Home audio and video systems have changed dramatically from their earliest incarnations. Television began as a mechanical device but didn’t really catch on until electronic TVs began to hit the market and more broadcasters began signing on.
It grew more popular as it changed from tiny black-and-white screens to large color sets. And now you can buy TVs that can take up the whole wall of your living room! In February 2009, television stations in the United States will switch from analog to digital signals, encouraging people to buy converter boxes or make the move and upgrade, which means plunking down big money for new high-definition sets.
Televison may be the cornerstone of home audio and video setups, but most people need more than just a good TV. We started recording TV shows on videocassette recorders, but fewer people use them anymore. They’re all switching to digital video recorders, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. And then there’s those sophisticated component sound systems and surround sound systems that add so much character and depth to our television and movie watching.
No doubt, home audio and video equipment is very popular, but deciding on the best equipment can be a challenge. Each person has his or her own preferences that lead to very different choices. We have a whole library of home audio and video articles that will help you learn more about different technologies. Find out what’s inside a remote control. Learn the differences between plasma and LCD televisions. See how speakers work. Find out how to bend your TV schedule to suit your viewing habits, with Internet TV, the TiVo and the Slingbox. We’ll even sneak a peek at the next wave of technologies, such as ultra-high definition TV. Explore our Home Audio and Video articles to find out more.
Some people know what they want and try really hard to get it,” says TV on the Radio multi-instrumentalist Dave Sitek. “We’d rather write a song about robots fucking.” This oddball aesthetic is apparent on the band’s debut CD, Desperate Youth, Blood Thirsty Babes, a cool collage of electronic fuzz, jazz skronk, doo-wop vocals and dark pop.
The group’s mishmash of styles can be credited, in part, to singer Tunde Adebimpe’s unusual upbringing. Adebimpe spent several years of his childhood in Nigeria, where his father worked as a social worker. “We’d listen to Fela Kuti, and Indian and Pakistani music,” he says. “I remember getting a copy of the Beach Boys’ Smile and not being able to wrap my head around it. I loved it, but I was just like, ‘Is it music?’ ” After high school, Adebimpe moved to New York to pursue a filmmaking career. He rented a room in Brooklyn with Sitek, who was selling acrylic paintings and producing local bands such as the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Liars.
“He was a weird motherfucker,” Sitek says of Adebimpe. “There was no question we were gonna do something together.” The two made some demos, took their name from a friend’s random suggestion and set out gigging after adding Kyp Malone as another noisemaker (the band recently added a drummer and a bassist for its live shows).
TVOTR recorded much of Desperate Youth by improvising for hours, then picking out the best parts. Unable to play an instrument, Adebimpe used a pedal that allowed him to sing over his own beat-boxing. But for its entire chaotic sprawl, the album is still a coherent paean to youthful confusion.
Despite the band’s surprise success, Sitek claims TVOTR don’t plan on getting more professional. “We don’t have the attention span to find the ‘right’ way of doing things,” Sitek says. “And we’re highly susceptible to caffeine.”
