Broadcast - Work And Non Work LP

Label: Warp

Our Review:

Work And Non-Work was the first introduction of the group to a larger audience, collecting their first two singles and an ep previously released on the labels Wurlitzer Jukebox and Stereolab's Duophonic imprint between 1995 and 1996. Their songcraft, which would be honed and evolve over their next four albums, arrived nearly fully formed, though they do wear their influences most outwardly on this collection than any other release. Staking a firm spot between Stereolab's retrofuturism and Portishead's emotively sonic trip-hop formalism, while also mining altered-consciousness music from the margins of sixties psychedelia, like United States of America, White Noise and Elephants Memory. In fact, "The World Backwards" is nearly a remake of Elephants Memory's "Old Man Willow," a song most famously heard in the druggy party scene in the movie Midnight Cowboy. But Broadcast never tried to hide their influences always exposing a narrow-trodden path for listeners to find little known treasures from the past. Leading the way for bands like Death and Vanilla, The Sound Carriers and Jane Weaver to carry the torch into the future. A perfect place to start for the uninitiated.