2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Wolves in an Amoeba, August 12, 2007
This review is from: Live At Amoeba Music (Audio CD)
I've never been to Amoeba Records. It's one of the things I'm determined to do as soon as possible.
But if I did have access to one, one of the things I'd have done was go to see TV on the Radio's live performance. As it is, I can enjoy their performance secondhand in "Live at Amoeba Music," a kinetic four-song performance in which their music loses NOTHING between studio and live stage.
"From the... DEPTHS... I... called... you, ma/for your breath and breast so warm and fabled/Your hands reached inside/grabbed my heart... enlarged, disabled," Tunde Adebimpe warbles over whirling grimy guitars and solid drums, as the music slowly builds up to a stormy finale.
It ends with a bit of chatter and the audience applause, before seguing into the kinetic, buzzing "Wolf Like Me," which loses none of its fiery energy for being played live. Then it rounds off with the ambient fuzz-riffs of "Province," and finally the funky, primal art-rock of "Wash The Day," which builds to a ringing crescendo and fades with the sound of a twittering flute.
"Thank you guys very much. See you later!" Adebimpe says over the dying riff, sounding genuinely pleased.
You can tell just by listening to this EP that TV on the Radio are a brilliant live band -- they've got energy, skill, appreciation for the audience, and a willingness to turn the music up to eleven. And they don't sound halfhearted away from computer tinkering, as many bands do -- this is pure, unsullied art-rock.
And the "Live" EP doesn't sound appreciably different from their studio work -- if it weren't for the audience calling and some wind chimes, you wouldn't know this wasn't a studio EP. Adebimpe's rich voice is as smooth and muscular as always, and he's backed by equally strong fuzzy riffs, basslines, tribalish drums, and a hint of sax and flute around the edges.
"Live At Amoeba Music" -- which evidently has GREAT acoustics -- shows TV on the Radio's kinetic live style at its best, and leaves you hungering to see this great band live.
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