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Editorial Reviews
Deluxe edition includes two bonus tracks. 2011 release, the fourth album from the Alt-Rock outfit. Nine Types Of Light is a lush and beautiful album that stands apart from the group's previous work. If their other albums had shades of dystopia and distress, this album, sung by Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone, is filled with songs about longing and love. Nine Types Of Light is the follow-up to the band's gorgeous, glorious 2008 release, Dear Science, and proved to be its breakout release. It was named album of the year by Rolling Stone, Spin, Pitchfork, Entertainment Weekly and MTV; and touring behind the album, the group sold out a year's worth of live shows across the world. This, however, did not prevent everyone from referring to TV On The Radio as a Brooklyn band. That is not a bad thing. The group - Tunde Adebimpe, Kyp Malone, Dave Sitek, Jaleel Bunton, Gerard Smith - are indeed from Brooklyn.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By Rich Latta
Format:Audio CD|Amazon Verified Purchase
TV on the Radio - Nine Types of Light (2011)
NINE TYPES OF LIGHT can be seen as a refinement of the wonderful and more experimental DEAR SCIENCE similar to the way that the dark, sophisticated RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN was a refinement of their promising if somewhat monotonous debut, DESPERATE YOUTH AND BLOODTHIRSTY BABES. This time out, TV On The Radio focus more on straight-forward pop songs, especially love songs. The trademark TVOTR sound is still in effect, although the drones, poly-rhythms and atmospheric washes are less dense. The songs are beautifully constructed, full of sophisticated music and brilliant counter-melodies yet, as usual, they never sound cluttered.
Most of the album is kinda laid-back and funky although it does blast off into rock world on occasion and there's an ambient song as well. DEAR SCIENCE is certainly loaded with amazing poly-rhythms, and even though they're less evident on NINE TYPES OF LIGHT, the drumming is still highly creative, just in a less obvious way. There's also plenty of groovy, quasi-funk guitar to be heard and the vocals are so smooth and truly fantastic. Despite a few slightly awkward moments, the overall sound here is more natural and organic than on DEAR SCIENCE, particularly the vocals. More subtle too. And perhaps most importantly, the songwriting and sense of melody is as great as it ever was. Highly recommended.
Breakdown!
"Second Song" - Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe begins the album by speak-singing, gradually evolving into a full singing voice. It's a disarming, off-beat way to start things, a sensibility familiar to fans that's also evidenced by the title of this the first track. The song soon picks up with a funky guitar and then launches into a full band attack as Tunde reaches that Bee-Gees level octave. It's a joyous tune, easy going yet upbeat, featuring some great brass accompaniment, another TVOTR staple. *****
"Keep Your Heart" - is a wonderful song. At first I had a hard time getting used to this one funk guitar part that sounds out of sync with the beat, almost as if it's breaking down. Then I came to realize it was probably meant to compliment the line, "If the world falls apart/ I'm gonna keep your heart." Love the way that one line combines the two themes of love and doomsday aftermath. Very intimate and romantic, very groovy and heartfelt. Love the cascading guitar at the middle 8 and the shimmering synths. Very uplifting! ****3/4
"You" - guided by a subdued hip-hop beat and a guitar with a great melodic structure. Features multiple layers of humming synths, some soaring, some kinda quirky and squeaky. A helluva love song, possibly the best track on the album. *****+
"No Future Shock" - a track in the true post-apocalyptic party spirit, and what a party it is! Another showcase of the band's fabulous flair for great melodies. *****
"Killer Crane" - A stately, atmospheric track with acoustic guitar and even some banjo that nevertheless maintains the modern sound found on the whole album. Amazing background vocals....absolutely beautiful song! *****
"Will Do" - Chiming synth bells announce this sweet love groove. So lush with a deep, almost intense undercurrent of emotion. A worthy first single and another strong contender for best album track. *****+
"New Cannonball Blues" - A more rocking song, it still maintains a funky sound along with some New Wave computer synths. More excellent brass touches appear towards the end. *****
"Repetition" - As one might guess from the title, "Repetition" is less mind-blowingly melodic than these other songs. A propulsive beat pushes it along until it breaks into open space and breathes, only to take off again with stuttering guitars and bobbing synth patterns. ****
"Forgotten" - begins in a fairly low-key manner with echoing synthetic percussion and subtle sonic touches. Sleigh bells, strings and "nuclear winter" soon kick in along with high-pitched vocals that glide overhead. The whole thing slowly builds into a horn and whistle-laden full bloom. It's another great TVOTR song that only they can deliver, but it sounds to me like they could've taken it further. ***3/4
