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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
One of the first ‘rock’ bands to sign to Warp Records, Birmingham’s Broadcast have pretty much come to define the label’s shift from techno futurism to a home for blurred-boundary experimentalism of every stripe. Tender Buttons finds the group stripped down to a core duo of Trish Keenan and James Cargill, it finds the band’s formative influences – the Dr Who vibes of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, the mantric repetition of Krautrock, and the blissful impulse of American psychedelia – presented in bare, unfussy arrangements that lack the murky ambience and meticulous layering of their earlier work.
Luckily, it’s an impulse that suits Broadcast’s new emphasis on lyrics: see the excellent "Michael’, where Keenan serenades the song’s subject with a stream of cute phrases and bizarre non-sequiters ("C’mon, your father was a teddy-boy/ There’s nothing written on your finger-nails"), or "Black Cat" – references to Masons and Pharaohs, not to mention lines cribbed from Alice In Wonderland, cooed over sparking synth-lines. The emotional content is never clear or straight-talking, but it’s this sense of warm, fuzzy logic that’s possibly Broadcast’s greatest strength – Louis Pattison
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Now stripped to the core duo of singer Trish Keenan and multi-instrumentalist / programmer James Cargill, Broadcast's thrid album places a greater emphasis on song-writing and lyricism, and less on sonic experiment. Whereas 'Ha Ha Sound' was a sprawling epic of icy lullabye and often abrasive rythmic and textural abstraction, 'Tender Buttons' has less distractions and is more fine-tuned, but is overall perhaps not as impressive a record. Opener 'I Found the F' pitches Nico-esque vocals against live-sounding drum breaks and heavily distorted keyboards - continuing and refining Broadcast's damaged, analgogue soundscape with excellent results. Elsewhere the rythmns are more overtly synthetic and minimal, and the pounding percussive assaults of 'Ha Ha Sound' largely forgotten. 'Black Cat' displays mildy gothic sensibilities against typically deranged loops of synth and guitar, not dissimilar to Ladytron's latest. Edgar Allan Poe goes electro, anyone? Other highlights include the My Bloody Valentine-tinged and politically loaded 'America's Boy', and the gentle 'Tears In The Typing Pool', which shows a great aptitude for writing ballards (and could almost be a slightly less countrified Neko Case). Throughout the record there are fine lyrical touches (all included in the inlay card), with the vocals seemingly brought into greater focus than on previous efforts - the best tracks seem built around the vocals rather than the other way around. All in all its an impressive album, but sometimes lacking in the sonic adventure that defined 'Ha Ha Sound'.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
This album is another fine application of Broadcast's winning formula: psychedelic electronics and Trish Keenan's enchanting vocals. I like it slightly less than their previous masterpieces, "The Noise Made by People" and "Ha-ha Sound". The pace has speeded up, making the songs somewhat poppier.
A lot of people seem to like this shift. The radio-friendly songs (e.g. Black Cat, America's Boy, Corporeal) knock the pants off most pop songs. But personally I feel something is missing here compared with the previous albums. Perhaps it's the percussion, as the drummer has gone. But don't let this put you off. With Broadcast, the style and quality didn't change much, and it's all excellent.
Broadcast is sadly no more, as Trish Keenan died this year from a sudden illness. What a terrible loss. I will now treasure all of their albums even more.
A lot of people seem to like this shift. The radio-friendly songs (e.g. Black Cat, America's Boy, Corporeal) knock the pants off most pop songs. But personally I feel something is missing here compared with the previous albums. Perhaps it's the percussion, as the drummer has gone. But don't let this put you off. With Broadcast, the style and quality didn't change much, and it's all excellent.
Broadcast is sadly no more, as Trish Keenan died this year from a sudden illness. What a terrible loss. I will now treasure all of their albums even more.
Format:Audio CD
Having read previous reviews I wasn't sure if I'd like this as it sounded like Broadcast with the interesting bits taken out - I couldn't have been more wrong. The usual stellar vocal performance is brought to the front and gives this a more intimate feel than on previous outings. The music as well is a revelation - breezy 60's pop given a light sprinkling of the usual Broadcast experimentation - and hey presto a new musical genre: Krautpop!
A fantastic talent that will be sorely missed by anybody with ears.
A fantastic talent that will be sorely missed by anybody with ears.
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