Broadcast

James Cargill and Trish Keenan steered Broadcast through a distinctive fusion of vintage electronic textures, psychedelic hues, and 1960s pop structures, yielding work that felt simultaneously nostalgic and forward-looking, inventive, and often profoundly affecting. Their sonic palette drew from overlooked film scores, science-fiction motifs, library recordings, and the output of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, yet the duo’s singular aesthetic remained clear, anchored by Keenan’s vocals that moved fluidly from cool remove to raw exposure. The group’s sound never stayed fixed: early EPs and the 2000 debut The Noise Made by People set sci-fi atmospheres against pop hooks with a jazzy poise, whereas 2003’s Haha Sound incorporated stronger currents from library music and Czech cinema to deepen its enigmatic allure. By 2005’s Tender Buttons the lineup had contracted to just Keenan and Cargill, who correspondingly distilled their approach to its most essential core. Late in the decade they joined forces once more with longtime associate Julian House for the 2009 release Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age, a fragmented, sample-driven set that expanded psychedelic boundaries and reinforced their place within the hauntology scene centered on House’s Ghost Box imprint. Keenan’s sudden passing in 2011 brought the project to a close, though the 2013 soundtrack Berberian Sound Studio served as a poignant coda. In subsequent years Broadcast’s reach only widened, shaping the work of artists such as Rose Elinor Dougall, Melody’s Echo Chamber, Vanishing Twin, and Petals for Armor.

Before Broadcast existed, Keenan began performing while enrolled in creative writing at Birmingham University. She first appeared as one half of the folk duo Hayward Winters and later crossed paths with Cargill at the 1960s psychedelic revival venue Sensateria. The pair soon started collaborating, initially under the name Pan Am Flight Bag for a handful of 1995 gigs, then regrouped as Broadcast in 1996 after recruiting guitarist Tim Felton, drummer Steve Perkins, and keyboardist Roj Stevens. One formative reference point was the avant-psych collective the United States of America and their self-titled 1968 album, which the band discovered through their close friend Julian House—the graphic designer who defined their visual identity, later launched the sound-collage project the Focus Group, and co-founded Ghost Box.

A rapid sequence of short releases marked 1996, beginning with the 7-inch “Accidentals,” which incorporated dialogue from Joseph Losey’s 1967 film Accident, on Wurlitzer Jukebox. Early press frequently linked the group to Stereolab because of their analog-synth foundation, a connection that persisted when they issued the single “Living Room” and the chilly Book Lovers EP on Duophonic Super 45s. Broadcast recorded their first Peel Session that October and returned to the BBC the following March for an Evening Session. June 1997 brought their Warp debut, Work and Non-Work, a compilation that gathered all prior material. Work on a full-length album stretched more than two years; after unsuccessful sessions with three outside producers the band took over self-production in their own studio. They resurfaced in 1999 with the single “Echo’s Answer,” delivered a second Peel Session, and released Extended Play in February 2000. March saw the arrival of the long-awaited The Noise Made by People, whose cinematic scope drew widespread praise, topped the U.K. Dance Albums chart, and reached number 79 on the main U.K. Albums chart. September’s Extended Play Two followed, featuring an alternate take of “Unchanging Window” plus unreleased tracks. Later that year Stevens and Perkins departed, and drummer Keith York joined.

January 2003 introduced Microtronics Volume 01: Stereo Recorded Music for Links and Bridges, a limited collection of brief abstract instrumentals first sold at shows and later by mail order. The Pendulum EP appeared that May, previewing the August release of Haha Sound. Recorded with drummer Neil Bullock, the album adopted a leaner, more repetitive stance while still referencing esoteric sources such as the 1970 Czechoslovak film Valerie and Her Week of Wonders. Haha Sound earned further acclaim, climbed to number four on the U.K. Dance Albums chart, and became the band’s first U.S. charting release at number eight on Billboard’s Top Dance/Electronic Albums survey. After the album’s release Felton exited to form Seeland with ex-Plone member Billy Bainbridge, who had contributed keyboards on the Haha Sound tour.

March 2005 found Keenan adding vocals to labelmates Prefuse 73’s Surrounded by Silence, and September brought the third album Tender Buttons. Reduced to the Cargill-Keenan duo, Broadcast’s austere textures matched the record’s more personal songwriting, shaped in part by the recent loss of Keenan’s father to cancer. Despite continued praise, Tender Buttons failed to register on album charts, though its single “America’s Boy” reached number 139 in the U.K. During the subsequent tour, which included drummer Ash Sheehan and Cargill’s brother Bill on guitar and keyboards, the band offered Microtronics Volume 02: Stereo Recorded Music for Links and Bridges, another limited instrumental set. August 2006 saw Warp issue the second B-sides and rarities collection, The Future Crayon.

The next project paired Broadcast with House’s Focus Group. Drawing on Hammer Horror, electronic voice phenomenon, and the films of Jeff Keen, they exchanged samples and field recordings before improvising music and lyrics. Released in October 2009, Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age presented a spookier, more mystical facet of the duo’s work. Touring in support included dates with Atlas Sound and the tour-only EP Mother Is the Milky Way. May 2010 brought a performance at the All Tomorrow’s Parties festival curated by Matt Groening, followed later that year by improvised scores for short films by House. While touring Australia in December, Keenan contracted the H1N1 virus and died on 14 January 2011 from pneumonia complications.

Prefuse 73’s April 2011 release The Only She Chapters contained one of her final vocal appearances. Another posthumous project was the score for Peter Strickland’s 2012 homage to 1970s giallo cinema, Berberian Sound Studio. Former keyboardist Stevens introduced the director to Keenan and Cargill, who shaped the compositions around the styles of Nicola Piovani and Luboš Fišer. Issued in January 2013, the soundtrack was lauded both as film music and as an electronic album, reaching number 24 on the U.K. Indie Albums chart and number 32 on the U.S. Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart. That same year saw the launch of Children of Alice, the project formed by Cargill, Stevens, and House and named after Keenan’s enduring fascination with Alice in Wonderland. “The Harbinger of Spring,” a twenty-minute piece, appeared on Devon Folklore Tapes, Vol. 5: Ornithology, a limited split cassette with Mary Arches. Warp reissued the band’s catalog in 2015 and, in February 2017, released Children of Alice’s self-titled debut. Later that year Cargill posted the previously unheard Broadcast demo “Tunnel View” on what would have been Keenan’s 49th birthday. A second demo, “Where Are You?,” surfaced in 2020. March 2022 brought fresh reissues of Mother Is the Milky Way and both Microtronics volumes, plus the live anthology BBC Maida Vale Sessions. Two years afterward came additional archival sets: May 2024’s Spell Blanket: Collected Demos 2006-2009 assembled sketches intended for a fifth Broadcast album, while September’s Distant Call gathered demos for material that ultimately appeared on Haha Sound, Tender Buttons, and The Future Crayon, marking the final release.