Captured under hypnosis
Faster and faster images
Can a meaning be obtained
Or this mystery explained

I’m in orbit
Held by magnet
And the force fields
So much closer than love

Logic offers no defence
Underneath this influence
While this puzzle of intent
Holds emotion in suspense

-Broadcast, “Pendulum”

It can be strange (or comforting) to feel out of step from the prevailing trends of the day. There’s not much current pop music that does it for me – or even registers as existing. Broadcast is an exception.

That was a preview of Broadcast’s new 23 track mini-album, “Broadcast and the Focus Group Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age”. It should be hitting stores any day now. If that video didn’t sound and look incredible to you, we are not cut from the same cloth. Johnny Trunk’s writeup and the audio preview are stranger and suggest that they’re getting more psyched out than ever. This is no surprise given their oft-stated admiration for Joseph Byrd.

The band’s been much on my mind lately, not only because of the new album, but because I’ll be seeing them perform at Neumo’s this Halloween. Not only that, but the Seattle Symphony will be performing the score to Hitchcock’s Psycho. A memorable Halloween, to be sure.

Here’s a couple early Broadcast videos that first captured my attention:

This one prominently features the Dream Machine, popularized by William Burroughs and Brion Gysin:

Exploring glitchier electronic worlds, from more recent releases:

This last one is an odd video, but the tune is outstanding. Streamlined krautrock with a female lead – harder edged than Stereolab: