Let’s get serious, yall. TV on the Radio isn’t as good as people would like to pretend that they are. Not sure why they are ‘gettin s0 much love’ from Best of 2008 Lists by ‘Music Magazines with Tastemaking opinions.’ Not that I listened to their 2008 masterpiece DEAR SCIENCE, but still, you can tell it is weinery just from listening to 7 seconds of the ’single’ from it.
TV ON THE RADIO is a band that people think they are supposed to appreciate. These people are not sure why they ‘like’ TV on the Radio; however, aligning their personal brands with TV on the Radio makes them a more cultured/culturally-connected person. TV on the Radio is a band with 1 white dude and a bunch of black dudes.
TV on the Radio apparently makes music that ‘is inspired by a bunch of different genres.’ However, I would compare the end product to SLOP, the food item that u feed 2 pigs. In order 2 feed pigs, all u need 2 do is mix the leftovers and scraps from your family’s dinner table.
I feel like ‘liking TV on the Radio’ is something for people who:
- don’t actually listen to music
- enjoy music based on ‘what authentic buzz sources’ claim 2 b ‘authentic’
- enjoy liking bands that aren’t accessible to entry levelers but actually just aren’t accessible to any one
I remember when TV on the Radio went on Letterman. They were too alternative to perform on the stage like every1 else, so they decided to have a meaningful fire escape show. Now I kinda wish clubs had fire escapes instead of stages.
Key elements to TV on the Radio’s success
- They look zany/interesting-core
- They are ‘from New York’
- They are a mixed race band
- They participate in meaningful sideprojects that are shitty/mediocre, but they provide Music News Meme Generators to ‘blurb about’ more TV on the Radio coverage
- They are the kind of band that thinks their music is a healing mechanism for the world.
- They take themselves seriously, enabling them to ‘take risks’ that other people think they are supposed to take seriously.
- Needlessly high production value that requires the use of $200+ noise-canceling headphones (this appeals to people who order gimmick products from SkyMall magazines).
I remember when I was an entry-leveler/pure altbro, I went to a TV on the Radio concert. The white guitarist guy made every one in the audience take out their keys to ‘use as percussion.’ I looked all around me. The crowd began dangling their keys in rhythm with a babbly TV on the Radio song, grinning with delight as they ‘authentically appreciated the venue’s acoustics.’ I immediately walked out of the venue. While my life is meaningful, a part of me realized that it wasn’t meaningful enough to participate in a collective concert experience.
Let’s be honest, yall. TV on the Radio’s music has gotten progressively worse since their first album. They only have a few good songs. “Staring at the Sun” and “Wolf Like Me” are alright. It’s just hard for me to take the bro who claims that “TV ON THE RADIO = AWESOME” very seriously.
You also can’t underestimate the opportunity for white people to ‘like/appreciate’ music that ‘black people’ make, particularly when it doesn’t sound like music that ‘black people traditionally make, but since black people are making it, u can still kinda hear the authentic-aesthetic that only artists whose ancestors are [via Africa] can generate (kinda like Jazz/afro beat/etc.).’
The name of our album includes the word ’science.’ This means that we understand ‘humans after all’ on a level that goes beyond social interactions and generic ‘gripes about society.’ We are also on record as ‘Bush Haters.’
TV on the Radio is also one of those Radiohead-esque bands where you don’t know what the hell they are talking about, but you get the sense that it is ‘relevant commentary on a metaphorical level that isn’t worth questioning.’ They sort of remind me of a band of ‘intellectual dropouts who rope you into a conversation about modern issues to prove that they didn’t need an education 2 stay informed/cultured.’
It’s always interesting when a band ‘takes themselvez seriously.’ While you usually see this in your local scene with a band who is trying to ‘make it’ and just end up looking like douchebags/their band sounds like conceptual p00p, TV on the Radio has ‘made it’ and garnered worldwide acclaim. Maybe they are ‘okay’, and maybe I just don’t ‘get it’, but just wanted 2 let yall know that I’m not interested. If yall tastemaking magazines want 2 start selling magazines/generating ad impressions, yall are gonna have to start putting less conceptual crap on your top 10 lists. (Katy Perry: #1 artist of 2k8?)
I just have this image of a 35 year old man reading P4k/Rolling Stone/NME/SPIN’s best of 2k8 list, going on iTunes to buy the top 3 albums, halfheartedly listening to them, then going back to listening to meaningful songs from the late 90s, ‘back when good music was more than just weirdo conceptual crap that people had 2 pretend is awesome.’
“TV ON THE RADIO? More like POOP IN MY MP3 PLAYER.”
– a modern music critic whose gimmick is incorporating the word ‘poop’ into his reviews
Loading ...
IAmCarles.com
90 Comments
WHAT THE HELL?! IT IS 8AM AND THIS SHIT IS POSTED!
HOW MUCH BLOW DO YOU DO OFF YOUR NANO CARLS?!
Reply
Substitute Radiohead for TV on the Radio and this article is spot on.
Well minus the stuff about race.
Reply
//////////Reply by wrong
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 11:54 am
@say tw(h)at?,
rdiohead is the shit, TV on the radio sux…ur wrong
Reply
//////////Reply by say tw(h)at?
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
@wrong,
“rdiohead”s post Kid A output is all the things this article complains on TV on the Radio for being.
They aren’t a bad band. They’re okay. They just have that ’supposed to like them to seem musically intelligent’ quality that takes their mediocre output to god status on shitty posturing music blogs like Pitchfork.
