Customer Reviews

Work & Non Work

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Broadcast's blend of indie-rock, trip-hop, jazz and experimental are what make this melodic little band so appealing. Unfortunately "Work and Non-Work," a collection of early singles, is not so good, relying too heavily on electronic blips and washes and too little on the experimental indiepop.

It opens with the wavery "Accidentals," an eerie ballad that sounds like it was sung underwater, followed by a pair of sound-alike songs, one guitar-led and one almost purely electronic, but possessing a lot of the same beats. The experimental edge gets stronger in songs like the watery "Phantom," and distractingly noisy "We've Got Time."

An indie-rock edge reenters with "Living Room," which hints at the sound Broadcast would end up embracing -- a solid guitar and percussion, overlaid with delicate sound effects. So does "According to No Plan," a funereal trip-hop song. It ends on a note that led up to their more accomplished full-length albums, with the mellow, jazzy-poppy "Lights Out."

Broadcast can be forgiven for not getting into their best sound immediately. They weren't sure what they were going to play, especially if they wanted to be huge -- electronica is a tricky area. For every Stereolab, you have dozens of trippy bands that don't know how to weave their sound together. Fortunately Broadcast steady themselves on the last half of this collection.

Their watery sound is a bit reminiscent of Aspera, or maybe Stereolab on some serious sedatives, but the songs are too loose-knit to be as good. They seem to throw in too many sound effects that aren't necessary -- they're just THERE, hovering over the main melody. Lots of keyboard, of course. And while the guitar is overshadowed by the keyboard in "Book Lovers," it does have plenty of skill to it.

Trish Keenan has a beautiful voice -- sweet, pure and quite strong. Not even the overshadowing keyboard melodies can keep it hidden. Just don't read the lyrics before listening -- the songs themselves are not exceptional. Simple, lacking in details or creative metaphors, and not focusing on anything as spacey as the music.

Fans of Broadcast may want to check out this early collection of singles, to get a better idea of what the band sounded like before their musical breakthroughs. Just be warned -- there's nothing so polished as what they do now even if it is quite pretty.

Great for if you want to take a nap or chill out or make out. Very soothing music and singing. King of spacey electronic with an ambient feel and also a little loungy, but not your typical. Definitely worth the purchase, I used to play it on my radio show all the time. It was one of my favorite CD's.

I really like this CD, but I really like this type of music. If you're a fan of Stereolab's "Dots and Loops" or St. Etienne, this CD will knock you're socks off. There's nothing particularly drum and bass about it, nothing to compare this band to the dark and omenous renderings of Portishead or Bowery Electric. Just great music.

Broadcast is an enigma. At first listen, they may well remind you of Mono or Hooverphonic, but with a decidedly more disturbing edge. Listening to the beauty of this is like finding yourself in a dream, knowing it's a dream, not caring, and just laughing to see what madness it will carry you into. It's eccentric and haunting, with a hint of menace amidst the majesty. The interludes discourage active listening, but the best tracks here, The Book Lovers, According To No Plan, and The World Backwards, you will never forget.

If Stereolab and Portishead head a child it might grow up to surpass them both and be called Broadcast. Rare in its ability to improve with every listening.

Broadcast's first album, Work and Non Work, is actually a compilation of early singles and EPs. It's a wonderful introduction to the band and their unique sound. At once emotional and icily cool, the band's combination of Trish Keenan's high vocals and harpsichord-like synths becomes something beautiful and fractal. Their use of off-kilter melodies and modal harmonies crashed into a distinct pop sensibility is evident on "Messages From Home." Eerie cinematics comes to the forefront, as well, on instrumentals like "Phantom." Broadcast's lyrics are actually of worth to listen to and complement the music hand-in-glove; listen, for instance, to the plaintive longing of "Lights Out." It's the thinking person's pop music.

I just want to respond the Kwn and say that Broadcast is an execellent band and i will continue to purchase their albums as long as its quality music BUT they have a very closely related sound to The United States of America. so if you truly love Broadcast, don't hesitate to buy the USA.