It is with great sadness to hear the passing away of Broadcast's Trish Keenan this morning, 14th January 2011. Keenan died of illness related to catching pneumonia whilst on tour in Australia. Broadcast were one of my all time favourite bands, a fully formed, immaculately conceived art-electronic outfit who made records of staggering originality. Obsessive perfectionists, they only made 3 proper studio albums and two albums worth of EPs and singles during their 15 year existence. They had incredibly high standards and refused to release anything that rested on established laurels or material that would be considered throwaway. And for a band who relished the studio, they could be a toweringly powerful live band when their daring mood got the better of them. Their performance in an old cinema in Brighton, October 2000, would be in my Top Ten of utterly memorable gigs.
I had the fortune to interview the outrageously talented Trish Keenan for Jockey Slut magazine back in February, 2000. After a string of brilliant EPs, they were about to release their debut album, The Noises Made By People, for Warp records. Sharp, funny, combative and beautiful, she was the ideal frontwoman for a band this achingly cool and hip. Their final release, Witch Cults of the Radio Age, was in collaboration with The Focus Group and they always stimulated interest with any news of an EP or rare live appearance. Today was not the kind of news you'd want to hear about Broadcast. The Midnight Bell sends condolences to her family and friends.
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