music mule.co.uk

When it comes to independent music TV On The Radio are big news these days. Last night they sold out the nudging 5000 capacity Brixton Academy with time to spare. Having said that the frenzy of excitement created by Music Mule recommending the gig a few months back may have resulted in a few people over buying tickets. But luckily our tout readership is through the roof so they must have been stung big time!

The five-piece band, comprising of Dave Sitek (super producer/guitar), Tunde Adebimpe (vocals/synth), Kyp malone (guitar/vocals), Gerard Smith (bass/synth/samples) and Jaleel Bunton (drums), were six last night with a mystery member on saxophone and additional percussion.

Kyp Malone’s beard is truly enormous these days. As thick as it is long he looks like some sort of eastern god standing imperiously behind his white guitar, his falsetto complimenting the deeper, raspy vocals of the also spectacled Adebimpe. The pair play off each other expertly and none more so than on the Prince-esque ‘Golden Age’ from their breakthrough 2008 album ‘Dear Science’, which provides the bulk of the songs tonight.  Single ‘Dancing Choose’ takes the pace up a notch as Adebimpe throws himself across the stage like a man possessed, half singing half rapping its verses to the crowd’s delight. But tonight it’s the slower, groovier tracks like ‘Love Dog’, ‘Shout Me Out’ and ‘Crying’ that pack more of a punch. It is a Monday after all so maybe it’s just more of a ‘Dirty Little Love Dog’ night?!

One high paced number that never fails to raise pulses is ‘Wolf Like Me’, which has become a break-neck mainstay in the band’s sets since 2006. Thankfully a killer wolf banner draped just stage left of Bunton’s drums signifies that we won’t be deprived this favourite which eventually appears half-way into the set. Another ‘Return To Cookie Mountain’ favourite ‘Province’ is an epic success but leaves more than a few of us imagining the appearance of David Bowie who guest vocals on the album track. Keep dreaming then! ‘Dirty Whirl’ perhaps doesn’t sound as good as it should tonight but that’s a minor quibble in an otherwise phenomenal set.

The band leaves the stage to rapturous applause only to return minutes later for the compulsory encore. What was lacking in surprise was more than made up for in quality. Another ‘Dear Science’ slowie and one of the most moving songs of the past couple of years, ‘Family Tree’, resumes proceedings in tear-jerking fashion. Vocal harmonies soar over a beautiful keyboard line, delayed guitar riff and slowly building drums. Magic.

Next up support band Noisettes join TVOTR on stage for the tropical percussion gem that is ‘A Method’. Tribal rhythms accompanied by Adebimpe’s soft sweet lead vocal and Malone’s high ‘ooo-ooo-ooo’s’ build into a percussion meltdown punctuated by Tunde’s whistle finale that brings the song to a haunting close. You’d be forgiven for thinking that would be it but there’s still time for the psychedelic wall of sound that is ‘Staring At The Sun’ from their 2004 debut ‘Desperate Youth and Blood Thirsty Babes’. It serves as a little reminder that although they’ve only recently risen to popularity, they’ve been this good all along.

mp3: TV On The Radio – A Method

mp3: TV On The Radio – Family Tree