Stay Tuned to TV on the Radio's Return to Cookie Mountain

As the editor of the entertainment section here at my university newspaper, I frequently get CDs and press kits from various groups, bands, and artists. So frequently, in fact, that I never get the chance to listen to them all. Many of the groups are rather obscure, and end up in the back of my locker and deep in my backpack. This CD was different, however. It had ended on my coffee table in my apartment, and the mere title caught my eye: TV On The Radio...Return to Cookie Mountain. TV on the Radio, I thought, That sounds interesting. So into my laptop it went, to be ripped and transferred onto my trusty Palm. The next day I spent my lunch break reading up on the band, and completely enthralled by the music I was listening too. Not since I first heard Radiohead's OK Computer have I been so impressed by the creativity and artistic direction of an album. Return to Cookie Mountain is an unlikely blend of rock, electronic music, pure chaotic noise, and soul. Highly rhythmic and melodic at the same time, the band uses live percussion along with synthesized sounds to create a high energy atmosphere. Jazz riffs, soul licks, and hip-hop aesthetics coexist surprisingly peacefully under the umbrella of rock and roll guitars. The musical texture is thick, with plenty of sampless, drones, and repetitive percussion.

What really sets this sound apart from any other band I have ever heard is the fact that they are experimental and progressive, while remaining, for the most part, accessible to the average listener. They're stretching genres in ways we've never heard before, and perhaps even facilitating the genesis of a new kind of music, but they'll still have your foot tapping in heartbeat. Now, you won't be hearing these guys on popular radio in the near future (they're just too good for that) but these are the kind of artists that have the potential to carry real art from the indie scene to the mainstream. This album comes highly, highly, recommended.