Oh and in response to the tone of your reply: “my dad can beat up your dad”.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
@say tw(h)at?, you know.. I kind of get that. but the more I listen to in rainbows the more I think that it really is as good as everyone says.
//////////Reply by MrkZckrbrg
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 8:34 pm
@say tw(h)at?, check that…. Radiohead’s post OK Computer output is all garbage.
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
@wrong,
Radiohead is just ‘ok’
srsly
Ppl act like radiohead invented music or something…yeah they’ve got a couple ‘really good’ songs but the rest of ‘em aren’t that good unless you’re getting stoned w/1-3 of your closest friends after a meaningful night out at a TV on the Radio cncrt followed by late night inNout/tommys/dennys
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:15 pm
@wrong, Radiohead really is all that and I’m temped to say it’s a major character flaw if you don’t at least respect them.
Reply
//////////Reply by tommy yorke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:48 am
@anony, ikr what kind of fucking retarded faggot thinks radiohead is overrated
//////////Reply by An
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
@anony, srslysrslysrsly
//////////Reply by vdieselfor20
//////////Posted June 29th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
WHO WILL WIN THE ARGUMENT
Reply
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
@say tw(h)at?, Obv you have not one clue what good music is. Radiohead is has been to best band for almost 2 decades now. STFU the post was about TOTR. Hate hater’s yall, like ths guy who uses the an h i the spelling of twat. I never really lked TV OTR, but some of my friends tht I respect musically love them. I guess they are alright. HYPE HYPE HYPE
Reply
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 12:45 pm
@Adam West, i also can not spell
Reply
//////////Reply by mol-d
//////////Posted January 26th, 2009 at 6:08 pm
@Adam West, like a lot of bands (excluding radiohead) their first two albums are cool and the third starts waning…
radiohead got better the more beats / ideas they stole from aphex twin but are pretty much not cool…
Reply
//////////Reply by tommy yorke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:05 am
@say tw(h)at?, you shut your dirty mouth
Reply
//////////Reply by AnonAnonymous
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:42 am
@tommy yorke, <3 u guys
Reply
//////////Reply by say tw(h)at?
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
@Adam West
“Radiohead is has been to best band for almost 2 decades now.”
How old are you ? Sixteen?
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
@tw(h)at? this is the internet, not grammar school. U insulting my horrible grammar is meaningless. I’m over 20 hence the two decades. And if I was sixteen what the hell would it matter. Go listen to tapes and tapes and be your ultimate hipster-self, cuz you are totally awesome. hahaha I love this fuckin bloggg.
//////////Reply by AZ SNYPE
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 pm
YO I SECOND THAT!!!
Radiohead = most overrated band of 2k2+
TV On the Radio = Best band 2k8
Love Wolf Like Me!@$%@@$%^&*(
Reply
//////////Reply by ab
//////////Posted February 3rd, 2009 at 1:19 am
@AZ SNYPE, so you’re once of those idiots who decides they’re over bands once they become “overrated”. I’d like to see what your reaction to TVOTR by the end of this year.
Reply
Posts like this are the reason I read HRO.
Reply
oh no
this is complaining-in-lists carles
not funny carles
ugggh can’t we subdivide the blog
Reply
CARLESS!!! I kneeww I coulld count onn youuuuu to say DEAR SCIENCE was overrated. Blahhh
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:06 pm
@Lux, I’ve saying dear science was overrated for… at least a year now. It’s GOOD but it’s not GREAT. It’s not a 9.2 (pitchfork)… 8 is being generous but I’ll buy it… it could be as low as a 6-7. Deal.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 1:32 pm
@anony, I’m also a vampire weekend h8er when the time allows….. mostly weekends.
Reply
Charles I couldn’t agree with you more, kudos on this entry.
Reply
//////////Reply by tryin2findmyself
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
@JStone, charles
Reply
//////////Reply by anon
//////////Posted February 24th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
@tryin2findmyself,
LOL @ tryin2findmyself
koodos to your observant nature
but your name is a bit too EMO
Reply
//////////Reply by andrew R. Carbone
//////////Posted August 17th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
@anon, thats not emo, emo would be “passed the highway exit”
Brav0!
Reply
I can’t tell you how happy I am to read this. I wanted to like them for the same reasons as you’ve presented (alt black dudes, me being entry level and them being on the syllabus), but it’s only ever music i’m too lazy to skip when I’m hungover. I’m sure they’re nice dudes, but I don’t ‘get it.’
Reply
//////////Reply by tralalacz
//////////Posted June 17th, 2009 at 8:29 pm
@Colander, haha, sorry, but if you were saying it serious- this is so funny! how you can look at band’s music because of this things? that’s reaaally terrible.
Reply
Idk, Crls… I N-joyd the album. Ur article was funny tho. I guess I don’t take my music so srsly. Should I align my personal brand with tween <3throbs the JoBros? I hear one of the Bros has a song about Diabeetus. My younger sis says they’r pretty “genuine”.
Britney Spears is apparently back too ya’ll. She was steaming and nood in her vid. That’s pretty authentic 4 me. More mainstreem noodz and nip slips in 2009!
Reply
//////////Reply by T-Mac
//////////Posted October 28th, 2009 at 11:25 pm
@ldstr, TOTR is sh!t and Britney is hot??? Are you drunk? Don’t worry about what you’re sposed to think – just listen. I’ll bet you get more out of it than Oops I Did It Again
Reply
I just don’t like their music simple
Reply
TV on the Radio makes me want to gauge my eyes out with a spoon and eat them.