"Caffeinated Consciousness" - is a great song, the most in-your-face rocker on the album. Alternates between a powerful, staggered rhythm and dreamy passages. The familiar sound on this one was teasing my brain for the longest time like an itch I couldn't scratch, until another reviewer here finally pointed out its similarity to "U-Mass" by The Pixies (- props to s.t.!). It's not a note-for-note rip off, but the structure and rhythm of "U-Mass" is clearly the inspiration. Hey, everybody has influences, even great artists so for me this isn't really a problem. Consider it a tribute. The song remains a punchy, upbeat climax to a killer party. ****1/2
Gerard Smith - rest in peace
NINE TYPES OF LIGHT can be seen as a refinement of the wonderful and more experimental DEAR SCIENCE similar to the way that the dark, sophisticated RETURN TO COOKIE MOUNTAIN was a refinement of their promising if somewhat monotonous debut, DESPERATE YOUTH AND BLOODTHIRSTY BABES. This time out, TV On The Radio focus more on straight-forward pop songs, especially love songs. The trademark TVOTR sound is still in effect, although the drones, poly-rhythms and atmospheric washes are less dense. The songs are beautifully constructed, full of sophisticated music and brilliant counter-melodies yet, as usual, they never sound cluttered.
Most of the album is kinda laid-back and funky although it does blast off into rock world on occasion and there's an ambient song as well. DEAR SCIENCE is certainly loaded with amazing poly-rhythms, and even though they're less evident on NINE TYPES OF LIGHT, the drumming is still highly creative, just in a less obvious way. There's also plenty of groovy, quasi-funk guitar to be heard and the vocals are so smooth and truly fantastic. Despite a few slightly awkward moments, the overall sound here is more natural and organic than on DEAR SCIENCE, particularly the vocals. More subtle too. And perhaps most importantly, the songwriting and sense of melody is as great as it ever was. Highly recommended.
Breakdown!
"Second Song" - Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe begins the album by speak-singing, gradually evolving into a full singing voice. It's a disarming, off-beat way to start things, a sensibility familiar to fans that's also evidenced by the title of this the first track. The song soon picks up with a funky guitar and then launches into a full band attack as Tunde reaches that Bee-Gees level octave. It's a joyous tune, easy going yet upbeat, featuring some great brass accompaniment, another TVOTR staple. *****
"Keep Your Heart" - is a wonderful song. At first I had a hard time getting used to this one funk guitar part that sounds out of sync with the beat, almost as if it's breaking down. Then I came to realize it was probably meant to compliment the line, "If the world falls apart/ I'm gonna keep your heart." Love the way that one line combines the two themes of love and doomsday aftermath. Very intimate and romantic, very groovy and heartfelt. Love the cascading guitar at the middle 8 and the shimmering synths. Very uplifting! ****3/4
"You" - guided by a subdued hip-hop beat and a guitar with a great melodic structure. Features multiple layers of humming synths, some soaring, some kinda quirky and squeaky. A helluva love song, possibly the best track on the album. *****+
"No Future Shock" - a track in the true post-apocalyptic party spirit, and what a party it is! Another showcase of the band's fabulous flair for great melodies. *****
"Killer Crane" - A stately, atmospheric track with acoustic guitar and even some banjo that nevertheless maintains the modern sound found on the whole album. Amazing background vocals....absolutely beautiful song! *****
"Will Do" - Chiming synth bells announce this sweet love groove. So lush with a deep, almost intense undercurrent of emotion. A worthy first single and another strong contender for best album track. *****+
"New Cannonball Blues" - A more rocking song, it still maintains a funky sound along with some New Wave computer synths. More excellent brass touches appear towards the end. *****
"Repetition" - As one might guess from the title, "Repetition" is less mind-blowingly melodic than these other songs. A propulsive beat pushes it along until it breaks into open space and breathes, only to take off again with stuttering guitars and bobbing synth patterns. ****
"Forgotten" - begins in a fairly low-key manner with echoing synthetic percussion and subtle sonic touches. Sleigh bells, strings and "nuclear winter" soon kick in along with high-pitched vocals that glide overhead. The whole thing slowly builds into a horn and whistle-laden full bloom. It's another great TVOTR song that only they can deliver, but it sounds to me like they could've taken it further. ***3/4
"Caffeinated Consciousness" - is a great song, the most in-your-face rocker on the album. Alternates between a powerful, staggered rhythm and dreamy passages. The familiar sound on this one was teasing my brain for the longest time like an itch I couldn't scratch, until another reviewer here finally pointed out its similarity to "U-Mass" by The Pixies (- props to s.t.!). It's not a note-for-note rip off, but the structure and rhythm of "U-Mass" is clearly the inspiration. Hey, everybody has influences, even great artists so for me this isn't really a problem. Consider it a tribute. The song remains a punchy, upbeat climax to a killer party. ****1/2
