Nine Types of Light | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | April 11, 2011 | |||
Recorded | 2010 | |||
Studio |
| |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 43:40 | |||
Label | Interscope | |||
Producer | David Andrew Sitek | |||
TV on the Radio chronology | ||||
|
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.8/10 [3] |
Metacritic | 82/100 [4] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [2] |
The A.V. Club | A [5] |
Entertainment Weekly | B+ [6] |
The Guardian | [7] |
Los Angeles Times | [8] |
MSN Music (Expert Witness) | A− [1] |
NME | 8/10 [9] |
Pitchfork | 7.7/10 [10] |
Rolling Stone | [11] |
Spin | 8/10 [12] |
Nine Types of Light is the fourth studio album by American rock band TV on the Radio, released on April 11, 2011, through Interscope Records. It is the final TV on the Radio album to feature bassist Gerard Smith, who died of lung cancer nine days after it was released. The album's lead single "Will Do" was released on February 23, 2011. [13] Its closing track, "Caffeinated Consciousness", was made available on the band's website as a free download on March 10, 2011. [14]
Nine Types of Light was very well received by critics and has a "Universal Acclaim" rating of 82 at review aggregating website Metacritic. [4] The Quietus were effusive in their praise of the album and, in particular, Dave Sitek's role of producer noting his "skill as a handsome texturologist." They concluded: "Nine Types Of Light offers a far less opulent, more modest ecology when compared to their earlier work, but it speaks of a far more mature and realistic notion of love: based on caring, understanding, patience, soulful connection." [15] Pitchfork opined that "Nine Types of Light shows how TV on the Radio's transmissions can be just as effective and affecting when delivered free of static and noise." [16]
The band created an accompanying film to go with the album, an hourlong visual companion that offers music videos for all of Nine Types of Light's tracks. Packaged with a deluxe version of the CD, the film also exists on YouTube in its entirety. [17] Characterized by eclectic visual style and thematic content as well as TV on the Radio's diverse, unique sound, the film allows for a different interpretation and method of experiencing the album. Directed by singer Tunde Adebimpe (with different directors helming the individual clips, see below for list), the film also features interviews with a variety of New Yorkers discussing topics including dreams, love, fame, and the future. A humorous epilogue, set to the song "You" and featuring the band members meeting for lunch ten years after a fictional breakup, concludes the film. Overall, the work can be seen as Afrofuturistic, particularly the video for "Will Do," which incorporates virtual-reality technology to tell a unique love story starring Adebimpe and Joy Bryant.
TV on the Radio
Additional musicians
Production
Design
Chart (2011) | Peak position |
---|---|
Australian Albums (ARIA) [20] | 25 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [21] | 51 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [22] | 68 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [23] | 82 |
French Albums (SNEP) [24] | 76 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [25] | 68 |
Irish Albums (IRMA) [26] | 33 |
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) [27] | 39 |
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) [28] | 46 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [29] | 65 |
UK Albums (OCC) [30] | 33 |
US Billboard 200 [31] | 12 |
Tinariwen is a collective of Tuareg musicians from the Sahara region of southern Algeria and of northern Mali, in the region of Azawad. Considered pioneers of desert blues, the group's guitar-driven style combines traditional Tuareg and African music with Western rock music. The collective first convened in the late 1970s and released their first studio album in the early 1990s. They began touring internationally in the early 2000s.
TV on the Radio (TVOTR) is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York, formed in 2001. The band consists of Tunde Adebimpe, David Andrew Sitek, Kyp Malone, and Jaleel Bunton. Gerard Smith was a member of the band from 2005 until his death in 2011.
David Andrew Sitek is an American musician and record producer, known for his work with his band TV on the Radio. He has also worked with bands such as Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars, Foals, Celebration, Little Dragon, Wavves, Beady Eye, and Weezer, and produced free jazz-influenced remixes of songs by artists such as Beck and Nine Inch Nails, and has contributed a solo track to the Red Hot Organization Dark Was the Night charity compilation. He is also a photographer and painter.
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes is the 2004 debut album by the American art rock band TV on the Radio. The album was recorded at Headgear Studio in Brooklyn. It was awarded the Shortlist Music Prize for 2004. It was released on CD, 12" vinyl and MP3 download formats. The CD is enhanced with two different quality QuickTime video files of the "Dreams" music video. The 12" features two records with the extra song "You Could Be Love" and a different track order from the CD. The MP3 version includes two extra songs not available on the CD. "Staring at the Sun" has the intro edited from the original version on Young Liars, and is the same version used on the single and video.
Return to Cookie Mountain is the second studio album by American rock band TV on the Radio. It was released July 6, 2006, worldwide by 4AD, and issued in the U.S. and Canada on September 12, 2006, by Interscope Records and Touch and Go Records. The North American release features three bonus tracks, two of which are B-sides from the single "Wolf Like Me"; the other is a remix of "Hours" by El-P. Videos were made for the singles "Wolf Like Me" and "Province".
"Wolf Like Me" is the first single from American art rock band TV on the Radio's album Return to Cookie Mountain, released in the United Kingdom on July 25, 2006 on 4AD. The single's B-side was the song "Things You Can Do", which was also available as a bonus track on the U.S. release of Return to Cookie Mountain. It was released in two formats: CD single and 7-inch vinyl.