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
@anon,
That’s dumb…then you’d still have to hear them, but you wouldn’t be able to read HRO.
Reply
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:03 pm
@*Jesse, lol
Reply
//////////Reply by AnonAnonymous
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:45 am
@Adam West, lol
Srsly tho…that song ambulance is kinda authentic in a ‘black guys doing acapella in the subway 4 drug/beer money’ kinda way.
But yeah, wAy overrated tho.
<3 u crls.
PS- I’m gonna channel lennon and imagine what if all the mediocre artists/musicians/creative ppl stopped ‘cre8ing’ and became doctors/teachers/free-spirited lawyers…..Hipsterrunoff wouldn’t exist and I wouldn’t be a high school drop out with fuked up teeth who’s on probation.
H8 U Industry!
Miss U ‘fat of the land’
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
@*Jesse, that song is legit in its own right, and they are overrated now, by some, but to many, myself included, I like most of their stuff and I’ve seen them live once, but I’m not about to say they’re the best of anything. We need to find some middleground b4 radiohead fans and tvotr fans start a turf war. seriously can’t deal w/ alt on alt violence
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 2:03 pm
@panchizzy,
I know, right?
Is authenticity the new Isreal?
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 3:58 pm
@*Jesse, I think Israel is the new Coldplay.
its a war on the mainstream/alt settlements. picked up where sgt pepper left off
Carles, they kinda sound like creed if you think about it with the deep meaningful crooning.
This album sux. Rock-rap sux unless it’s Smash mouth.
Whether you are kidding or not, I’ve never agreed more with a post of yours before.
Reply
//////////Reply by jack herror
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
@boogie,
tv on the radio aint no rock-rap wtf
Reply
//////////Reply by boogie
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 1:08 pm
@jack herror,
Dancing Choose is
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:43 pm
@boogie, they did it all for the nookie
it’s easier to just hear about those bands than actually listen to them.
Reply
crles, ima listen to this album just to spite you. i think you just don’t get what being meaningful-core is all about.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
@jjjjjjjjoe, Oh he does but you just can’t polish a turd; you just get more of it all over your hands and Mr. Hanky already left so your going to have a hard time explaining that.
Reply
Menomena is so much better than TVOTR and ridiculously under rated and NO they do not sound the same. I’m disappointed they didn’t put out their album this year but 09 is shaping up to be a great year for music.
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
@anony, lets be real. sometimes menomena legitimately sounds like TVOTR.
Reply
This is, by far, the most accurate assesment of this band I’ve ever read.
Reply
//////////Reply by An
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
@DiabetesAlt, agreed. I didn’t even read more than a few sentences. The pictures did it all. I actually gave the band a chance by dling their album. But hell… it’s boring and annoying.
Is there an article like this for Vampire Weekend?
Reply
Finally! I thought I was the only one that didn’t “get it.” It’s not that I don’t get it actually. It’s that they are so bad that it’s uncomfortable to listen to them.TV on the Radio incorporates some of the most annoying vocal performances and shittiest beats into their music, especially in Golden Age. Way overrated
Reply
thank you, i saw them when they opened for modest mouse…wasn’t all that great. it’s one thing when everybody hates on a band that actually has some talent, but when someone gets praise when most kids think they are overrated….something is wrong.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 1:58 pm
@word, True Story: Vampire Weekend’s management paid someone to pass out vampire weekend hand signs (round with a large stick on the back of them) These clearly were NOT hand made and were ordered out for some “viral campaign” This was during Musicfest in Portland. The kid couldn’t give them away to those in line for TVOTR. I think the kid passing them out didn’t even want to see vampire weekend which was playing at the same time at another venue. He just wanted to distribute free shit and get back with the party.
How and in what ways do viral marketers choose who they are going to market to? FYI: The energy drinks that taste like ass should be made to taste like redbull… it’s damn near 2009; I think you have technology. I will try any red bull or even sparks like substance but only if it costs less and doesn’t suck too much.
Reply
//////////Reply by An
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
@anony, they sell themselves to North Eastern Liberal Arts Colleges as up and coming ‘it’ bands and then while all the wannabehipsters are drooling/non-committal dancing, everyone else is left feeling like they don’t ‘get’ it and hatin.
I’m still hating on both tvotfuckingr and vamphucking weekend.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
@An, I don’t mind either… I think TVOTR is by far more interesting than vampire weekend. For the background music annoyance test TVOTR would certainly annoy me less and I even listen to them from time to time but for the most part I don’t need to spin their albums very often. I listened to dear science SEVERAL times and it’s good but it’s just not blowing me away and I kept thinking eventually it would since “everyone” thinks it’s gold. Not seeing it so far.
TVOTR is jank. This is the best piece I’ve ever written about them.
“P4K!!!”
I swooned with aging altbag euphoria when I read that and ‘got it.’
Alz I want for X-Mess is an altbagbromance with Santa Carles…leave vegan cookies under my Urban Outfitters white plastic tree to lure him in and unmask his true identity…
Reply
//////////Reply by Old Media
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 2:32 pm
@Old Media,
I mean CARLES has ever written about them…
Reply
Every now and then, Carles pokes his head out of the water and makes an authentic/meaningful comment (see: Teenagers interview). And every time he does this, he is spot-on.
Though I would say that TVotR is incapable of making two good records in a row. Witness:
EP – Great
1st LP – Sucks
2nd LP – Great
3rd LP – Sucks
This latest album sounds like TVotR covering a TVotR cover band.