Gerard Smith - rest in peace
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Andrew Vice
Format:Audio CD
TV On The Radio is a band that has consistently captured the universal ennui of the American people, a mix of confusion, doubt, and hopefulness. Each record has been an exploration on the themes of being an American losing faith in "America," and often an exploration of what it means to be human and to desperately try to have faith in humanity. On their fourth official LP, TV On The Radio seem to have finally found some things to be happy about. Where their previous work was punctuated by an urgent sense of paranoia, fear, and distrust, Nine Types of Light seems to find the band in a more relaxed state of mind, putting out a refreshingly upbeat set of songs. Following in the vein of the great love songs on Dear Science, Nine Types is heavily groovy, full of sexy falsetto chorus', brass jams, and slinky bass. Certainly more accessible than their denser back catalogue, Nine Types is a fun and funky outing, but it lacks some of the depth and experimentation of the more obtuse Return to Cookie Mountain. Ultimately, TV On The Radio have put together an incredibly solid set of songs here, with highlights including the impossibly catchy opener, "Second Song," the dark and undulating "Will Do," and the blown out, melodic jam of "Caffeinated Consciousness." Bottom line is this is another great record from the indie funk pioneers, and certain to please fans.
6 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:MP3 Music
I once glibly commented to a friend of mine that, while I love many of TV on the Radio's songs, I felt like they were one of the greatest bands to never make a great record. From their first album on TV on the Radio showed immense promise as a band. They crafted a unique sound for themselves that combined punk, new wave, funk and electronica into unexpected arrangements (if you can remember back to their debut, then you also know they briefly dabbled in acappella, and it was actually good). And yet despite punctured flashes of brilliance, I had never found an entire album by TV on the Radio completely satisfying. For their first three albums, the best songs were pushed to the first half of the record while the less impressive efforts weighed down the back end. Despite all of their brilliance as songwriters, it seemed as if they couldn't maintain the quality of their best efforts for the entire span of an LP. With the release of Nine Types of Light, TV on the Radio's fourth album, I can no longer make the same claim about TV on the Radio's awkward tackling of the album format.
Perhaps it is because the band has finally cracked the code of the long player, or perhaps it's because they learned to cradle the slow numbers as well as they rock out on the obvious singles, but whatever the reason, TV on the Radio have made the best album of their career. From the funk stomp of the opener, "Second Song," to the shout out loud closer, "Caffeinated Consciousness," Nine Types of Light maintains a consistently high level of quality. Some numbers may grab the listener more immediately than others, but I guarantee you that any single track off Nine Types of Light would be a highlight on nearly any other group's album.
As usual, TV on the Radio effortlessly turn in invigorating screamers whose hooks veil the fact that the lyrics could have been written by the Greek figure of death, Thanatos. "No Future Shock" conjures up images of a dance party in the middle of social and political entropy, while "Repetition" dares you not to dance to a tale of drugs, death and violence. The latter track even breaks down so that Tunde Adebimpe can provide a moment of spoken word introspection that sounds like a schizophrenic version of Vincent Price. Perhaps no other band can make humanity's death drive seem like so much fun. But the real stunner about Nine Types of Light is that the slow numbers are perhaps the best songs off the album. The real standout here is "Killer Crane," which leaves not a note out of place. Employing warm atmospherics, subtle strings, and even something that sounds like a banjo, TV on the Radio evince absolute control over every detail, confident enough to combine different instruments without overstuffing the song. "Killer Crane" speaks of regeneration and coming to terms with past scars, and it is this catharsis, as well as its placement in the album, that positions the song as the album's centerpiece.
Fans of TV on the Radio have had to cope with rumors of a band break up over the past few years. Either because of solo albums, a temporary hiatus, or merely because the band seems overflowing with talented musicians, it sometimes appears that each TV on the Radio album could be our last. I hope this isn't the case, since Nine Types of Light feels like work from a group who still has plenty to say. The final song off the album, "Caffeinated Consciousness," is also the most aggressive, as if the band is attempting to say, "We're just getting started."
