Broadcast (band)
Encyclopedia
Broadcast are an electronic
music
band, founded in Birmingham
, England
. Original members were Trish Keenan (vocals), Roj Stevens (keyboards), Tim Felton (guitar) and James Cargill (bass). Various drummers played with the band, including Keith York
, Phil Jenkins, Jeremy Barnes
, Steve Perkins, and Neil Bullock. As of 2005, the group consisted of Keenan and Cargill, with Felton having departed to form a new project, Seeland, with Billy Bainbridge, formerly of another Birmingham Warp act Plone
. After the 2011 death of Trish Keenan, Cargill remains as the sole member.
The band's first releases were single
s released on Wurlitzer Jukebox Records ( "Accidentals" ) and Duophonic Records
("The Book Lovers") in the mid-1990s. "The Book Lovers" was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
. They attracted the attention of Warp Records
, who compiled the singles in 1997 on Work and Non Work.
The band has released three album
s, several EPs
, two singles and EP collections. In October 2009, Broadcast released a collaborative mini-album with The Focus Group
(aka graphic designer and Ghost Box label co-owner Julian House
) called Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
. In late 2009 their song "I Found the F" was covered by Gravenhurst
on the Warp20 (Recreated)
compilation.
The band was chosen by Matt Groening
to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties
festival he curated in May 2010 in Minehead
, Somerset, England.
The band's style is a mixture of electronic sounds and Keenan's 1960s-influenced vocals. It is heavily influenced by the 1960s influenced American psychedelic group The United States of America
, using many of the same electronic effects. It was also reminiscent of Stereolab
. However, despite the similar musical pedigree, Broadcast's music is often darker and edgier in sound – with amorphous samples and analogue dissonance giving it a retro-futuristic sci-fi edge.
Lead singer Trish Keenan died of pneumonia
on 14 January 2011 at the age of 42.
Sole remaining member James Cargill revealed in an interview with Under the Radar
that a new Broadcast album is in the works, featuring vocals recorded by Trish Keenan before her death.
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
band, founded in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Original members were Trish Keenan (vocals), Roj Stevens (keyboards), Tim Felton (guitar) and James Cargill (bass). Various drummers played with the band, including Keith York
Keith York
Keith York is a professional session drummer who has toured and sessioned throughout the world and worked with a range of bands, including Pitchshifter, The Lightning Seeds, Bivouac, Ladytron, and Esoteric, Bentley Rhythm Ace , Broadcast and Love Amongst Ruin...
, Phil Jenkins, Jeremy Barnes
Jeremy Barnes
Jeremy Barnes is an American musician. He was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the son of a local businessman. In 1995 he moved to Chicago to attend DePaul University but later dropped out. He joined the band Neutral Milk Hotel in January 1996. The band disbanded in 1998 and Barnes spent time...
, Steve Perkins, and Neil Bullock. As of 2005, the group consisted of Keenan and Cargill, with Felton having departed to form a new project, Seeland, with Billy Bainbridge, formerly of another Birmingham Warp act Plone
Plone (band)
Plone was an electronic music band from Birmingham, England.-Career:The group was created in late 1994 when Mark Cancellara and Mike Johnston started to buy old analogue keyboards and fx and began to rehearse making huge soundscapes...
. After the 2011 death of Trish Keenan, Cargill remains as the sole member.
The band's first releases were single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
s released on Wurlitzer Jukebox Records ( "Accidentals" ) and Duophonic Records
Duophonic Records
Duophonic Ultra High Frequency Disks Limited, known as Duophonic Super 45s, is a London based independent record label formed by the British pop group Stereolab...
("The Book Lovers") in the mid-1990s. "The Book Lovers" was also featured on the soundtrack of the film Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery is a 1997 American science fiction/action-comedy film and the first film of the Austin Powers series. It was directed by Jay Roach and written by Mike Myers who also stars in the title role. Myers also plays Dr. Evil, Austin Powers' arch-enemy...
. They attracted the attention of Warp Records
Warp Records
Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music....
, who compiled the singles in 1997 on Work and Non Work.
The band has released three album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
s, several EPs
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...
, two singles and EP collections. In October 2009, Broadcast released a collaborative mini-album with The Focus Group
The Focus Group
The Focus Group is a project of experimental electronic musician and graphic designer Julian House. His releases are on his own label, Ghost Box Music...
(aka graphic designer and Ghost Box label co-owner Julian House
Julian House
Julian House is a graphic designer, a musician, and the co-owner of the Ghost Box Music record label.-Graphic design:House is associated with Intro, a London-based design/production direction company who work in many media...
) called Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age
Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age is an album collaboration by Broadcast and The Focus Group, released by Warp Records on October 27, 2009. It was voted the best album of 2009 by The Wire...
. In late 2009 their song "I Found the F" was covered by Gravenhurst
Gravenhurst (band)
Gravenhurst is a vehicle for the music of the singer-songwriter, record producer and multi-instrumentalist, Nick Talbot, who lives in Bristol, England and is signed to Warp Records.-History:...
on the Warp20 (Recreated)
Warp20 (Recreated)
Warp20 is a compilation album released by Warp Records in 2009. It contains covers of Warp artists, such as Aphex Twin, LFO, Boards of Canada and Grizzly Bear by other Warp artists, such as Plaid, Autechre and Mira Calix.-Track listing:...
compilation.
The band was chosen by Matt Groening
Matt Groening
Matthew Abram "Matt" Groening is an American cartoonist, screenwriter, and producer. He is the creator of the comic strip Life in Hell as well as two successful television series, The Simpsons and Futurama....
to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties
All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)
All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....
festival he curated in May 2010 in Minehead
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
, Somerset, England.