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
@Forest, truer words neva been commented
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 2:01 pm
@Forest, With a little bit of that arcade fire tribute to TVOTR
Reply
THANK U CRLS
Reply
OTHER BANDS THAT SUCK AND PEOPLE ARE SUPPOSED TO LIKE
-JOY DIVISION
-MORRISEY
-THE BLACK KIDS
-THE SMITHS
Reply
//////////Reply by boards
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 6:01 pm
@LOL, srsly? black kids maybe suck, moz maybe sucks…but JDiv and Smiths never. clean yo earswax.
Reply
//////////Reply by jack herror
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 6:13 pm
@LOL,
obviously you just dont like new wave
Reply
//////////Reply by tommy yorke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:08 am
@LOL, lmao at black kids being randomly thrown there. they’re a 6 month band no one is going to care about them after 2k9
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
@LOL, where i’m from, you could get stabbed for saying joy division with the wrong vocal tone
Reply
i am in tv on the radio
Reply
//////////Reply by dookie brown
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 4:04 pm
@BrooklynBlipster,
yr shit is overrated with like 30,000 overdubbed recordings of ants walking on poop and sounding like amy winehouse with a tambourine up her arse.
make a fucking melody somehow, please.
Reply
//////////Reply by anon
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 11:26 am
image of winehouse + anal tambourine is better wankfuel than i deserve
Reply
//////////Reply by panchizzy
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
@anon, haha. gross. i’ll bet she’d do it too
carles-
tvotr is the best
you need to chill the fuck out
Reply
//////////Reply by el tel
//////////Posted March 1st, 2009 at 7:34 pm
@no,
Finally someone defending TVotR, a genuine band making good music. I don’t understand bloggers, why not beat up on the crap that riddles the FM airwaves everyday instead of bands making good music??? I am going to be childish and say why don’t you stop wasting your time giving out about music, get off your computer and write some of your own, you pathetic swines!
Reply
tvotr blows so many goats, other goats heard about them blowing goats and there’s like a fucking slow-moving herd of goats like hands across america standing in a queue for TVOTR to suck them off. serious.
you could not be more fucking dead on with this isht.
twat the fuck is this post-fag doo-wop noise-poop shit-popsicle crap.
LISTEN TO QUASIMOTO
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
@dookie brown,
OMFG.
Best reply ever?
Reply
Like some sharebro said, this seems like it was ghostwritten ha. Regardless, one of my favorite posts as of late.
Reply
no age
health
animal collective
Reply
//////////Reply by AnonAnonymous
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:50 am
@erik, these are bands
Reply
i agree this album is alittle overrated but Carles
sometimes you should just shut the fuck up.
your opinion doesnt matter as much as you fucking think it does. you pretentious fuck. still <3 you. dont h8 you.
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 2:13 pm
@Marlee Leventhal, big ups to Carles who speaks the truth and KNEW that there were other alts being persecuted for revealing the fact that dear science just isn’t a tug worthy album. We must always be vigilant of the public relations industrial complex as their abilty to start electro wars is rarely questioned.
Reply
don’t mess with the moz.
Reply
h8 totr. thank u.
Reply
h8 tvotr. thank u.
Reply
This album is incredible. Get off teh internetz and listen to your Vampire Weekend/Santogold albums kidz.
Reply
//////////Reply by Anony
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:38 pm
@andy, Get off HRO and listen to some menomena.
Reply
Ska is to Punk Rock as TV on the Radio is to _______
Reply
//////////Reply by AnonAnonymous
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:51 am
@JLehr, poop
Reply
TV on the Radio is in my humble opinion the most underrated bands to come out of the east coast but so was the great Jimi Hendrix when he was on your side of the pond. It was only until he came to England when the whole world realized that he was a guitar god among men. Do you seriously expect us to swallow your critique about this great band, act ’sambo’-like and discard of our LPs promptly? I know you have issues with blacks in bands. It has been penis envy with you white people in the States ever since your ‘king’ Elvis costello, sorry, elvis presley filched material from legit Rock n Roll fathers Chuck Berry, Screamin’ Al and company. In England we didn’t even buy records from white wannabe rock outfits but only real black bands. Come on, Radiohead is the most overrated band. I would rather listen to a 27 minute flute solo than go through the agony. Even though Jimi was the best you white folks in the States felt it necessary to deny him a recording contract so he had to come to England and promptly rose to his destiny. Same with Slash when he was in GnR. You think pale skin is the prerequisite to being a ‘real’ rock connoisseur or even playing in a band? Blacks in America invented Rock and Roll. Get over it. To this date one of the greatest artists to come out of Ireland is Phil Lynott and you know what he IS black. Its sad but this race card is played out even when it comes to something as personal as musical appreciation of a band. Who gives a rats penis what you think about any band for that sake? For someone who relishes an evening consuming copious amounts of Natural Lite ‘beer’ it is us who should be wary of your musical tastes. This abortion of artistic justice cannot stand- it is therefore my duty to explain why this pseudo-blog is for JERKOFFS. Pardon my..frenchie
Reply
//////////Reply by Dmagoku
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
@vinke,
I am black and hate new TVOTR also. I think it is just as overrated as new Radiohead.
Reply
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 9:25 pm
@Dmagoku, Typical English Blip that knows nothing about the states. TVOTR is bad because they are bad, not because there is black men in the band. STFU and get over yourself. And it is true Jimi gained popularity across the pond first, but that is totally irrelevant to this topic. Also I love how yall just hate on radiohead. Oh ya and Elvis didn’t rip off chuck berry you tard. More like robert Johnson.
