliant harmonies are added. Never throughout the entire four plus minutes is a single standard instrument besides the drums utilized; only a subtle white noise filling any empty space left behind.
By contrast, Wolf Like Me presents a more recognizable rock pattern (perhaps the only song on the album to do so) opening furiously with rapid verses and actual noticeable guitar amidst the wash of noise in the background. Of course by the middle of the track the band has grown bored with conventional wisdom and slows the song down to a beautiful crawl devoid of the former back brace and somehow kept upright by welcoming the very emptiness that would doom most music. Naturally, Wolf Like Me breaks you out of this trance by diving head first back into the rockability, even more forcefully and exhilarating this time around.
Instrumentation on the album is diverse to say the least and you quite literally don’t know what to expect from track to track. Even when you think you’ve seen it all one of the best surprises, what I believe to be a bagpipe, is saved for the final track Wash the Day Away. An obvious guitar and bass are possibly the least common items utilized, making memorable appearance on the aforementioned Wolf Like Me, Dirty Whirl Wind (which actually manages to swirl about like its name might suggest), and to a lesser extent the wonderful David Bowie aided Province. You’re more likely to find pumping horns or steady piano driving up tempo romps like Blues From Down Here or assisting the progress of the succinct, poignant Hours.
The one constant you can be sure of on Return to Cookie Mountain is the lush, magnificence of the vocal parts. Adebimpe is the lead, and his range is remarkable, but by no means is this a one man show. Nearly every track consists of myriad additions and harmonies, seemingly covering every imaginable octave. Perhaps the most astounshing feat accomplished is the fact that the most memorable moments are sounds made with no words at all. Prepare yourself for multiple, "Ohhhh Wooo Ohhhhs," and a plethora of other unintelligable ecstasy.
One possible problem this album has is that the production and musicianship occasionally falter. Throughout most of the album this is covered up because it's not made prominent. In other words it’s imperative that the vocals shine for this album to succeed. On the rare occasion that the vocals are mundane and lacking melody, see the tidal waves of white noise overwhelming Playhouses, the track falls flat and remains unfulfilling.
In the end though, it’s almost impossible to voice a negative remark about Return to Cookie Mountain. Its infusion of a plethora of enjoyable elements and its refusal to sink into the trap of monotony makes it a can’t miss album this year. Songs that traditionally should have no right to carry on as long as TV on the Radio carries them breeze by and you’re left feeling either breathless or confused. I don't know about you, but I’d rather feel unprepared for something new, than bored out of my wits with dirge I’ve heard before. Trust me on this one; you haven’t heard anything quite as stimulating as TV on the Radio this year.
Song Rankings
$= Great song worth your money
Download (essentially steal)= Good song
Skip= Average filler
Garbage= Completely Unnecessary
1. I Was a Lover- Download
2. Hours- Download
3. Province- $
4. Playhouses- Skip
5. Wolf Like Me- $
6. A Method- $
7. Let the Devil In- Skip
8. Dirty Whirl Wind- Download
9. Blues From Down Here- Download
10. Tonight- Download
11. Wash the Day Away- Download
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