By: Brooke Johnpier, Music Department Member
This is my last article for the semester, and for my freshman year. Woo-hoo! With that being said, let’s jump into it!
Broadcast was an English band that was formed in Birmingham in 1995. They combined the 1960’s psychedelic style with elements of early electronic music as well as some esoteric influences. This earned them a cult following.
The band released three albums during their career, the first of which was released on March 20 of 2000. This means that I will be reviewing the second song on most albums, and the 20th song on some of the albums that have at least 20 songs. During the later years, a bunch of other albums came out of songs that the band had recorded but never released. They came out after the original first album though, so I will be following that method. Let’s go!
Maida Vale Sessions: Untitled [City in Progress] – 4:10
Starting off you hear an immediate psychedelic sound. There’s an ominous keyboard tone in the background but the guitar and singing offset it to make it not seem so creepy. During the bridge, you hear the lead singer, Trish Keenan, saying “bum, bum, bum,” over and over again, but ever so faintly that it’s almost impossible to hear. It creates a ghost-like presence and it’s pretty interesting.
Work And Non Work: The Book Lovers – 4:49
This song starts off with a keyboard that’s supposed to sound like a harpsichord, and then goes into an early ’60s, late ’50s type of beat. At the end of the verses, there’s a sound effect played that sounds very similar to gunshots. The bridge of this song is creepy and slower-paced than the rest of the song. During the chorus, there’s some snare drum that sounds really cool. Then, at 3:30 you think the song is over, but it turns into a slow, trip-like jam session that’s insanely cool.
The Noise Made By People: Unchanging Window – 3:48
From the end of the last song to this song, it honestly sounds like the sequel to it. The keyboard sounds very similar, and the snare drum is back. As for diversity in instruments, there’s not much there besides when you get closer to the chorus. You get a little bit of different drum and guitar, but not much else.
Haha Sound: Pendulum – 4:21
This one starts off with a distorted electronic sound. Then the drums kick in to add a backbeat. As the song progresses, you hear a microphone being dropped or abused to create the sound that we all hate so much. It works very well in this song though. There’s also another sound effect throughout the song that sounds like bird clamping its beak together consistently. Another sound effect I noticed was video game shooting sounds. This song is just a creative masterpiece.
Tender Buttons: Black Cat – 3:58
It starts off with video game sounds being distorted and then goes into an up-beat, happy guitar that sounds pretty electronic as well. This song is just the same stuff over and over again, and the chorus is kind of bland with the same line just repeated twice. This is definitely not Broadcast’s best work.
The Future Crayon: Still Feels Like Tears – 3:43
Totally different from anything thus far, this one starts off with bass. Then a sort-of distorted humming kicks in before Keenan’s vocals start. Deeper into the song, you hear a lower voice, possibly a man’s, singing one note through a voice box. Again though, this song just lacks the diversity of some of their other stuff.
Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age: what i saw – 1:02
It starts off with knocking on a door, and then goes into a Catholic school-girl choir singing. A bird chirping comes in later, and it just keeps going on and on, but the end of the singing gets louder and louder with each time. Finally, it ends with a vase, or something of a heavier caliber that was glass or china, breaking.
Berberian Sound Studio: Collatina, Mark Of Damnnation – 1:37
This one starts off with a very scary sounding violin-like sound with school-girl choir singing in the background. It definitely sounds like something out of the 1800’s. This is the type of song you have nightmares from, that’s for sure.
Microtronics Volumes 1&2: Microtronics 20 – 1:35
This one is also insanely ominous. It starts off with that creepy sound, and then a keyboard starts playing bubble sounds. But it’s distorted in a way that makes it seem like it’s close, but right in your face at the same time.
Mother Is The Milky Way: In Here The World Begins – 3:28
This song starts off the same way with a creepy tone, but almost immediately electronic keyboard comes in. Keenan came in too, but you can hardly hear her as the music drowns her out. And that’s just not in one spot either, the whole song has her drowned out. As the song continues on, you hear birds chirping. This song does lack diversity as well, though… until the end, where they play a creepy music box sound that terrified me.
Broadcast is a very creative band with a bunch of different influences and aspects that come through. If you click on the playlist below, you can listen to the songs I reviewed above, as well as the songs from last week’s article. If you don’t, you’re missing out on some great music.
Want to share your thoughts? Have a band/artist you want to be featured? Email Brooke at johnpibl23@bonaventure.edu!
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