Reply
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 22nd, 2008 at 9:26 pm
@Adam West, Also from your tone it sounds like you were around in the mid 50’s. LOL
//////////Reply by vinke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 5:04 am
@Adam West,
Quit taking the piss you inbred toothless hick. The English reinvented the ‘black’ music you inbreeds refused to accept as music, prick. David Bowie is the best of the best you lot produced and that speaks volumes about your stunted tastes. Quit sucking on your sister’s neck and revisit ‘Maybelline’ by Chuck Berry and ‘The Boys are Back In Town’ by Thin Lizzy. After that admit to your daughter that you had a childhood fling with your sister but ‘Its all good since I met you’re mother’
//////////Reply by jujubee
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:20 am
@vinke,
gee whiz, who’s playing the race card again?
Reply
//////////Reply by Adam West
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:00 pm
@vinke, Actually I believe that the English are known for their bad teeth lol. Clearly your the racist, me personally I can’t give a fuck if black yellow white or blue people make music. If its good I’ll listen to it, isn’t that what music is about anyway? Regardless,your still hysterical.
Reply
Thank you, Carles. This commentary is important. You did an excellent job of summarizng the collective WTF? moments most us encountered when our best bros laid Dear Science on us for the first time.
Check out these posts from Line Out in regards to Fleet Foxes vs. TVOTR:
1) http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2008/12/19/pitchfork_s_album_of_the_year
2) http://lineout.thestranger.com/lineout/archives/2008/12/19/_this_popular_band_we_ve_produ
Reply
I have never been able to understand how a band with as many blacks in it is as TVOTR is able to make music as vague and unsexy as theirs really is.
Reply
//////////Reply by Me
//////////Posted January 1st, 2009 at 9:58 pm
@Jocasta,
black people are inherently sexy? Watch less tv//read more race theory.
Reply
TV On The Radio not only SUCK EGGS, they are cowardly egomaniacs as well. Esp. the white ddude. He’s a real weiner.
Reply
h8 u carles for pointing out the obvious.
miss u TVOTR
Reply
this rant is only really relevant to dear science… return to cookie mountain was okay and desperate youth was good and young liars was great. But yeah, they are finally actually getting hype for their worst record that really does suck and people like it for the exact reasons your saying…just dont write off the band
Reply
tv on the radio has a couple of good songs but is probably a little overhyped when the hipster hype is compared to their actual music catalog.
still, this blog was unnecessary. more hipster hype.
Reply
so wait, it is hip to not know how to spell now?
Reply
//////////Reply by AnonAnonymous
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 2:55 am
@26, yes
Reply
//////////Reply by Anony
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
@26, Freedom from grammer nazis
Reply
mayb i dont get it….
r u trashing them because they are a mixed race band?
if they were all white ppl making wierd indie music like lets say i dont know…the microphones would it appeal 2 u more carles?
is there artistic expression n e different than n e 1 elses?
r u going to say bloc party is shitty 2 cos theres a black guy?
wtf does color rly have 2 do w/ nething more than ur perception of stereotype which i guess HRO is all about.
guess we all cant just move on and get ovr the fact some ppl r born a certain way
h8 u society
Reply
//////////Reply by vinke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 4:51 am
@lawlbster,
I know, this JERKOFF pseudo-blogger is implying that blacks do not belong to the rock universe. He’s like those toothless white Kansans who still live in the 1930s and think rock n roll IS and will be an all white affair. I bet he’s still surprised everytime he sees ‘coloreds’ in the theatre watchin the 007 or something but you know what, I couldn’t give a cockroach shit what this jerkoff thinks, Obama’s victory fuckin renders this hipster shit obsolete ya dig.
Reply
//////////Reply by Anony
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:48 pm
@vinke, You seem to think carles believes half the things he writes.
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
@vinke,
On NOOOO! They’ve got you too! You’re hating a a scene who hates the scene that hates their scene for hating scenes that aren’t their scene.
Reply
dude carles is right…TVOTR are just really vague and unfollowable…i don’t get how like, TVOTR can be popular but people turn there noses up at Ariel Pink- it just doesn’t make sense. TVOTR is BORING and portentous. Radiohead sux too, i don’t get how people can like that music. i’d take britney anyday over that nonesense.
also, about this whole race thing, Carles point is that people act like its a big deal that it’s a mixed race band and that adds to the hype.
Reply
//////////Reply by vinke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 5:25 am
@Aaron Mayfield-Sunshine,
Toothless white Kansan, Foghat sounded more American than any of your outfits so quit trying to act like Rock n Roll originated with you white folks. All black bands are coming back just like black folks are abandoning baggy denim for skinny jeans.
Reply
//////////Reply by *Jesse
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
WTF is american?
Am I american/human after all?
Reply
//////////Reply by el tel
//////////Posted March 1st, 2009 at 7:36 pm
@*Jesse,
Are you american, or are you dancer?
haha
//////////Reply by JeffinCA
//////////Posted May 13th, 2009 at 2:45 am
@Aaron Mayfield-Sunshine, nice Ariel Pink drop.
Reply
Same could have been said about Panda Bear. Funny reading a post about TVOTR from a blog that was totally sucked in by the Panda Bear hype. This should have been written a year ago.
Reply
//////////Reply by Anony
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:50 pm
@Rob, Strawberry jam got too much love as far i’m concerned.
