This post is a “QuickPick”.  QuickPicks are my attempt at getting all of the music that’s sent to me that I like (or just music I like but have no words for because it’s so awesome), out into the dubya dots.

Any time I get sent music that I like I “star” it in Gmail and then go back and listen to it a day later.  If it’s still as good as it was a day before then it goes up on the site, but sometimes I get backlogged and can’t get through writing up pieces for each artist and stay on top of the game, so hopefully this will alleviate some of the logs of rear.  You’ll still get the MP3s, pictures, links and fresh fruit that you’ve come to know and love around here, you’ll just get less of my inarticulate musings (win for you!).

Artist: TV On The Radio
Genre: Alternative, Indie, Rock, Electronic
Links: Facebook | Twitter | MySpace | Website | Last.fm

TV On The Radio – “Caffeinated Consciousness”

“Will Do,” the first single from TV On The Radio’s long-awaited fourth studio album, “Nine Types of Light,” is destined to be divisive. In essence, the band has hit that pivotal point in its career where its volume of fans has caught up with its critical accolades. In other words, we have heard most of the tricks TVOTR has up its sleeve. Now, the band has to find new ways to surprise us within the formula that made “Young Liars,” “Return to Cookie Mountain,” and “Dear, Science” so engaging. “Will Do” certainly captures the surprise portion of this equation; it is the engaging aspect that is lacking.

“Will Do” is a song destined for mix tapes (or iPod playlists) across the country. Its oddly romantic, yet less than straightforward lyrics will no doubt be the voice of many yearning kids seeking to impress via Tunde Andebimpe’s words rather than their own. In its own way, I suppose that makes “Will Do” a success. The problem is that the song is too “easy” – there is no challenge here. Contrast this track with “Return to Cookie Mountain’s” opening salvo, “I Was a Lover,” and the sonic difference is shocking. Whereas “I Was a Lover” accosted the listener, “Will Do” breezes by on little more than Andebimpe’s smooth vocals and Sitek’s increasingly suspect production.

Since “Young Liars,” TVOTR has sounded “different,” infusing oddball barbershop harmonies into noise-filled compositions. This simple, yet stunningly effective, group aesthetic is grossly absent from “Will Do,” which is basically an Andebimpe solo effort. This does not mean that the track is a failure, though – it will no doubt pop up on shuffle periodically and breeze by affably. For a band like TVOTR, though, that is a disappointing step backward.

We would love to hear your opinion about “Will Do,” though – agree or disagree. Please leave your comments below.

Connect with TV On The Radio – Facebook | Twitter | MySpace | Website | Last.fm

TV On The Radio – “Will Do” by Interscope Records

Massive Attack’s music is so timeless that it’s hard to believe it’s been seven years since their last album “100th Window”. When “100th Window” was released they had waited five years since the album before that, Mezzanine, so this being a seven year wait for “Heligoland” means we’re in for a treat. Right?

“100th Window” was a mixed bag in terms of it’s reception by the public, mostly enjoying favourable reviews but not getting the kind of coverage that their previous albums did and many people saw it as a step in the same direction of Mezzanine as opposed to a step forward away from Mezzanine. Being a fan of TV On The Radio I’m drawn to almost anything that their singer Tunde Adebimpe appears on, and he makes an appearance on “Pray For Rain”, the opening track on “Heligoland”. His unique voice lends weight to the song, carrying it through the deep drum rolls and melancholy piano riff that follows him to it’s 6:44 ending. It’s a slow start to the album, considering the opening songs from their previous albums have been huge, “Safe From Harm, “Protection” and especially “Angel”. When I first heard “Angel” I had never heard anything like it before, it set the scene for a uniquely absorbing and dark album, but “Pray For Rain” doesn’t have the same impact. “Babel” is more upbeat, a distorted drum beat leads up to a simple bass line as Martina Toply-Bird’s delicate vocals wrap around it like a blanket, trying to make sure it doesn’t go anywhere, which it doesn’t, following the same route from start to finish.

So far, not so good.

As “Splitting The Atom” starts my hope picks up, a heavy beat and organ-like hook repeat for the first 30 seconds and then a low, “Candyman”-like voice drops in, the kind that makes you nervous to go to sleep at night, “The baby was born/Nettles and Ferns/The evening it chokes/The candle it burns/This disguise covers/Bitter lies/Repeating the joke/The meaning it dies”. It’s the first indication so far that there might just be something on here to put it on par with Mezzanine, and as “Girl I Love You” starts, the album’s fourth track, it actually sounds like something from the Mezzanine sessions. A rolling thunderous bass line is eventually caught up by a repetitive drum beat and Andy Horace’s distinctive voice (heard on some of MA’s biggest and best songs), echoing into the distance as the song picks up and gets raucous before sitting back down and taking it easy towards the end. “Psyche” starts off sounding like something you’d hear Rodrigo Y Gabriella play, a quick acoustic guitar picks away and again Martina Topley-Bird takes the lead on vocals but that’s about as far as the song goes and so far it’s the weakest (and most out of place) song on the record.

Another notable guest appearance on “Heligoland” is Guy Garvey, lead singer with Elbow. He gives his dulcet tones to “Flat Of The Blade”, a 5:30 sullen, vibrating tune comprising of Guy crooning alongside the alien-like electronic beat, “I’m not good in a crowd/I got skills I can’t speak of/Things I’ve seen will chase me/To the grave/I’m not good in a crowd/I got skills I can’t speak of/Over there”. With what sounds like someone drilling holes into the side of a washing machine in the background that slowly dies away, strings take its place as the song ends on the electronic twinklings that populated the opening. The last third of the album does what the first third did with the first being slow to start, the last is slow to end and you almost just want it to.

“Rush Minute” offers almost five minutes of the same electronic drums and guitar refrain that switches up the pace and then slows back down again towards the end, with Massive Attack founder Robert Del Naja talk-singing over the top in a low, dejected tone. “Saturday Come Slow” features Damon Albarn and is one of the highlights of the album. As it strides from side to side, a bassy guitar and heavy background beat make way for Albarn’s mellow tones, pining a sentiment of an insecure love and asking “Do you love me?/Do you love me?/Or is there nothing there?”. The album’s ender is “Atlas Air” an almost Hip-Hop venture with trip-hop rumblings that trundles on for nigh-on eight minutes, failing to really go anywhere other than “on”.

After seven years I expected so much more from “Heligoland” and all in all it has maybe three strong tracks in “Splitting The Atom”, “Girl I Love You” and “Saturday Come Slow”. Massive Attack are taking longer and longer between albums so if Heligoland is anything to go by we’ll be waiting 10 years for them to spawn only two decent songs.

4/10

Worth checking out: Portishead, Tricky, UNKLE

Buy “Heligoland” / Download “Heligoland”

Listen Before You Buy – “Heligoland”