New Broadcast (RIP Trish Keenan Jan 2011)

Saw them last night in Philly- you're in for a treat, Dan, they're on fucking fire right now. One of the best starts to a show I've ever seen, too. They opened with a nearly 10-minute piece that reminded me of nothing so much as Chris & Cosey set to (I'm guessing here) Julian House projections- creepy British countryside, oscilloscope patterns, swirly op art, all in black and white- then when the tension (and volume) got almost unbearable, wham, the projections go to eyeball-searing color and they launch into "Corporeal," with the addition of super-heavy drumbeats. Best show I've been to in years.

wow. wish i could score a ticket to this.

wish they weren't playing chicago on a fucking monday. no way i can make that. dammit. i saw them live in 2000 and they were great.

Tempted to make the trip down to Manchester in december, that description sounds amazing. Really looking forward to getting the new LP next week, blew me away first listen

I'm finally listening to the Focus Group EP at work (bought a copy at the show, ripped it last night) and it sounds almost nothing like the live show. Still great, just way more calm and pastoral. Still spooky, but in a quiet sad way instead of upfront menace.

Also ripped the tour EP, "Mother Is the Milky Way" or something like that*, but stupidly forgot to transfer it to my ipod.

*and yeah, Broadcast have been around for long enough and distinguished themselves more than enough to have to put up with this kind of bullshit, but: is that not the most Stereolab title ever?

btw, I'll be happy to circulate copies of the EP to people who have trouble finding it, but only after the tour is over and any remaining copies (if any) have been sold off through Bleep or wherever.

They are playing w/ Atlas Sound in a couple of weeks, but not headlining (hmmph).

They are playing in Boston this Thursday with Atlas Sound as well. I am also wondering if they are not headlining. I think I may go anyway.

I thought they were headlining when they played in DC this weekend but that was not the case. To be honest, I'm scratching my head a bit at the above reactions to the live show. I saw them a couple years back at the same venue when they were supporting Tender Buttons and they put on a great show. But this time my friends and I all found it a chore to sit through. We barely lasted a half hour before we left.

Saw them tonight (didn't stick around for Atlas Sound) and they played for 45 minutes but it seemed longer than that. They've definitely got a great presence on stage. First twenty minutes were indeed straight up drones/low bassy pulses with an industrial feel and some of Trish's wordless vocals here and there. Pretty good for the most part but it could have been a bit shorter. They also played about 7 songs after that - the 3 new ones sounded like a dubbier/spacier take on Ha Ha Sound, which is exciting.

The title Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age does sound like it game directly from Tim Gane himself. It might have even been the working title for what became Cobra And Phases Group Play Voltage In The Milky Night

more an evocation of the occult and the marginal than the glossily technophilic, though. but point taken.

i was that show as well michael and also left before Atlas Sound. It was good, I did miss live drums and it certainly wasn't the stripped down distorted Young Marble Giants I expected to see on the Tender Buttons tour when I didn't expect live drums and guitar but got it. I thought it was great last night but felt the dubbiness overwhelmed them at times...moments when I wished the drums and vocals were clearer and crisper, I didn't mind the processing, the space echo or whatever, but you lost some of the melody and beauty of the singing. For what it's worth I wrote this on another list, it's pretty stupid but paints a picture:

Saw Broadcast last night. Unlike their last time, they didn't have a drummer or
much live instruments beyond the occasional bass or guitar. But it was no
stripped down electro-rock set. This was some deep, deep, dark, electro-acoustic
psychedlia of the highest order. Using samples perhaps in a way not to different
then a lot of current bands, such as Animal Collective, but coming from a darker
more gothic place. And somehow still pastoral. Like if the United States of
America teamed up with Mia Farrow singing the Rosemary's Baby soundtrack but
instead of Rosemary's Baby the movie was the Wicker Man shot by the people who
made the Blair Witch Project and it was all recorded in Cabaret Voltaire's
basement circa 1975.

Trying to distill something out of that last sentence, I got to this bootleg: The Basement Tapes by Mia Farosemary's Witcherman Cabaret.

Dan, you're in Boston? Drop me a line.