Reply
i really dont think carles point was that people make a big deal about them being a mixed race band considering how many mixed race bands there are, It seemed more like indirect stabs at something non-relevant especially when there is a whole heep more of bullshit bands to talk about other than TVOTR. Oddly enough bloc party was not labeled in this post nor other countless mixed race bands.
I forget how many great songs MGMT has on there new cd other than electric feel, but there white so its ok ^_^ \o/
Reply
//////////Reply by JeffinCA
//////////Posted May 13th, 2009 at 2:56 am
@lawlbster, bullshit, every song on OS is great, (though, in kinda sick of Kids). This race war shit is stupid btw.
Reply
The TV’s on the Radio is not a good band, y’all.
The Radioheads r just ‘ok’.
////yall r stupid
Reply
//////////Reply by birzz
//////////Posted December 31st, 2008 at 2:54 am
@h8 y’all, yea yall is be trippin n shyt
but yall aint know what good musics is u just get told what to listen to ROFL!
Reply
HRO, I wrote about “not getting” TV On The Radio in my livejournal like 2 yrs ago. I wish I had had the prescience to quit writing in an irrelevant friends-only medium so I could make ad revenue. I love you but you need some fresh scoops.
Reply
//////////Reply by Anony
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:55 pm
@Gabriela, This blog is nothing more than a funhouse of mirrors. It’s fun but not AT ALL meant to be taken seriously.
/Like it’s TOTALY Meta!
Reply
//////////Reply by tommy yorke
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
@Gabriela, you and i gabriela. you and i.
Reply
wtf can’t believe you would throw TV on the Radio under the train before Animal Collective or something much more nonsensical/trendy/meaningless.
expecting from you carles.
Reply
//////////Reply by Anony
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:51 pm
@sometimesNJ, I’m about equaly into both of them but TVOTR better have some health insurance.
Reply
TVOTR is a good band there better than brokncyde
Reply
//////////Reply by h8 y'all
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
@robert4042, r u an applestore employee??
Reply
holy shit this website is full of loser morons
Reply
//////////Reply by perrier
//////////Posted December 23rd, 2008 at 11:15 pm
@26,
if it’s ffull of morons, then get the fuck out
Reply
//////////Reply by pooper
//////////Posted December 31st, 2008 at 2:52 am
@perrier, it is ffull of morons, AND name dropping hipster wankery, AND self entitled pricks,.. i could go on
Reply
the only reason tv on the radio is good is b/c they have a good name. bands with good names are atractive to ppl b/c it makes their conversations sound prettier.
also this chose song reminds me of that stupid REM song.
Reply
//////////Reply by Lux
//////////Posted December 24th, 2008 at 1:29 am
@aaaaaaaaaa,
that is so true, TV on the Radio just sounds cool. Theirr mussic NOT so much.
Reply
WOLF LIKE ME = FAV SONG EVER
Reply
//////////Reply by anony
//////////Posted December 27th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
@AZ SNYPE, and let the devil in.
Reply
nothing, NOTHING screams authenticity to alternative white people more than a black man with glasses and facial hair.
Reply
Theys gonna shank you n0w.
Reply
lolz i remember that show.
Reply
after reading the whole of this i feel that my love for tv on the radio has gotten stronger. there r way worse bands out there who u could rant about such as klaxons or anything like that. tv on the radio ownz all.
Reply
why do the shins always get away with it? nothing screams tasteful but pointless, pitchfork approved shit more than they do. them, along with the rest of portland has been keeping yr wannabe-alt parents coffee table full for the last few years.
Reply
so its kinda wierd i mean this blog and all…i jus foundit the other day…and ive gone through atleast 20 pages of it…and i findi t interesting how…ppl who were “on” stuff(music.clothing or w.e) before most of the other ppl, feel like disowning what they were “on” a few years bak becouse it wasnt mainstream then and now is…jus to seem like thier “on” some nexx shit…pretty lame trying not to be “now” cool by bieng some other type of cool…and its kinda how i feel about tvor i bought thier album loved it…but jus becouse they were chosen by rolling stone as having the best album of the year ppl who would if not chosen as the best album would have seen em as bieng pretty much up there with the best of em….i jus think think this blog trys too hard…
Reply
dirty little whirlwind is a good song
SHUT UP THAR
Reply
the dude that wrote this article sounds like one self-righteous whiney douchebag. u make me PUKE:D
Reply
umm, what?
i think you guys just spend way too much time reading about music and watching t.v.
i bet it feels cool to be so jaded.
i had no idea tv on the radio was so hyped.
i just like the way they sound!
Reply
<3 Vampire Weekend
<3 Iran (1 member of TVOTR)
sort of <3 Dear Science,
better than Return to Cookie Mountain (named for the level in Mario?), worse than Young Liars/the “good” songs on DY, BB
srsly tho, Iran. Make Iran popular.
Reply
I just read the last few comments
and srsly do these people even try to make sense anymore?
ps: stop h8ing on carles
<3 u crls
Reply
Oh please. You are just annoyed that other people control the hype, not you. It’s painfully obvious that if you had the chance, you’d become just another “shitty buzz control magazine” like Pitchfork. Indeed, that’s exactly what you are trying to do with this poser blog (”I remember when I was an entryleveler/pure altbro”? What the fuck does that even mean?). Sadly you just don’t have the readership.
Notwithstanding the idiotic use of mainstream teen text speak and strange misplaced quotation marks everywhere to denote something that is undefinable (sarcasm?), the best part of your review (and whole website for that matter) is the fact that you are so incoherent to the point of comedy. Sure, Radiohead and TV on the Radio are popular and arguably produce less interesting albums now than they did at first before they got popular and the sad state of mainstream music production changed them for the worse. But you can’t even communicate that simple sentence I just wrote in an entire page of nonsensical babble.
