The problem with most compilation albums is that they either fall into the “Greatest Hits Only” (which totally skips over the more interesting songs in a bands catalogue) or the “Uninteresting Asides” (which puts a band in its worst light) categories.  Now, there are very few bands who can put out comps that, whilst still falling into these groupings, are worth every bit of your money and attention (the Cure, the Beach Boys, and Public Enemy come to mind)....actually, VEEERY few bands have catalogues good enough to pull this stunt off.

      “The Future Crayon” avoids these pitfalls.  For one thing, Broadcast was (and very much still is) more of a cult band than anything else.  Even though they have a rabid cult following amongst music fans and musicians alike, their work is too idiosyncratic, too personal, and too good to ever gain much popularity (at least for the time being.  It’s easy to see them gaining a billion fans when they break up, such as the case with Bauhaus, the Sex Pistols, and the Velvet Underground).  They can never be guilty of ever releasing a “greatest hits” listing by the very fact that they’ve never had one in the first place.  (One could easily say “but there are songs every fan knows”, but then you’d show your unawareness of Broadcast fans.  Two Broadcasts fans will argue about the “best” songs even worse than a catholic and protestant over how to use the bible for ignorance expansion).

      Avoiding the “uninteresting asides” category is done by the very fact every song on here has been released before.  “The Future Crayon” is a collection of their EPs and singles since “Work And Non-Work” (another fine collection of their first three EP’s).  There are no “unknown/unreleased/uninteresting” songs coming out of the woodwork.    As any Broadcast fan knows, the band puts way too much time and care into their releases for them to ever lag.

      So why bother getting this rather than the two “Extended Plays”, “Pendulum”, and “Echo’s Answer”?  Aside from being cheaper (not only do you get 4 releases in one, those releases were also released in limited runs in different countries.), “The Future Crayon” actually lists the tracks according to flow rather than chronology.  By not placing the tracks by release date, one actually gets a better feel of the bands power.  How they’re able to swoon from the psychedelic to the haunting to the power pop, it all shines through in a fresh and exciting way.  Would this power have been stilted by going date-by-date?  Maybe, maybe not (having been the rabid fan I mentioned earlier, I actually have had the original releases for a while, so I’ve been playing then chronologically anyways.  I can say that “TFC” is more interesting).

     Whilst last years “Tender Buttons” showed the band sailing through an impasse, “The Future Crayon” shows that they’re also a band with a true body-of-work.  They haven’t changed as much as they’ve refined and honed their skills.  “The Future Crayon” is both a perfect introduction for the non-initiates and a reminder of the bands greatness for fans.  And even if you don’t sway under the bands breezy charms...well, don’t worry.  Nobody got the Ramones the first time around either.

~Loy