15 essential Broadcast tracks and the records where you can find them

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we are reasonable people

Broadcast
‘Hammer Without A Master’
(From We Are Reasonable People, Warp, 1998)

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After one last single for Duophonic, the band were signed to Sheffield’s Warp Records. Their first release for the label was an excellent compilation of past singles entitled Work And Non-Work, but it was on Warp’s We Are Reasonable People compilation that we got the first taste of fresh Broadcast music, and for those familiar with the singles it would prove a surprise, as the track was considerably more weighty and muscular than anything they’d done before. Opening with jarring synthesizer chords and Trish’s wordless, ring-modulated siren call, ‘Hammer Without A Master’ was a promising hint of things to come on the band’s debut album, as an oppressive bass synth drone wobbles over skittering jazz drums, discordant keyboards reminiscent of 1970s era Sun Ra, and Felton’s guitar slices sounding like he’s auditioning for Gang Of Four.

The instrumental would become a highlight of the band’s live sets during this era, enabling them to really cut loose and get noisy. While the band would regularly partake in instrumentals on their albums and EPs throughout the entirety of their career, ‘Hammer Without A Master’ remains one of their most successful, moving away from mere incidental music into a much weightier zone.