BROADCAST - TENDER BUTTONS -VINYL LP - WARP RECORDS TRISH KEENAN FOCUS GROUP

	€		70
	$		81

BROADCAST – TENDER BUTTONS – VINYL LP – WARP RECORDS

Condition: VG++

Sehr guter Zustand.

Long out of print.

In the two years that have passed since the great Haha Sound was released, most of the members of Broadcast have gone this way or that. To be fair, Trish Keenan (vocals) and James Cargill (everything else) have argued that they were technically the only full-time members of the band from its inception. Still, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's always assumed that the ever-evolving cadre of musicians on the group's two previous full-lengths and numerous singles played a substantial part in making Broadcast one of the most consistently interesting of all contemporary pop groups, and easily my favorite act on the Warp label's roster.

When I heard that only Keenan and Cargill would be playing on the new album Tender Buttons, I feared for the worst, but my apprehensions were completely unfounded. Far from making the band less interesting, the lack of interference from forces outside of the core duo seems to have made the two more focused than ever.

Mostly gone are the relatively chaotic song structures and noisy interludes that might have made Haha Sound a difficult album for some listeners, especially those first-timers who expected Broadcast to be the Stereolab clones that so many critics have repeatedly made them out to be. Sure, there are similarities - they're fronted by a female vocalist and their music could easily be pigeonholed as electronic pop - but in my opinion, Broadcast are much more interesting than Stereolab have ever been. With each album, Broadcast have been more and more successful in their efforts to integrate an ambitiously wide variety of uncommon influences into their music. A quick glance at the free DJ mixes that the band has offered on its website for the past two years indicates a whole array of artists who have inspired their sound, from the psychedelic avant-pop of the United States Of America, to the soundtracks of Ennio Morricone, the groundbreaking popular electronic compositions of Tom Dissevelt, and the eccentric library music of the recently deceased genius Basil Kirchin. Whereas past Broadcast albums have been a little bit like musical collages, pasting together bits and pieces of borrowed and original ideas in exciting and unexpected ways, Tender Buttons showcases a band fully digesting and connecting their influences into a less-fragmented whole.

Conspicuously missing on Tender Buttons is the phenomenal drumming of Neil Bullock, whose presence loomed very large on the last album. I initially felt a little bit disappointed that the beats for almost every song on the new one are electronic, but after a couple of listens I came to legitimately love the change. It's so satisfying when a band is able to subtly re-invent its sound, as Keenan and Cargill have done here so well. Old analog drum machines and fuzzy 8-bit synthesizers dominate the record, and the pairing sounds pretty damned terrific. The arrangements are simpler than they've been in the past, which makes Trish's beautiful and infectiously memorable vocal parts stand out more than ever. While not as formally ambitious as Haha Sound, anyone who believes in the supremacy of song will probably enjoy this even more. Call it their "less is more" album; Tender Buttons is a tiny step backward and a huge step forward.

If you thought Haha Sound was a sonic mess, you might want to bring a Dust Buster with you for your first go with Tender Buttons. Where The Noise Made By People eagerly embraced listeners with its pastiche of groovy space-age bachelor pad couture and timeless pop songsmithery, Haha Sound was more standoffish at first blush. The tunes were there, but they were covered in a bit of soot. Those able to look past the static were rewarded; the clash between the off-putting sounds and the melodies created something greater.

The same plan of attack is in place for this album. Only two folks were involved in the making of Tender Buttons-- vocalist Trish Keenan and bassist James Cargill. What the group lost in manpower, they more than make up for in racket. Keenan, as always, lends her gorgeous frigid voice to the proceedings, often two times (as on the lilting ballad "Tears in the Typing Pool"). As for the music, Keenan and Cargill bring the melodies, but then dress their poptastic efforts with whatever ruckus they can conjure.

It begins with the keening pings that kick off "I Found The F", and continues throughout. (For what it's worth, a kinder, gentler reprisal of the first track's melody ends the record.) The first single, "America's Boy", disguises its topicality in warbling, ghostly shrieks. "Arc of a Journey" chirps and skitters through its tunefulness for three minutes, then ends with a distorted and distended coda. Meanwhile, "Corporeal" decides to just throw in the raucous bits against the tune's Young Marble Giants-esque facade to see what sticks.

This possibly comes off as a dour appraisal of this album, which I enjoy, and there a good reason for this. As noted earlier, Haha Sound went for the approach, and brought stronger tunes to the mix (cf. "Colour Me In", "The Little Bell"). There's no such stand-out track on this album (and there's certainly no "oh wow" moments like "Papercuts" or "Come On Let's Go", either). What you have with Tender Buttons is a Broadcast album that listeners might need to spend more time with than expected. That said, this is still a Broadcast album, meaning it's one of the better things you'll put in your ear this year. Don't mind me if I reciprocate the album's tough love in equal measure.

Tracklisting

1. I Found the F

2. Black Cat

3. Tender Buttons

4. America's Boy

5. Tears in the Typing Pool

6. Corporeal

7. Bit 35

8. Arc of a Journey

9. Michael A Grammar

10. Subject to the Ladder

11. Evil is Coming

12. Goodbye Girls

13. You and Me in Time

14. I Found the End

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