Broadcast - The Future Crayon 2xLP

Label: Warp

Our Review:

Like a big ol' box of Crayolas, The Future Crayon is a collection of Broadcast rarities, an absolute delight from start to finish! The eighteen tracks are compiled from singles, EPs, and compilations dating back to 1998. They effectively remind us that while this UK band is perhaps best known for their plush synth-driven pop, their musical spectrum stretches far beyond that into jazz, space age, exotica, krautrock, prog, and the science fair even! Needless to say, your ears will surely find that they're so much more delicious than those waxy coloring implements. They're more like the aural equivalent of a fifty scoop sundae – towering in dream pop yumminess comprised of soft creamy sherbet (Trish Keenan vocals! sigh!), occasional bloops of marshmallow cream and hot fudge (their analog synthesizers!), a sprinkling of nuts and sugary bits (the snappy often jazzy percussion as well as those synths again!). It's all perfectly summed up in the album's sixteenth and seventeenth numbers "Minus Two" and "Violent Playground", both taken from their 2003 EP Pendulum. Fantastic! Yes, recommended!