TV on the Radio
Brooklyn art-rock institution built on Tunde Adebimpe's tremulous falsetto and dense, horn-flecked production — anxious dance music for the end of something.
TV on the Radio began in Brooklyn in 2001 when Tunde Adebimpe and David Sitek started recording together, self-releasing an early effort called OK Calculator before Kyp Malone joined and the trio issued the Young Liars EP. Jaleel Bunton and Gerard Smith rounded out the lineup that followed; Smith died in 2011.
Their music combines art rock and post-punk with electronics, looped guitars, doo-wop-influenced vocal layering and horn arrangements. Much of that sound was shaped by Sitek's dense production, which piles treated guitars and samples beneath Adebimpe's falsetto and Malone's rougher harmonies.
Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes won the Shortlist Music Prize in 2004. Return to Cookie Mountain, released in 2006, featured David Bowie on backing vocals and topped several year-end lists. Dear Science, from 2008, reached number 12 on Billboard, the band's highest chart position, and was named album of the year by outlets including Rolling Stone and The Guardian.
The band paused in 2009, during which Malone released a solo record as Rain Machine and Sitek put out Maximum Balloon with a run of guest vocalists. TV on the Radio later returned with further albums. Adebimpe also works as an actor and visual artist, and Sitek has produced for a range of other performers.
TV on the Radio at a glance
What kind of music does TV on the Radio play?
TV on the Radio is tagged alternative.
What festivals has TV on the Radio played before?
TV on the Radio has played Glastonbury 2025.
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