"It's pretty stupid but it paints a picture" is a phrase I've often uttered to myself many times when trying to write or read music reviews.

sorry, when you said "tonight" I thought you meant wed, so I assumed you were in brooklyn.

Seeing them tonight! Their gig of 5 years ago is still fresh in my mind as being the pinnacle of wonderful so I cannot wait for this.

Extremely intense show. Laetitia Sadier showed up for the last number of Atlas Sound's set (fortunately the only one I caught). Has she been on tour or was this a one-off? This was Portland btw.

She wasn't there on Friday (Vancouver). I was pretty disappointed in the show. They lacked stage presence and confidence this time, focussing on their gear rather than on the audience. Even their clothes were pretty scruffy and boring. The stage at this venue was pretty low and so they kind of disappeared, especially the one guy who sits on the floor for the whole show. The sound was quite bad - I think they were having a few problems with the microphones and everything was a bit muffled together. Whatever it was they were trying to do was not coming across. Overall, I prefer seeing them with a full band - I really missed the drummer they previously worked with (though I know he bailed ages ago).

Finally the crowd was really boring - a real sausage party with countless identical 30-something dudes in second hand v-neck sweaters, drainpipes, messily styled hair and some kind of reasurringly expensive shoes, standing around with their arms crossed. This must've been the only venue in town that wasn't getting it's Halloween freak on. I was so glad when it ended.

Atlas Sound WTF? The songs were pretty cool but he did the first part of the show sitting down at the back of the very low stage which just caused the audience to ignore him and chat away to themselves. This led to some Andy Kaufmann-esque fake arguing with the crowd and pretending to get offended at hecklers etc, numerous times between songs. The gaps between the songs were huge and pretty much everyone was asking "who the fuck is this dork?". Jeez, what a downer.

Snapped up the Focus Group album this weekend. This might be my favorite thing so far this year. Very mildly spooky (the ambience kinda reminds me of Olivia Tremor Control's field recording cut-up side project-y things) and busy enough/operating on subliminal enough of a wavelength to reward multiple listens. I like how there are lovely little tunes just kind of buried here and there within this plush, pastoral bed of noise.

Went to the sold out San Francisco show last night at Great American Music Hall. Opening band, The Selmanaires, were pretty great- unpretentious VU-inspired guitar drones, psych riffs, and the occasional Happy Mondays bongo club beat.

I have to agree with some of the above criticism re: Broadcast's current live show. Their LA show I saw five years back was fantastic- a full band spread across stage dominating a backdrop of weird projections, the overall experience being very full and rich and psychedelic. The two piece line-up last night was split by the projection screen (abstract images definitely generated by Julian House or someone over in the Ghost Box camp), and given the dominance of the images, and the tendency to go with sound drones over actual songs, their presence on stage became a mute point. Granted, I LOVED the projections, as would anyone familiar with GB's "Phenomena and Occurrences" film or the GB aesthetic in general, and the sound drones definitely fit, but Broadcast (i.e. the band I paid to see) kind of disappeared in the process. While I definitely like their newer and more experimental explorations, the delivery seemed kind of too deliberate and, dare I say, soulless (which I think here was the real disappointment- The Wire's recent feature on them couldn't let go of words like "pagan", "occult", and "conjure", but I got no sense of such in their show). That all said, the new record is killer, and their set was far superior to other recent shows I've seen (Dirty Three, Six Organs to name a few).

The real treat turned out to be Atlas Sound (wasn't terribly familiar), who was backed up by The Selmanaires and had Trish from Broadcast sing on a few songs. Really really great music and a stage presence that was quite refreshing in the wake of Broadcast's colder delivery.

