Broadcast | Artist
Broadcast was an English indie electronic band founded 1995 in Birmingham UK by Trish Keenan (vocals, guitar, keyboard) and James Cargill (bass). Prior to forming Broadcast, Keenan started her music career while studying creative writing at Birmingham University. For a time, she performed as half of the folk duo Hayward Winters, then met Cargill at the 1960s psychedelic revival club Sensateria. Trish Keegan tragically died in 2011 and Cargill has continued the band, bringing on additional members periodically. Broadcast's music was retro-futuristic, innovative, and often deeply moving, attracting a faithful cult audience. Their music employed a mixture of electronic sounds and Keenan's 1960s-inspired vocals which flickered effortlessly between aloof detachment and vulnerability. Their music was at times influenced by the electronic effects of 1960s psychedelic bands such as the United States of America, and electronic pioneers the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, using many of the same electronic effects. Striving to achieve authentic 60's analogue recording sounds, the band used vintage instruments such as the a 1960s Italian Eko Edsel guitar and techniques such as miking instruments rather than using digital interface boxes. Keenan was known to record vocal tracks with her head in a cardboard box which gave it a "closeness and deadness that makes it sit in the mix a bit nicer," while drummer Bullock recorded drum tracks in a neighborhood church before overdubbing guitar tracks and additional arrangements. The band also incorporated into their music samples taken from library music compilations and real-life field recordings. Broadcast released four studio albums before Keenan passed away. Of these the first three: The Noise Made by People (2000), Haha Sound (2003) and Tender Buttons (2005), are excellent. In 2009 the group released a collaborative album Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age with The Focus Group. There have also been many fine archival releases plus two superb compilation albums that cover much of their best recorded output: Work and Non Work (1997) and The Future Crayon (2006). Trish Keenan died on 14 January 2011 at the age of 42, following complications with pneumonia, which she suffered from after earlier contracting the Influenza H1N1 virus. After Keenan's passing, James Cargill formed the project Children of Alice with Julian House and Roj Stevens; they released their eponymous album in February 2017. The group's name is a tribute to Keenan, who had cited Alice in Wonderland as a main inspiration.
Artist Website: futurecrayon.blogspot.com
Featured Albums: Broadcast
Related Artists: Pram, The Focus Group