OMG! Stop using “meaningful” as a stand-in “crappy” or “sucks.” It’s clear that you don’t know how to translate your distaste for TV on the radio into words, so you just denigrate their choices as “meaningful” (with quotes) which for some reason is meant to connote “bad” and “stupid” or something. Fucking read some more and boost your damn vocabulary son. Trust me, it will help you articulate (yikes, big word, put it in quotes) those difficult feelings you are working through in these hard times. So meaningful.
Cut the shit kid, your website sucks.
Reply
//////////Reply by King Baeksu
//////////Posted March 6th, 2009 at 5:02 am
This reply was ten times funnier than the original post.
Translation: Holden C-bro, U just got “pwned.”
Reply
//////////Reply by Eli B
//////////Posted June 1st, 2009 at 2:30 am
@ick, It’s great how you talk down about the website with your lofty pontifications, yet entirely miss the point of the website.
Reply
The truth of the matter is that TVOTR makes music for people with hearts/souls/feelings/emotions. The ‘kidz’ that make/read this blog are ‘2 kewl’ to have any of the above. they would rather ‘listen’ to ‘music’ by other ‘2 kewl kidz’ that have simply mastered certain technologies faster/better than the ‘listner’. they ‘enjoy’ sounds made by ‘acts’ like MSTRKRFT–because the noises they make reflect their cold/emotionless selves, and help reinforce their meaningless ‘personal brand.’
i’m sure that most of the readers that are dissing TVOTR love garbage like crystal castles. Get some fugly cannuck bitch with a wall eye to roll around on stage screaming while ‘alt-bros’ poke their grubby fingers between her legs and cumming on themselves while some terrorist-looking fuck turns on some ancient 8-bit video game and turns the volume up too loud.
in short, it’s kind of awesome that you little fuckers h8 on tvotr. that means there will be far less of you getting in my way when i’m out enjoying them. Now please do us all a favor and go eat a cut copy CD while snorting bad blow off of your mom’s fat titties and crying because your internet connection got cut off.
go outside and play in traffic with your headphones on.
Or better yet, spend all of your time dicking around on stupid sites like this one. or better yet, GROW THE FUCK UP.
idiots.
Reply
and for the record, why hate on a band for being ‘overrated’? is it their fault that stupid fucks like Rolling Stone magazine etc. have decided to jump on the TVOTR bandwagon for credibility sake?
the funniest part of this all is that the guys in tvotr are living the lives most of the idiots on this site dream of.
and be real: y’all are secretly scared of black people, and when they do something you simply can’t laugh off (*and that other ‘white’ people ‘get’) you have to act like it’s not good.
Reply
This band is really great. Dear Science deserves all the praise it is getting. I wouldn’t be surprised if the band makes an even better record next time around; they are pushing the boundaries of roots-y music and have been since the Young Liars EP. I think if you don’t like them you really haven’t given them enough of a chance, you’re just trying to be contrary/cool, or you don’t have enough appreciation for music as a whole to therefore appreciate the originality that this band pumps out in its music
Reply
love them
Reply
Deep down. You’re a racist.
Never breed.
Make the world a better place: Self-destruct prematurely.
Y’all.
Reply
Wow. this article is the shizz. I agree. Although TVOTR are not really so awful. I thought Cookie Mountain was good. But yeah, the problem is that most people don’t know if music is good or bad. They feel they need someone to tell them it’s good or convince them. They need a visual image or marketing to evoke something that they identify with before they buy the music or want to make a fuss over it. If everyone else likes it they think it’s good. Or, also the opposite is true; If it’s really overly popular or overly hyped than it can’t be good either and so a person who subscribes to that thinking kills something he liked a minute ago…only because too many people like it. Either way many of us are too concerned about what other people think. It’s sad that a lot of people really don’t listen to music anymore. They want instant gratification. Sometimes you have to spend a little time with it, much like getting to know a person. That’s what I love. Some music is flawless while in other music the flaw is part of the beauty. But nearly all of the best music has layers and depth that we can’t truly process in one listen. I have to live with my music so that’s why I am picky with it, even at times harsh with artists and music that I like. Thanks for this! It’s really enlightening stuff. Yeah, it sickens me too that a lot of people can’t make up their mind about what they like or don’t. Even with artists I like, I don’t like when they use marketing that is really a manipulation to buy a product. I want the essence of the art. I want good music. I don’t need the bullshit to convince me that something is cool or arty or obscure or ‘risk taking’. I’m not so old, but the older I get the more I hate hype. Don’t play me. Just play the damn song, and I will make up my own mind.
Reply
how many instruments do
Reply
how many instruments do YOU play laaaanie?
oh and DEAR SCIENCE comes from a note left in their recording studio.. ‘Dear science, please start solving problems and helping people.. or shut the f**k up’… so you can kiss your WHOLE perspective on that good bye. chop.
Reply
//////////Reply by ha
//////////Posted April 18th, 2009 at 6:11 am
@don, south african?
Reply
I like them.
-
-
-
Carlesbian.
Reply
Have you ever played an instrument? In a band? Are you just lonely and still a virgin? Because you obviously don’t know what the fuck you are talking about. Enjoy life once in a while, it’s okay.