Babatunde Omoroga Adebimpe is an American musician, singer-songwriter, actor, director, and visual artist best known as the lead singer of the Brooklyn-based band TV on the Radio.
Heligoland is the fifth studio album by English electronic music duo Massive Attack, released on 8 February 2010 by Virgin Records. Named after a German archipelago, it was their first studio album in seven years, following 100th Window (2003). It's the first album to feature Daddy G since Mezzanine (1998), therefore making it the first album by the band to be recorded as a duo. It also features recurring guest vocalists Horace Andy and Damon Albarn along with Martina Topley-Bird, Guy Garvey, Tunde Adebimpe and Hope Sandoval. It has been certified Gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI).
"Staring at the Sun" is the debut single of American indie rock band TV on the Radio, released in 2004. The CD single is enhanced with two different quality QuickTime video files of the title track's music video. The single's B-sides, "Freeway" and "On a Train", were taken from their OK Calculator release.
Dear Science is the third studio album by the band TV on the Radio. It was released on September 16, 2008, digitally through Touch and Go Records, with the physical release coming a week later through Interscope Records and DGC Records in North America and 4AD elsewhere.
The Modern Tribe is the second studio album by American indie rock band Celebration from Baltimore. It was released on October 9, 2007 via 4AD. Recording sessions took place in February 2007 at Stay Gold Studios in Brooklyn. Production was handled by Dave Sitek. It features contributions from TV on the Radio, Stuart Bogie, Akwetey & Aku of Dragons of Zynth, Nick Zinner, Martín Perna, Eric Biondo, Ryan Sawyer, Gary Sitek, Chris Coady, Richard Harper, Alianna Kalaba, Tatiana McCabe, Noah Rubin and Raedawn.
Maximum Balloon is the debut solo studio album by American musician and record producer Dave Sitek. It was released on September 21, 2010, via DGC/Interscope Records. Produced by Sitek himself, it features guest appearances from Aku of D.O.Z, Ambrosia Parsley, David Byrne, Holly Miranda, Karen O, Katrina Ford, Little Dragon and Theophilus London, as well as his TV on the Radio bandmates Kyp Malone and Tunde Adebimpe.
"Province" is the second single from TV on the Radio's album Return to Cookie Mountain. The song features David Bowie on backing vocals.
Gerard Anthony Smith was an American musician and member of the Brooklyn-based band TV on the Radio. He recorded an album of original music as A Rose Parade with Shannon Funchess of Light Asylum and also produced music with Midnight Masses and The Stationary Set. He died at age 36 from lung cancer.
Master of My Make-Believe is the second studio album by American musician and singer Santigold, released in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2012 and in the United States on May 1, through Downtown and Atlantic Records. The album features contributions from a wide range of musicians, including long-time collaborators John Hill, Switch and Diplo, as well as Dave Sitek of TV on the Radio and Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The cover art of the album, designed by Jason Schmidt, represents four incarnations of Santigold. The album received positive reviews from music critics, and earned Santigold her first number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and reached number 21 on the US Billboard 200 and number 33 on the UK Albums Chart.
Be is the second and final studio album by English rock band Beady Eye, released on 10 June 2013. It was recorded between November 2012 and March 2013. The album was produced by Dave Sitek who has previously produced records for Yeah Yeah Yeahs, TV on the Radio and Jane's Addiction. Be debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart behind Black Sabbath's 13. Despite receiving mixed reviews from contemporary critics, Be is considered by many fans to be an improvement from their debut album, Different Gear, Still Speeding and is notable for showcasing a rare experimental approach which departs from the sound of previous Beady Eye and Oasis albums.
Food is the sixth studio album by American singer Kelis. It was released on April 18, 2014, becoming her first album released under Ninja Tune Records. After parting ways with Jive Records in 2007, Kelis signed to Interscope and will.i.am Music Group in 2009, through the label she released her fifth studio album, Flesh Tone, which saw Kelis experiment with a dance sound. In 2011, Kelis began work on the follow-up to Flesh Tone; however, she left Interscope and signed to Federal Prism, before officially signing to the British independent label Ninja Tune for the release of Food. Food is an R&B and soul album with a diverse musical style that incorporates funk, Afrobeat, Memphis soul, and neo soul. Its songs feature crackling horns, brass, earthy guitars, simmering electronics and vocals from Kelis that were noted as being breathy, smoky and sultry.
Seeds is the fifth studio album by American art rock band TV on the Radio, released on November 18, 2014 through Harvest Records. It is the band's first album since the 2011 death of their bassist, Gerard Smith.
The Process is a 2014 album recorded by a supergroup of musicians that consists of Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, bassist/producer Bill Laswell and jazz pianist Jonathan Batiste. The album was recorded in 2013 as a musical score for a film that had yet to be written and never ended up being made. The album also features guest appearances by Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio, Wu-Tang affiliate Killah Priest, avant-garde jazz musician Peter Apfelbaum, and avant-garde jazz trumpeter Toshinori Kondo, among others.
"Happy Idiot" is the first single from American indie rock band TV on the Radio's fifth studio album Seeds.