When it comes down to it, TV on the Radio’s music has always been about the struggle between thought and feeling. The beast’s one head is rigorous experimentation, a relentless desire to create something unique and interesting. The other is a raw, primal urge to make great music, and it was this side that won out decisively Thursday night throughout the group’s grand showing at the Wiltern.
On display were selections spanning the band’s entire studio career, from the 2003 cult-favorite “Young Liars” EP to its most recent masterpiece, the instantly danceable “Dear Science.”
The studio has consistently been the turf of TV on the Radio’s intellectual side, giving guitarist/producer Dave Sitek ample room to construct complex and original arrangements packed full of the kinds of details that keep things interesting through countless listens. The stage revealed Sitek’s evil twin, ditching his craftsman duties to strum manically at a guitar with a set of wind chimes tied to the headstock.
Vocalist Tunde Adebimpe likewise indulged his inner animal, bouncing and scooting around stage and swinging his forearm around on the hinge of his elbow for emphasis. Even the four-piece horn section let loose, prancing around enthusiastically as they tended to their multi-instrumental duties.
Still, it’s natural for musicians to summon forth this kind of energy when placed in front of an audience; more exciting was the organic transformation of their music. The funk jams of “Dear Science” ““ tracks such as “Red Dress” and lead single “Golden Age” ““ were tailor-made for live audience consumption, but album standout “DLZ” managed to take on a life of its own, resisting any sense of restraint the studio version had and threatening to derail at any moment.
Even on the melancholy “Stork & Owl” the band managed to suck out every last bit of emotion, albeit on the opposite end of the spectrum. At times like these, it was like watching an impulsive mind set loose, succumbing to every feeling indiscriminately after a lifetime of calculation.
The biggest surprise was the successful reimagining of tracks from “Return to Cookie Mountain,” TV on the Radio’s most cerebral album. These songs were created with many fully formed layers, allowing the band to isolate just one and extrapolate it into something totally different onstage. On “Province” they surrounded the chorus with a wall of textural noise that would have made My Bloody Valentine proud, lending a euphoric truth to the declaration that “love is the province of the brave.”
“A Method” received perhaps the most intriguing makeover, though. Whereas the original version dexterously assembled fragments from all angles in a lesson on studio gymnastics, the live incarnation did away with all the ornamentation, leaving only keyboardist Gerard Smith playing the main riff while everyone else beat away at various percussion instruments with members of the opening band, The Dirtbombs. This tribal drum circle celebrated the victory of raw emotion, providing the most indelible image of the night.
There are, of course, sacrifices that must be made to explore such pure, unfiltered passion. The little details have always added a special magic to TV on the Radio’s music ““ the accent riffs, the chimes and bells and shakers, the blips and scratches.
Such tiny delights were lost in the bigger picture Thursday night. At times the colorful voices of Adebimpe and fellow vocalist Kyp Malone were indistinguishable from the music as well, and I fear that casual listeners missed out on the full effect of their superbly poetic lyrics.
The live show is only part of the TV on the Radio experience, though, and its albums provide plenty of time to reflect on the intricacy of their intellectual side. It is only a matter of time before TV on the Radio fully reconciles its disparate halves, and its union will undoubtedly create a formidable beast.
““ Alex Goodman