by Heather Williams (@heatermeow)
Broadcast’s Maida Vale Sessions is a collection of four moments in time of live sets recorded at the Maida Vale studios at BBC, truly capturing the magic that was the Birmingham band. A mesmerizing compilation of live songs for veterans and new fans alike, this live record showcases songs all pre-Tender Buttons, showing their progress as a band between 1996 – 2003. Three of the four sessions are Peel sessions and all are beautifully recorded and mastered. Immediately striking about this collection is how the songs sound like they could be the meticulously recorded studio versions on the official records, when in fact it is organic and flowing live versions. Sometimes bands can’t reproduce live what they create on studio albums, and Broadcast was able to do this flawlessly.
The first four songs make up the band’s Peel session debut, recorded on September 15, 1996. It is a mixture of songs appearing on the 1997 compilation Work and Non Work (featuring songs from previous EPs and various singles) and their debut studio album The Noise Made By People. “Forget Every Time” is a wonderful gem that was never recorded elsewhere and sounds like it would be part of a mix of songs to slow dance to in the dark. Tracks five through eight make up the second session recorded on September 15, 1997, also featuring songs from these two albums, containing two classic Broadcast tracks, “Come On Let’s Go” and “The Book Lovers.” The version of “Lights Out” is delightful, a song that feels like it would fit into a scene of a character quietly hanging out at the counter with a coffee at the local diner on a sleepy, rainy day.
Tracks nine through eleven were recorded January 20, 2000 and these three songs are on the softer end of the band’s sound. They almost feel like lullabies at times and invoke a feeling of softly wandering out further into the universe. The final session on the record, tracks twelve through fifteen, were recorded on July 24, 2003 and are mostly songs from the 2003 release Haha Sound with a haunting cover of Nico’s “Sixty Forty” to strongly finish this amazing collection.
Sitting and listening to these songs in a good pair of headphones will transport you back in time and have you feeling like you are in the room. Though we will never be able to know what Broadcast would have created next, it is important that this musical artifact exists, capturing these moments in time. Broadcast created an experience through their music of stepping into another dimension and this treasure of a record is a welcome time warp to return to over and over again.