The Selmanaires cancelled the show I was at without warning which was disappointing as I was looking forward to seeing them and also it meant that Atlas Sound had to perform solo. I think we missed out.

i was there last night, too, and agree a little with above sentiments, though i was stoked all-in-all. the opening noize was a little baffling, and made me sort of wonder if the set was gonna be one weird 35min piece. it was beautiful, though, and the projections totally contributed. lots of library-record sounds, and trish's vocals kept sounding like that ah-ah-ahhh song in the little mermaid, where ariel is trying to break out of the water or whatever. anyway, it WASN'T the whole set, of course. the remainder of the set was REALLY beaty and dirty electronics, and some gtr/bass/keys action on top. the new arrangements of black cat and corporeal were totally beautiful, and the new songs were more of the same cryptic, noisy, pop. so, on balance, maybe it wasnt as good as the tender buttons tour show i saw of theirs, with a drummer AND beaty electronics and sawtooth waves. but it was rad and unexpected, and that rules.

oh and the tour-only CDR rules, too -- their version of the first song from it last night was another one of my favorites.

ps i only saw the broadcast so i have no opinion on either other set

the tour CD reminds me of His Name is Alive.

pastoral lo-fi pagan shoegaze experiments w/ female vox

This album is heaven in headphones. Or earbuds. I like how they got some Pipers from The Gates Of Dawn and some Moles from The Ministry to play on this. Super psychedelic. I'm also not a big fan of the Ghost Box stuff but this is really sweet.

listened to some songs upthread and this sounds wonderful. what broadcast album should i get, ILM?

whoever answers first that's the one i'll get

unless it's a joke answer in which case probably i'll just go to bed

"Work And Non Work" probably.

none of them would be a disappointment

thanks!

ha ha sound

Haha Sound seconded.

Yes. Ha Ha Sound.

er, the julian house graphics thing, he is The Focus Group so it all makes sense

"House releases music under the alias The Focus Group on the label Ghost Box Music, which he is co-founder of with Jim Jupp."

Work and Non-Work here, those early singles... (but yes, any of them). the samples i've heard of the new one, which isn't many, all sound like there's one too many layers of things going on.

The Noise Made By People is my clear favourite now

those early singles on work and non work are great, particularly "the world backwards," but in retrospect they sound to me too often like they were splitting the difference between stereolab and portishead. by haha sound they'd come completely into their own

They are all great, but Ha Ha Sound is definitely the best.

tender buttons is every bit as good as the noise made by people i reckon, the new 'un is a riot though, quite a surprise after the relative starkness of TB. very annoyed about missing that matinee show at the vortex, just down the road for me as well...

it's great to know that most of you don't even consider "work and non work" their best because i already love it a lot. been listening to it since morning and it's turned the whole day into a lovely dream. and i don't hear much portishead, thankfully.

like many a good band, they've managed to shift their sound and styles around here and there, but always retaining a certain "broadcastness". So it's hard to choose.

It's funny, despite being in their shadow, they really are like Stereolab in so many ways, even though they don't really sound like Stereolab. I have this blog post in my head about how both bands are a certain british take on Hip-Hop, how they are possibly the two most derivative bands of the last twenty years while being two of the most distinct, I mean, Stereolab would steal licks and riffs and melodies, Broadcast goes even further and samples old library records, but in both cases, it's recontextualized in such a way to serve their purpose, the reference isn't hidden but used to their own means etc etc.

this was brought up by watching those Origins of Stereolab clips on youtube and realizing they started a series for Broadcast as well.

well i know what i'm off to go watch right now

it's not as satisfying because the stereolab one is like...Neu!, Canned Heat! Silver Apples! while the Broadcast one is like Basil Kirchin!

wario land?

a friend of mine drummed for broadcast for a little while and they gave him a tape of, i suppose, the big influences, i remember ennio morricone: his name is nobody was on it and i seem to recall the valerie theme and, yep, bits of basil kirchin. i'd love to hear it now. this was a good while ago and i remember at the time thinking hmmmmmm, so which bit DID broadcast come up with then. and the answer was no bit. in the best possible way. does anybody like seeland by the way?

there was a broadcast radio mix that they did for some website, perhaps it's the same mix.

actually, there's one on their blog at the moment, number 5

http://futurecrayon.blogspot.com/2008/12/blog-post_19.html

thanks koogs! yeh i remember it did have some kind of serial number. sounds great anyway.

hey cw, you still in touch with drummer j? here's broadcast radio mix 4 which has kirchin/morricone/etc for anyone interested