Work & Non Work

Broadcast | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 8, 1997)
• Original Release Date: July 1, 1997
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Drag City
• ASIN: B0000019R1
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,756 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Accidentals

2. The Book Lovers

3. Message from Home

4. Phantom

5. We've Got Time

6. Living Room

7. According to No Plan

8. The World Backwards

9. Lights Out

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth your money, July 5, 2003

By 

"quemutant" (Vancouver, BC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Work & Non Work (Audio CD)

I would recommend this CD to anyone who enjoys good electronica. Some people seem to be unhappy that Work & Non-Work does not satify Stereolab/Portishead fans. My advice: buy stereolab if it's stereolab you want; go listen to portishead if you don't want to venture outside that particular sonic landscape. Broadcast is Broadcast, not an inferior carbon copy of any other band. Conversely, I don't think the accusation of the lack of originality is sound. Yes, the dark and theatrical sounds do resemble Portishead and Goldfrapp. Yes, it is somewhat like a less cerebal version of Stereolab. Just because their music belong to roughly the same genre doesn't mean anyone is ripping off anybody's music. It's a paranoia many music fans share. (Btw, isn't originality nothing more than a myth, a musician's fantasy?) I've listened to this CD many many times. My conclusion - Broadcast is not aping any other band. If you still have doubts, listen to the clips before you buy it. That's what they're here for. I hope you like what you hear. Should be a nice addition to your CD collection.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clearly a beginning, December 8, 2000

By 

Bill Your 'Free Form FM Handi Cyber Print DJ ... (Mahwah, NJ USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Work & Non Work (Audio CD)

Ever since hearing "Noise Made By People," I've become a rabid Broadcast convert, and thus got "Work And Non-Work" in order to own the band's complete catolouge.

The CD--not a proper album but a collection of early singles and EPs--is clearly a testing out of gambits Broadcast doesn't know how it wants to play yet. The material was recorded in 1996 and 1997, when corperate hype about Electronica being the "next big thing" was at fever pitch. Songs like "Phantom" and "Living Room" cross techno style with 60s-style gothic darkness.

The results are plesent to listen to, but sound like music that dozens "techno" bands were making at the time; right before they dropped off the edge of a cliff, never to be heard from again. Little of the remarkable playing and writing that make "Extended Play Two" and "Noise Made By People" so outstanding is evident here.

The one exception, however, is "Accidentals." The song uses jump-cut editing and a murky, druggy texture to create extremely disturbing atmosphere. You are repelled by its creepy undertoe, yet listen over and over. Brillant.

"Work and Non-Work" is actually fantastic news for Broadcast fans. Taken in the context of their later work, the collection shows that Broadcast is a band that is evolving, improving, and moving forward.

Hopefully, we will get to watch them do so for a long, long time.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars There's a quiet dignity about this album, January 20, 2005

By 

Jasper Mcworthy (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Work & Non Work (Audio CD)

I agree their later stuff really hits the spot, but here they are clearly on their way to something unique. Experimental in a good way. They seem to fit just right and slide through each song to make it a cohesive listen. I found that walking around my apartment doing random tasks and listening with a not so attentive ear, I found it very pleasant. A good album to relax to for sure.