TV on the Radio: Wolf Like Me. More than just about any other band, TV on the Radio makes music that makes me want to dance. And not shuffle-from-side-to-side dance, more like jump-in-the-middle-of-the-dance-floor-and-lose-my-sh*t dance.

I wouldn’t even qualify TVotR as a dance band, but the New York-based quintet certainly knows how to produce music that makes you want to move. Their sound is eclectic, ranging from trip-hop to a cappella to jazz and Wolf Like Me (from 2006’s Return to Cookie Mountain) is as dark and sexy as it is fun.

Talking Heads: This Must be the Place (naïve melody). This song has special meaning to me because it is my and my boyfriend’s “song”. It captures the uncertainty and exhilaration that accompanies love with David Byrne’s beautifully eccentric voice and the delicate musical arrangement.

My favorite version is from the 1984 documentary/live performance Stop Making Sense. In the film, David Byrne says that this is the only love song he’s ever written and as such, he is singing it to a lamp. Weird, wonderful, transcendent, just like the Talking Heads and just like love. Read More »

Most people’s first encounter with the ultra hip, uber talented band, The Ting Tings can be attributed to Steve Jobs and his brilliant iPod commercials. Their song, Shut Up and Let Me Go, was catchy, fun and piqued everyone’s interest…in more than an MP3 player. Fortunately, that song wasn’t the only trick up The Ting Tings’ sleeve.Their newest album, We Started Nothing, is further proof of this duo’s serious talent. Unable to get those songs out of our heads, CollegeCandy just had to get the story behind the band. So, we did. The good news: Katie White is just as down to earth and cool as she is talented. And, though we didn’t get to chat with Jules, we are pretty sure the same goes for him.

CC: We Started Nothing is chock full of textured beats, irresistible melodies and witty lyrics- where do the songs come from?
TT: We didn’t intend to form in a band so I think it came from a very honest place, because when we wrote these songs we didn’t think anyone would ever hear them. We just wrote them to play for our friends at parties. We were both feeling quite frustrated at the time and very sort of, I don’t know, like, invisible. We had been in a band that hadn’t worked out, we had a bit of a horrible time with it; I think it came from a real frustrated point of view, but they weren’t negative songs; they were just songs to make us feel better.

CC: Could you describe your song writing process?
TT: It’s completely different for every song. Both myself and Jules write everything together. Sometimes it will be that I will come up with something on the guitar and then we’ll come up with an idea on top of that. Or Jules might come up with something on the guitar or drums, or we’ll play keyboards or we’ll just have this little percussive sound. We just turn to sing like guy vocals and then an idea will come out of it.

CC: A year and a half ago, you were playing living room parties for friends; what’s the largest venue you have played to date and how does the experience differ from the early sets?
TT: The largest venue we’ve played to date so far is the festival for the BBC one big weekend in the UK. I don’t know how many people there were, but there were thousands and thousands all singing our song. It’s very different. We just try to keep it the same really, we haven’t tried to change the bond, we haven’t tried to make it anything that it wasn’t; we just keep being ourselves and you know, people either like it or they don’t. We don’t try to manipulate it for other audiences or anything. Read More »