Broadcast
The Noise Made By People

THE REVIEW

Long considered the younger cousins of Stereolab, the Broadcast from Birmingham, led by Trish Keenan ("front woman" of the group) and Tim Felton (guitarist and the musical brain behind the project), with this album, distance themselves significantly from the comparison that had strongly pigeonholed them in their early days. This "The Noise Made By People" is a work that, starting from strongly 60s-oriented sounds, develops around a concept of pop song with fewer electronic influences compared to previous works. If in "Work and non Work", their '98 compilation album, the electronic arrangements were used as introductions to the tracks and thus their presence was more palpable, in this debut album they have been integrated within the songs and are an integral part (albeit barely perceptible) of the structure of the tracks which, on more than one occasion, are always influenced by a soundtrack background, as if the group continually draws from a Morricone-style, incidentally pursued and sought after later by the early Goldfrapp and company.

A pleasantly "snobbish" and rarefied album, rich in evocative and retro atmospheres, which pleasantly blend jazz, trip hop, and classic pop with typical 70s soundtrack sounds (listen to the intriguing "Papercuts" from a genuine Hitchcockian noir film) or similar-Arabesque atmospheres that would not be out of place as background to a sci-fi B-movie re-edited today ("You Can Fall"), not to mention the Morricone-like "Look Outside" set in a hypothetical post-modern western with the charm of evergreen yesteryears. An "avant-garde" and forward-thinking album (it’s from 2000) which proved to be fundamental and a source of inspiration for an entire neo-lounge movement that made rediscovering these sounds its banner, pumped by remixes and interpretations by various DJs, creating a real trend that continues to influence new waves of enthusiasts today. An electronic-flavored album but ultimately, it is very well played with vintage and analog instruments. If it weren't a somewhat over-saturated genre now, it would deserve an extra star. At the time it was a true and authentic discovery.