photo by Nick Walker
Every Monday through Friday, we deliver a different song as part of our Song of the Day podcast subscription. This podcast features exclusive KEXP in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and independent recordings from artists that our DJs think you should hear. Each and every Friday we offer songs by local artists. Today’s selection, featured on the Afternoon Show with Kevin Cole, is “Absence of Light” by Maximum Ballon from the 2010 album Maximum Balloon on DGC/Interscope.
Maximum Ballon is the new solo pop project from TV On the Radio’s David Andrew Sitek. Having literally just released his amazing debut album Maximum Balloon last week, today’s featured song is about as fresh as it gets. Featuring the vocals of his TVOTR bandmate Tunde Adebimpe, this song is also about as close as we’ll probably get to the next TVOTR album for now. It’s not like the rest of the band hasn’t been busy with side projects either; Kyp Malone with Rain Machine, and Tunde Adebimpe with Fake Male Voice have kept them all very busy. It’s fascinating to see what they come up with on their own, and even more so when they bring others into the mix like in our featured song, “Absence of Light.” Even though it’s been over a year since we’ve heard from TVOTR, these are the sort of wonderful projects that get excited about when they bring it all together again. Maximum Balloon sounds like TVOTR ran through a very funky dance machine.
Although the band has yet to announce any tour dates, you can be sure to catch up with news about the band on their website and also on their MySpace page. For now, here’s another track from the album, “Tiger,” featuring Aku from Dragons of Zynth:
