TV on the Radio

Experimental indie-rock group TV On The Radio have made massive strides in recent years, releasing three critically acclaimed albums and earning gushing praise from pop legend David Bowie.

Forming in New York in 2001, the band now comprises Tunde Adebimpe (lead vocals, loops), Kyp Malone(backing vocals, guitars, loops), David Andrew Sitek (guitars, keyboards, loops), Jaleel Bunton (drums) and Gerard Smith (bass). Adebimpe and Sitek were the founding members who, in 2002, burned a few copies of an album named OK Calculator and utilised a very back-to-basics distribution system to get it out: they handed them to friends and family, left them in bars, and even pushed them down the backs of sofas in furniture stores. The album, mostly electronic-based demos, is now available worldwide through internet file-sharing.

Their first proper release was 2003's Young Liars EP, which generated a lot of buzz among indie-music fans and press. It was followed the next year by debut album Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes. The album won the Shortlist Music Prize and was well-reviewed for it's avant-garde creativity.

In 2006, they released second album Return To Cookie Mountain, which was highly acclaimed by many magazines and websites and won many Album Of The Year polls. In one song, it featured backing vocals by new fan David Bowie, who has publicly spoken about his appreciation for the band's music.

Third proper album Dear Science was released in 2008 to more gushing praise from critics. It was also their highest charting album, landing at No.12 on the Billboard 200. At the end of the year, Rolling Stone, Spin, MTV, Entertainment Weekly and UK paper The Guardian all named Dear Science the best album of the year.