Reply
I wonder if TVOTR fans have ever read the fable “The Emperor’s New Clothes”? The only people that like that crap like it because they are supposed to like it… if they are musical connoisseur’s. (Like Hunter above)
I just heard them for the first time on SNL and it was painful sitting through the entire performance. I ended up listening to the entire song because I was waiting for the music to become enjoyable. When the song was finally over, I wanted to tear my head open and remove the part of my brain that recorded the last few minutes. Either they picked a horrible song to expose to the masses on SNL, or they are a horrible band.
Reply
//////////Reply by Eli B
//////////Posted June 1st, 2009 at 2:33 am
@sjdasdfj, I liked Young Liars and Cookie Mountain, but didn’t like the new album and I have to say on SNL it was really painful to me…also on a few other live shows they were on…
Reply
Absolutely F-ing pitiful. I am from NY- Westchester and am convinced that any fucking losers from any part of the country can move to BK act ironic and call themselves a band and cool NO!
Fuck this band they suck
What the F is it with losers cosigning losers creating a consensus concept of cool. Fuck this band and fuck Radiohead too. Where the fuck is some Led Zep type shit with power. TV on the radio need to be dragged out into the street and shot
Reply
I like them a lot. I think when you analyze it you’re doing it all wrong. They’re not trying to do anything other than make music they appreciate/other people appreciate. A lot of hard work goes into making music, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t is all. TVoTR wins more than loses.
Reply
“I just have this image of a 35 year old man reading P4k/Rolling Stone/NME/SPIN’s best of 2k8 list, going on iTunes to buy the top 3 albums, halfheartedly listening to them, then going back to listening to meaningful songs from the late 90s, ‘back when good music was more than just weirdo conceptual crap that people had 2 pretend is awesome.’”
I’m 33, but, dammit you really described me…am I becoming an old fart allready?
When I was reading all the taste-making magazines in Germany, they pretty much put the same “new thing” on their covers. So I actually stoppedcaring about hip/unhip (sort of) and started listening to whatever the hell I liked.
Still, I hated Dubstep, with a vengeance. What happended to Jungle, Drum’n Bass even UK Garage?
TV on the Radio, Vampire Weekend…hipster/art director crap.
I challenge most of you to find a band as intense and emotionally honest as Trail of Dead.
I have a musician friend who used to make fun of me because of my Thrash/Death Metal fixation…guess what? Two years ago he wanted my Sepultura/Slayer/Metallica/Pantera records…He hated Kyuss and Crowbar, but thanks to “stonerrock.com” he loves doom and sludge…oh yeah and he doesn’t like Black Sabbath, but Deep Purple has Soul…Really???
When I bought and immensely enjoyed the first We are Scientist record, I knew that it was a summer/two summer fling kind of love but at least I could acknowledge that.
Would be nice if some of the ultra-hipsters could do the same…
Sorry for the LOOONG rant.
Keep up the good work!
Reply
Wow, a hipster paying out a popular band on website filled with irony.
Original.
Reply
hey
so
i know this guy
irl
who looks just like
the bro from tvotr
not the token white bro
but black bro
w/o beard
or fro
hes a chill bro,
we like to snort coke off our iphones and feel smug together
ttly rad y’all
Reply
T – otally awesome
V – ice magazine could do with some of you twats
O – h get fucked all of you
T – otally awesome x 2
R – eally, who gives a fuck
Reply
brilliant article.. i actually dig tv on the radio.. but totally agree with what you’re saying… it goes hand in hand with the saying “it’s art”, you know, when you see some random crap at an exhibition, which has no apparent meaning whatsoever, and is not aesthetically pleasing either, but fellow exhibition goers exclaim – “it’s art”
Reply
This is pretty accurate man. Not saying TV is “bad” cause there are some people who like them. Lots of people that don’t like good music say they like them so that they can seem “different” or less of a tool. Amen on the high production and downward moving music.
Reply
Hmmm… I’ve never really listend much to TVOTR…(just a song or two over the years) but I kinda feel like many of the bashers here are just jumpin on Carles’ Bandwagon… lol. I’m gonna check them out to see if they’re really thaaaat bad haha.
Reply
“TV ON THE RADIO is a band that people think they are supposed to appreciate. These people are not sure why they ‘like’ TV on the Radio; however, aligning their personal brands with TV on the Radio makes them a more cultured/culturally-connected person.”
I think this describes Animal Collective as well (most overrated internet-acclaimed band).
Reply
“weinery”? youre all foolish children. Hating over music just exposed your biggest weakness. Because people who actually know shit, dont care about being the smartest one int he room, they are content with the knowledge they have. Stop trying to prove yourself. Wear some sweatpants, go home and tell your mother you love her, drop out of school, and get a fucking job. Music is meant to be listened to, not talked about. original thought iseverything, love and truth are everything, this, ALL of this, is entertainment, and should be taken as such.
govern yourselves accordingly
I LOVE tv on the radio. i cried the first time i heard “young liars”
Reply
//////////Reply by evan
//////////Posted June 27th, 2009 at 6:49 pm
@James,
wierdo
Reply
fuck that was GOLD!. gotta love the pictures/captions…
…that said TVOTR are one of my fav bands along with Radiohead
Reply
…..you say that TVotR are for people who dont actually listen to songs, and then you go on to state that “you only need to listen to 7 seconds of one of their album singles to know it weinery”?
thats not being hypocritical or anything..
Reply
This guy is a doushe. He might be right about TV on the Radio, the only song I know is Wolf like Me, but he types like a 16 year old girl. Really, 2k8? All you have to do is type 2008 to not look like a complete retard. Dipshit.
Reply