Track Listing

1. Accidentals
2. Book Lovers
3. Message From Home
4. Phantom
5. We've Got Time
6. Living Room
7. According To No Plan
8. World Backwards
9. Lights Out

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #133291 in Music
• Released on: 1997-06-09
• Number of discs: 1

Customer Reviews

Works and non-works
Broadcast's blend of indie-rock, trip-hop, jazz and experimental are what make this melodic little band so appealing. Unfortunately "Work and Non-Work," a collection of early singles, is not so good, relying too heavily on electronic blips and washes and too little on the experimental indiepop.

It opens with the wavery "Accidentals," an eerie ballad that sounds like it was sung underwater, followed by a pair of sound-alike songs, one guitar-led and one almost purely electronic, but possessing a lot of the same beats. The experimental edge gets stronger in songs like the watery "Phantom," and distractingly noisy "We've Got Time."

An indie-rock edge reenters with "Living Room," which hints at the sound Broadcast would end up embracing -- a solid guitar and percussion, overlaid with delicate sound effects. So does "According to No Plan," a funereal trip-hop song. It ends on a note that led up to their more accomplished full-length albums, with the mellow, jazzy-poppy "Lights Out."

Broadcast can be forgiven for not getting into their best sound immediately. They weren't sure what they were going to play, especially if they wanted to be huge -- electronica is a tricky area. For every Stereolab, you have dozens of trippy bands that don't know how to weave their sound together. Fortunately Broadcast steady themselves on the last half of this collection.

Their watery sound is a bit reminiscent of Aspera, or maybe Stereolab on some serious sedatives, but the songs are too loose-knit to be as good. They seem to throw in too many sound effects that aren't necessary -- they're just THERE, hovering over the main melody. Lots of keyboard, of course. And while the guitar is overshadowed by the keyboard in "Book Lovers," it does have plenty of skill to it.

Trish Keenan has a beautiful voice -- sweet, pure and quite strong. Not even the overshadowing keyboard melodies can keep it hidden. Just don't read the lyrics before listening -- the songs themselves are not exceptional. Simple, lacking in details or creative metaphors, and not focusing on anything as spacey as the music.

Fans of Broadcast may want to check out this early collection of singles, to get a better idea of what the band sounded like before their musical breakthroughs. Just be warned -- there's nothing so polished as what they do now even if it is quite pretty.

subtle rhythmic collage
Work and Non Work is a wonderful collage of sound, rhythm and voice represented in a very metaphorical manner. Valerie De Stahls voice is chic, cool and collected... Lyrics are subtley embedded in the music, which make listening very easy. Reminiscent of autumnal urban landscapes, water flowing down the drain, looking from the window of your apartment at the world beneath, the world covered in a grey overcast... it has a very dark, grey and almost melancholic undercurrent throughout the album... which I feel is a trademark of Broadcast... their albums are very artistic and its hard not to see that alot of work has gone into producing each album.

Personally, I feel this album is wonderful. Broadcast are origional, inventive, artistic and they take music to another level... its a far cry from R and B, pop and metal and I don't feel that it would suit alot of peoples taste, but they are a hidden gem of the music world and I'm sure thoes who have their albums, already know this... If your a fan of Portishead, Beth Gibbons, Stereolab... you'll appreciate this music for what it really is.

mmmm
a lo-fi sound generated by wurltizers and unconventional acoustic instruments mixed with haunting female vocals generates atmosphere and eccentricity which we can only admire and encourage.. unfortunately it can feel a little samey to some. two of my favourite tracks are accidentals and the booklovers. the latter which appears in Austin powers soundtrack. i can't say anything else about this album except that it stands out and can improve any cd collection/