reax music magazine :: music + culture » Reviews » TV On The Radio - Dear Science,

It's a telling thing that a lot of the most, well, "musical" music these days is coming from folks manipulating computer programs and studio faders at least as much as they're manipulating live instruments. And that's what makes NYC's critically swooned-over TV On The Radio so important - sheer, refreshing musicality. No genre assignation, no image, no story about how powerful an act is in concert can compare to the pleasure of hearing a band that gets it right with this kind of consistency and imagination. TVOTR is driven by a combination of rhythm, melody and ideas, executed with an almost uncanny balance of passion, originality and attention to detail. Sexier and more accessible than '06's Return to Cookie Mountain, Dear Science, is space-age pop-funk with substance, the kind of listen that deserves comparisons to other truly eclectic greats like Paul Simon, Prince and Outkast so much more than the hipster outfits that beat one obviously non-rock gimmick to death, winking all the way. Here, the falsettos and handclaps aren't shtick, they're essential elements, as much a part of the whole as the go-go rhythms or the postmodern take on soul swing or the programming or the alternately playful and thought-provoking lyrics. And it all meshes perfectly to form a gorgeous, fathoms-deep whole that's even more than the sum of its already endlessly entertaining parts. - Scott Harrell