Perhaps it is because the band has finally cracked the code of the long player, or perhaps it's because they learned to cradle the slow numbers as well as they rock out on the obvious singles, but whatever the reason, TV on the Radio have made the best album of their career. From the funk stomp of the opener, "Second Song," to the shout out loud closer, "Caffeinated Consciousness," Nine Types of Light maintains a consistently high level of quality. Some numbers may grab the listener more immediately than others, but I guarantee you that any single track off Nine Types of Light would be a highlight on nearly any other group's album.
As usual, TV on the Radio effortlessly turn in invigorating screamers whose hooks veil the fact that the lyrics could have been written by the Greek figure of death, Thanatos. "No Future Shock" conjures up images of a dance party in the middle of social and political entropy, while "Repetition" dares you not to dance to a tale of drugs, death and violence. The latter track even breaks down so that Tunde Adebimpe can provide a moment of spoken word introspection that sounds like a schizophrenic version of Vincent Price. Perhaps no other band can make humanity's death drive seem like so much fun. But the real stunner about Nine Types of Light is that the slow numbers are perhaps the best songs off the album. The real standout here is "Killer Crane," which leaves not a note out of place. Employing warm atmospherics, subtle strings, and even something that sounds like a banjo, TV on the Radio evince absolute control over every detail, confident enough to combine different instruments without overstuffing the song. "Killer Crane" speaks of regeneration and coming to terms with past scars, and it is this catharsis, as well as its placement in the album, that positions the song as the album's centerpiece.
Fans of TV on the Radio have had to cope with rumors of a band break up over the past few years. Either because of solo albums, a temporary hiatus, or merely because the band seems overflowing with talented musicians, it sometimes appears that each TV on the Radio album could be our last. I hope this isn't the case, since Nine Types of Light feels like work from a group who still has plenty to say. The final song off the album, "Caffeinated Consciousness," is also the most aggressive, as if the band is attempting to say, "We're just getting started."
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Jam-bo-licious!
I've been hooked on these guys since "Dear Science" - and this one does NOT disappoint. Will Do seems to be the track that gets the most attention, but New Cannonball... Read more
Published 2 months ago by Cholla Boy
5.0 out of 5 stars
CD Came in good Condition
CD came promptly, and in good condition. It's a great CD. I recommend Nine Types of Light. It is a great CD.
Published 3 months ago by Jonathan M Urbach
3.0 out of 5 stars
IT IS OK BUT JUST OK, NOT MUCH MORE.
THIS WAS OK. IT HAD SOME GREAT TRACKS BUT I CANNOT JUST PUT ON PLAY AND ENJOY ONE GREAT TRACK AFTER ANOTHER. THE TRACK TITLED ' WILL DO' IS WHAT SAVED IT FOR ME.
Published 5 months ago by medi
4.0 out of 5 stars
like Wire ... with a twist
Very difficult to get a handle on this group's sound, at least trying to categorize them or describe what they sound like. And maybe that's what they intended. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Donald E. Gilliland
5.0 out of 5 stars
4.5 Stars
This album was in the Class of 2011, along with Death Cab's "Codes and Keys" and Devotchka's "100 Lovers. Read more
Published 10 months ago by reviews appreciated
5.0 out of 5 stars
Stellar album
Digital music. Great band, so little to comment upon.
Presuming the Cloud store maintains, it is an efficient tool. I enjoy the music.
Presuming the Cloud store maintains, it is an efficient tool. I enjoy the music.
Published 12 months ago by AnnabelleQRC
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great choice!
This vinyl is amazing! I thought that would take a long time to receive this shop, but i was surprised with the fast shipped. About 15 days after this vinyl was in my home!
Published 15 months ago by Cristina
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant
A combination, and swinging between, crisp, razor sharp beats, and beautiful, reflective melody. Masterfully produced to seamlessly marry various impulses and elements. Read more
Published 18 months ago by Roaming Koala
3.0 out of 5 stars
Poor Quality of Light
2008 was a strong year for album releases with the Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver debuts coming out of nowhere plus other excellent efforts by Shearwater, Deerhunter and Portishead among... Read more
Published 18 months ago by Man Without a Soul
4.0 out of 5 stars
The other side of the prism
TV On The Radio have been one of the most proggy groups of the last few years. Mixing elements and references from everyone from the Flaming Lips to David Bowie, their music has... Read more
Published 19 months ago by Tim Brough
Listmania!
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