TEARS IN THE TYPING POLL: ILM Artist Poll #114 - BROADCAST (Results Thread)

One voter mentioned that their vote was for the Maida Vale version specifically. I shall refresh my memory...

Also, are these lyrics possibly drawing from some very specific and identifiable eastern school of thought or something?

No idea about this, things often turn out to be a reference to a film or a painting though.

https://i.imgur.com/A6BJmIU.jpg

16. The Be Colony
From Broadcast And The Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults Of The Radio Age, 2009
Fan-made video by Wonder Muddle on YouTube
Bonus beat: Performed by Princes Hill Secondary College Vocal Group, arranged by Maille Halloran
362 Points, 18 Votes

That BBC version of "Colour Me In" is rather frisky, isn't it. I seem to have listened to that less thoroughly than many, so this is probably no revelation at all to y'all. :)

Also, yayay for something more from their best long-playing release lol.

Absolutely adore Colour me in, never fails to give me goosebumps and make my insides dance. This and Pendulum are such perfect complimentary pair. People often describe Trish's voice as "sweet" which i think is wildly off, but here she is pure nectar. Loved the added static roughage on the maida vale version too.

'The Be Colony' works so well in DJ Food's 'O is for Orange' mix

https://vimeo.com/69721622

One of best parts of this (brilliant) exercise has been inadvertently listening to their penultimate oz show (Hifi?) and realising how great ( and relatively conventional old Broadcast) the Be colony and other Witch cults/ mother songs sound in their final incarnation. I need to track down a good version of one of these shows.

To add a bit of controversy in the sea of love, I didn't vote for the last two. Her voice on Colour Me In is indeed too mawkish, the song too much like an introduction. The Be Colony is fine but the music lacks either some energy and drive or some innovation.

Also it's now the top 15 and we still have 20 first-place votes !

XP: The setlist was seemingly relatively static all that year, so you'd *hope* there'd be a few decent recordings out there. Not least for the epics with no studio equivalents that tended to bookend the sets. (And yeah, "Hi Fi Bar" in central Melb. Though I think the name was short-lived, come to the think of it.)

To me, at least, the mix on 'The Be Colony' seems to mimic the unbalances that are occasionally baked into certain stereo 60s recordings, when careful forward-planning of overdubs was necessary.

This is why you'll hear some Kinks tune for example, where the tambourine or some other element will be unusually prominent compared to the rest of the music.

In The Be Colony, some elements are oddly recessive, Trish is way in front with the guitar/organ while the things that should give the song its forward movement, like drums/percussion are cloaked and in the distance.

After seeing the fan video for Until Then, I wondered if it could have been set to the last scene of Stalker
I tried and it worked well enough https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNiVFCWMrqI. The glass almost starts moving with the buzzing metallic guitar.

I mean, it IS an introduction, almost like an invitation, and it certainly has a naive quality, but it sounds incredibly vibrant and evocative to me in a manner that mawkish doesn't quite cover.

Shit, didn't mean to post that sorry, didn't know I need to give it a title

Time for a hit

https://i.imgur.com/jgY7Pzz.jpg

15. Papercuts
From Extended Play, 2000. Compiled on The Future Crayon, 2006.
Official music video on YouTube
367 Points, 16 Votes

I wouldn't say this is too low, exactly, #15 seems about right, but I had expected it to place higher.

Some of "The Be Colony" is sampled too. That repeating bassy clunk is roughly hewn from a Piero Umiliani soundtrack, from memory.

I like "Papercuts". But didn't assist it. Maybe I had some strategic omission thing going on!

"papercuts" is the best, sweet and sinister

my #10 or thereabouts

I added all the rest of my Broadcast live stuff to the Dropbox folder, there are a couple of really nice radio recordings in there (Amsterdam in particular) and one very listenable audience recording from the 2009 tour (Montreal)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uwgy0ssya4gizht/AADAnEVGnNxjONweJc1Eukv3a?dl=0

I had Papercuts at… #15! :ghost:

cheers Maresn3st!

https://i.imgur.com/CaN8ZRB.jpg

14. I Found The F
From Tender Buttons, 2005
Fan-made video by Myra Orgain on YouTube (heavy strobe effects here)
377 Points, 16 Votes, 1 First Place Vote

That 2009 recording is crisp and intriguing so far. Thanks again Maresn3st!

https://i.imgur.com/rQKY7MJ.jpg

13. Corporeal
From Tender Buttons, 2005
Fan-made video by Wonder Muddle on YouTube
405 Points, 17 Votes, 2 First Place Votes

Corporeal manages to be both incredibly unassuming and completely thrilling - technopolis, Oct 25, 2019

I continue to be delighted by it. "Corporeal" especially (Trish duets with a collapsing building to luscious effect) - Alex in Sheffield Aug 1, 2005

Corporeal only at 13? That's surprisingly low. It was my No. 2 pick, and nearly my No. 1 - big shout out to the two first-place voters.

songs i have played on a loop for god knows how long

^Every time. "Corporeal" was my #1. I would describe it as "mathematically perfect"

https://i.imgur.com/vLCxdZp.jpg

12. Message From Home
From The Book Lovers EP, 1996, Compiled on Work And Non Work, 1997.
Fan-made video by Donbecker5 on YouTube
412 Points, 18 Votes

Papercuts was my no.2 and Corporeal my no.1 - both TOO LOW obviously but also glad that they made it this high.

