OK Calculator explained

OK Calculator
Type:	demo
Artist:	TV on the Radio
Cover:	OK Calculator.jpg
Released:	July 24, 2002
Genre:	Indie rock, lo-fi, art rock, funk
Length:	74:58
Label:	Self-released
Producer:	David Andrew Sitek
Next Title:	Young Liars
Next Year:	2003

OK Calculator is a demo collection from TV on the Radio which they self-released in 2002. The album's title alludes to Radiohead's album OK Computer.

Reception

In Magnet, Bryan Bierman listed the album as a hidden gem and wrote, “Adebimpe’s voice alone makes up most of the tracks, and though the album’s rough sound takes some getting used to, this arrangement is surprisingly effective. Songs like ‘Yr God’ and ‘Aim To Please’ show off his soulful vocals, and you can hear some early signs of the later songwriting style the group would adapt. Sitek's recordings are a little more polished, using the atmospheric electronics that would later envelope a lot of TVOTR's music, like the slow ambience of ‘On A Train,” or the Kraftwerk fever dream ‘Pulse Of Pete.’”^[1]

Track listing

1. "Freeway" – 2:19
2. "Say You Do" (Samples Raymond Scott's "Night and Day" and Nina Simone's Wild is the Wind)^[2] – 5:19
3. "Pulse of Pete" – 3:36
4. "Me - I" – 3:20
5. "Buffalo Girls" – 2:58
6. "Ending of a Show" – 1:09
7. "Hurt You" – 6:28
8. "Netti Fritti" – 5:14
9. "Yr God" – 2:35
10. "On a Train" – 16:07
11. "Sheba Baby" – 3:56
12. "Y King" – 2:43
13. "Aim to Please" – 3:07
14. "Bicycles Are Red Hot" – 3:57
15. "Los Mataban" – 3:00
16. "Robots" – 3:10
17. "Doing My Duty" – 5:52
18. "Untitled" – 0:06

The tracks "Freeway" and "On a Train" later re-appeared on the 2004 7" and CD single for "Staring at the Sun".

External links

• Downhill Battle Interview

Notes and References

1. Web site: Hidden Gems: TV On The Radio's "OK Calculator". Staff. MAGNET. 2012-02-16. Magnet Magazine. en-US. 2020-02-20.
2. Web site: Say You Do by TV on the Radio on WhoSampled. 2020-08-04. WhoSampled. en.