Broadcast - Broadcast and The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age [2009]

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Broadcast are an electronic music band, based in the Kings Heath part of Birmingham, England. Original members were Trish Keenan (vocals), Roj Stevens (keyboards), Tim Felton (guitar) and James Cargill (bass). Various drummers have 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.
The band's style is a mixture of electronic sounds and Keenan's 1960s-influenced vocals. It is heavily influenced by the 1960s American psychedelic group The United States of America, using many of the same electronic effects. It is also reminiscent of Stereolab. However, despite the similar musical pedigree, Broadcast's music often has a darker, edgier sound - with amorphous samples and analogue dissonance giving it a retro-futuristic sci-fi edge.
The band's first releases were singles 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. All subsequent releases have been on Warp Records, or in the USA on Tommy Boy Records. Their song "Before We Begin" was used in the Season Four finale of The L Word.
The band has released three albums, several EPs, two singles and EP collections. In October 2009, Broadcast will release their latest work - 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'.