Corporeal pretty much became my favourite Broadcast track the first time I heard it and it's stuck ever since. It's so narrow somehow and way less demonstrative than the clattery swirls of the previous album but it's a fizzy pulse of purest pop and I have never got even slightly bored of it. (both listed quotes above are from me, 14 years apart - thanks CaAL!)

First heard Papercuts on John Peel and was dazzled by the fact that they were now releasing massively robust pop singles with a solid verse/chorus 1/chorus 2 construction which I don't think they really did much of again after this. Maybe also because of the video, it feels like they were fully snapped into focus and present here in a way that they shied away from afterwards - it's a dynamic, exhilarating (chart-ineligible) hit.

The next track had a very odd journey through the polling period, it generally moved around the top six, was at number three for a while, and only slipped out of the top ten when the last three voters awarded it a total of zero points.

https://i.imgur.com/05FqNx8.jpg

11. Where Youth and Laughter Go
From Extended Play, 2000. Compiled on The Future Crayon, 2006.
Fan-made video by Wonder Muddle on YouTube
413 Points, 20 Votes

This was my number 4, just such a perfect song, amazing that it was hidden away on an EP.

Anyway, what do people think the top ten will look like?

Two voters indicated that the interlude that it's attached to on the EP (but not The Future Crayon) was a significant factor in their vote.

This is actually the real winner lol! Secretly the most popular track on Extended Play (all of which has now placed), appearing on ballot after ballot after ballot (until it didn't, as CaAL noted). I mean, who knew?

voted highly for this one, and kudos to the youtube creator who managed to make the creepiest broadcast vid yet!

On to the top ten then! Here's a track with the opposite journey to WY&LG - it hovered around the top 30, then the top 20, then finally broke into the top ten with the last few ballots.

https://i.imgur.com/M71KR7I.jpg

10. Man Is Not A Bird
From Haha Sound, 2003
Audio at YouTube
Bonus beat: Drum cover by Roddy Bailey
436 Points, 18 Votes, 1 First Place Vote

'Man Is Not A Bird' echoes 'Pendulum' rhythmically but the vocals are less urgent, more sullen and melancholic - just as haunting overall - stevem (blueski), Aug 14, 2003

didn't realize this one was such a fan favorite, but glad it is. my #6. kind of the ur-broadcast song imo, the one i think of first when i think of the broadcast sound.

this was my #1, I love the drums and echoey bell effects

What a gorgeous song, so deeply melancholy. Broadcast weren't really a "groove" band, but that one is an exception; the beat seems to nod to both James Brown's "Cold Sweat" and the outro to "Strawberry Fields Forever."

Finding the video for the next one yielded a quote I just had to share.

https://i.imgur.com/ImDMvjv.jpg

9. Black Cat
From Tender Buttons, 2005
Trish Keenan directed version of Black Cat on Youtube*
437 Points, 17 Votes, 3 First Place Votes

* "A little backstory for fans of this song... Trish, who I was friends with for many years, used to come to my house during the day when I was out at work to write songs. My cat, Corky, is very shy, and at first he would just poke his head round the door of the room where she was sitting, and then run away. As the day went on, curiosity would overcome him and he would finally try and make friends with her. Hence, the lyrics of the chorus. We filmed some of the vid at my house and I appear in the vid for about 2 seconds. What a thrill and an honour for me and Corky xxx" - ellenmeilee on youtube

My #1, I find the abrasive vertiginous synth and guitar so unsettling, the vocal so serene and detached, every second a pure thrill. And somehow their most “pop” moment.

Man Is Not a Bird my #4 and yes I want to listen to the beat forever like I want to listen to Corporeal forever. I admire their concision, each track as long as it needs to be & no indulgence or fat; but fuck I would have liked them to knock out one or two hypnotic 20 minute epics in the studio.

i don't know if it's still the case, but i remember appreciating that the Black Cat bar/club in Washington DC had Tender Buttons on their jukebox.

Other thoughts - I find Colour Me In nearer disturbing or uncomfortable than mawkish - like a few of their other tracks you look at it one way, it's sweet, you walk round and squint and there's something unsettling. The passivity/greyness until the addressee starts on or colludes in colouring, the slippery way it both seems a love-metaphor and a monologue by a sketchbook page or abstract idea or as-yet-unlistened-to album… the voice holds it together perfectly, never feels an either/or to me. Also, I hate everything that sounds a bit like circus music and yet I love this (and lunch hour pops) so I don't know how the hell they managed that.

Until Then was my Number 1 pick. So strange and pretty. I actually thought Corporeal would take this poll. I've been off all along I think. Papercuts also very high in my poll. Great stuff. Bring on more surprises I guess!