The band's style is a mixture of electronic sounds and Keenan's 1960s-influenced vocals. It is heavily influenced by the 1960s influenced American psychedelic group The United States of America
The United States of America (band)
The United States of America was an American experimental rock and psychedelic band whose works are an example of early electronic music in rock and roll.-History:...
, using many of the same electronic effects. It was also reminiscent of Stereolab
Stereolab
Stereolab are an alternative music band formed in 1990 in London, England. The band originally comprised songwriting team Tim Gane and Lætitia Sadier , both of whom remained at the helm across many lineup changes...
. However, despite the similar musical pedigree, Broadcast's music is often darker and edgier in sound – with amorphous samples and analogue dissonance giving it a retro-futuristic sci-fi edge.
Lead singer Trish Keenan died of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
on 14 January 2011 at the age of 42.
Sole remaining member James Cargill revealed in an interview with Under the Radar
Under the Radar (magazine)
Under the Radar is an American magazine that bills itself as "The solution to music pollution" and features interviews with accompanying photo-shoots. Each issue includes opinion and commentary of the Indie music scene as well as reviews on books, DVDs and albums.Items are reviewed based on a...
that a new Broadcast album is in the works, featuring vocals recorded by Trish Keenan before her death.
Albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Top Electronic Albums Top Electronic Albums Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five... |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
||
| 2000 | The Noise Made By People The Noise Made by People The Noise Made by People is the debut album by the English band Broadcast. It was released in 2000 by Warp Records. The album failed to chart in the United Kingdom or the United States but was released to critical acclaim.- Reception :...
|
— | — |
| 2003 | Haha Sound Haha Sound Haha Sound is the second album by the English band Broadcast. It was released in 2003 by Warp Records. Haha Sound was their first to chart in the United States charting on the Top Electronic Albums. The album was released to critical acclaim.... |
8 | 50 |
| 2005 | Tender Buttons Tender Buttons Tender Buttons is the third and final studio album by the British band Broadcast. It was released by Warp Records on September 19, 2005 in the UK, one day later in the United States... |
— | — |
| 2009 | Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age is an album collaboration by Broadcast and The Focus Group, released by Warp Records on October 27, 2009. It was voted the best album of 2009 by The Wire... |
— | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
Compilation albums
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US Top Electronic Albums Top Electronic Albums Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five... |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
||
| 1997 | Work and Non Work Work and Non Work Work and Non Work is a 1997 album by British electronica group Broadcast, released by Warp Records, which compiles material from their early singles.-Track listing:#"Accidentals" – 3:28...
|
— | — |
| 2006 | The Future Crayon The Future Crayon The Future Crayon is a rarities and b-sides compilation released on August 21, 2006, by UK band Broadcast. It collects all the tracks released on singles, EPs and compilations from 1999 to 2003, with the exception of "Drums on Fire" , and the live-only tracks "60-40" and "Forget Every Time"... Compact Disc The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,... , LP Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... , DL Music download A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment... |
22 | — |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||
EPs
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1996 | The Book Lovers
|
| 2000 | Extended Play
Warp Records Warp, commonly referred to as Warp Records, is a pioneering independent British record label, founded in Sheffield in 1989, notable for discovering some of the more enduring artists in electronic music.... |
| 2000 | Extended Play Two Extended Play Two -Track listing:#"Illumination" – 3:14#"Unchanging Window/Chord Simple" – 6:57#"A Man for Atlantis" – 3:12#"Poem of Dead Song" – 2:31#"Drums on Fire" – 4:33... |
| 2003 | Pendulum Pendulum (Broadcast album) Pendulum is an EP by British electronica band Broadcast, released in 2003. It preceded the release of the full-length album Haha Sound; the title track "Pendulum" is the only song from the EP to also feature on that album, though several other tracks from this EP were later included on the 2006... |
| 2003 | Microtronics, Volume 01 Microtronics, Volume 01 An album from the English band Broadcast.Microtronics was a 3" CD sold during Broadcast's Haha Sound tour in 2003.All tracks are instrumental.-Track listing:# - 1:25# - 1:31# - 1:43# - 1:04# - 1:46# - 1:50# - 2:00# - 1:52# - 2:09# - 1:18# - 2:07... |
| 2005 | Microtronics, Volume 02
|
| 2009 | Mother Is the Milky Way
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Certifications Music recording sales certification Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,... |
Albums |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | "Accidentals" | Work and Non Work Work and Non Work Work and Non Work is a 1997 album by British electronica group Broadcast, released by Warp Records, which compiles material from their early singles.-Track listing:#"Accidentals" – 3:28... |
|
| "Living Room" | |||
| 1999 | "Echo's Answer" | The Noise Made by People The Noise Made by People The Noise Made by People is the debut album by the English band Broadcast. It was released in 2000 by Warp Records. The album failed to chart in the United Kingdom or the United States but was released to critical acclaim.- Reception :... |
|
| "Drums on Fire" | non-album single. | ||
| 2000 | "Come On Let's Go" | The Noise Made by People The Noise Made by People The Noise Made by People is the debut album by the English band Broadcast. It was released in 2000 by Warp Records. The album failed to chart in the United Kingdom or the United States but was released to critical acclaim.- Reception :... |
|
| 2005 | "America's Boy" | Tender Buttons Tender Buttons Tender Buttons is the third and final studio album by the British band Broadcast. It was released by Warp Records on September 19, 2005 in the UK, one day later in the United States... |
|
| 2010 | Broadcast and The Focus Group "Inside Out" "The Song Before" "Tuesday's Offering" | non-album single. | |
External links
- Broadcast at the BBC
- Concert photos by Laurent Orseau (Black Session)
- Interview with James Cargill from Cyclic Defrost magazine (Australia, 2005)
- Promotional page for collaborative release 'Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age' on Warp Records website