Broadcast & The Focus Group - Study Series 04: Familiar Shapes and Noises

I was so ludicrously excited about this single you've got no idea! Fortunately I wasn't disappointed. From the off, the lead track has a book lovers esque organ/ harpsichord running which immediately got the hairs all perky on my arms.  You get some nice Can esque style bass and drums which power the tune and chug along deliciously. That coupled with Trish's ghostly vocals and the organ thing makes this one of the best things I've heard in ages. Of course you get the Focus Group throwing weird sounds and familiar noises into the mix making it all sound ever so familiar (hence the title)... the church bells are super effective. Genius is the word that springs to mind. I love the fact that people are making records like this. It makes me so happy!! The flipside is more eerie sounding rural British psychedelia which is chocka full of weird sounds and nostalgia. Gotta be one of the singles of the year. Truly brilliant stuff!

I'm liking this ongoing collaboration between Broadcast and The Focus Group.  They complement and enhance each others' sound to an alarming degree.  Their Witchcults Of The Radio Age album from the back end of last year for Warp astonished me.  I've been more or less obsessed with Broadcast for the past fifteen years, and I swear they just keep improving.  Rare for someone to release what is amongst their best work of a very consistent career so far into it.  Simply put, I just won't put this single down.