RIP Trish Keenan
January 14, 2011 7:06 AM Subscribe
Trish Keenan, vocalist for the group Broadcast, has passed away after contracting H1N1 and pneumonia.
Broadcast formed in the mid-nineties and released four full length albums and a number of EPS on Warp Records. The band's sound evolved over the years from electonic-tinged psychedelic pop to a more experimental, sound collage format.
Come On Let's Go
Winter Now
Witch Cults
Oh How I Miss You
Broadcast formed in the mid-nineties and released four full length albums and a number of EPS on Warp Records. The band's sound evolved over the years from electonic-tinged psychedelic pop to a more experimental, sound collage format.
Come On Let's Go
Winter Now
Witch Cults
Oh How I Miss You
Such a wonderful, anachronistic, and ethereal voice.
posted by palindromic at 7:20 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by palindromic at 7:20 AM on January 14, 2011
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posted by saulgoodman at 7:28 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by saulgoodman at 7:28 AM on January 14, 2011
This is a real tragedy, she was an awesome singer and Broadcast were great.
I hate to start useless speculation, but how does a healthy young adult die of Flu? Is it more common than I thought?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:29 AM on January 14, 2011
I hate to start useless speculation, but how does a healthy young adult die of Flu? Is it more common than I thought?
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:29 AM on January 14, 2011
This is really tragic. I was unfamiliar with Broadcast until recently, but a friend played Investigate Witch Cults of the Radio Age for me not long ago, and I loved it.
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posted by louche mustachio at 7:32 AM on January 14, 2011
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posted by louche mustachio at 7:32 AM on January 14, 2011
Damn. I saw Broadcast a couple times and they were always great.
posted by anazgnos at 7:35 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by anazgnos at 7:35 AM on January 14, 2011
Broadcast and Trish Keenan were indeed terrific and phenomenally creative. RIP.
posted by blucevalo at 7:36 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by blucevalo at 7:36 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by Grangousier at 7:41 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by Grangousier at 7:41 AM on January 14, 2011
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posted by einzelsprachlich at 7:49 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by einzelsprachlich at 7:49 AM on January 14, 2011
This song she did with the focus group has always gripped me with the ethereal in her voice...reminded me of old Pink Floyd a bit.
The Be Colony
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posted by schyler523 at 7:52 AM on January 14, 2011
The Be Colony
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posted by schyler523 at 7:52 AM on January 14, 2011
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And condolences to all who loved and admired her.
I hate to start useless speculation, but how does a healthy young adult die of Flu? Is it more common than I thought?
H1N1 is a pretty hard core virus. It can knock out a healthy adult and put him or her in the ICU.
Last year, in CAN, it killed quite a few people of all ages, there were fears that there could be a whole lot of cases, and the Canadian federal and provincial governments went head-over-heels to get a vaccination program underway.
Lots of panic and long line ups at clinics country-wide. Scandals over who gets the vaccine first and whether the vaccine was actually necessary.
At the end, the massive epidemic that the media and governments were predicting didn't materialize. Whether it was because enough people were vaccinated or whether it was b/c the virus just didn't spread is still not known (and probably will never be known).
And the government ended up having a surplus of unused vaccine. But I guess it is better to have more than less, but people are still questioning the govt's response.
posted by bitteroldman at 7:54 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
And condolences to all who loved and admired her.
I hate to start useless speculation, but how does a healthy young adult die of Flu? Is it more common than I thought?
H1N1 is a pretty hard core virus. It can knock out a healthy adult and put him or her in the ICU.
Last year, in CAN, it killed quite a few people of all ages, there were fears that there could be a whole lot of cases, and the Canadian federal and provincial governments went head-over-heels to get a vaccination program underway.
Lots of panic and long line ups at clinics country-wide. Scandals over who gets the vaccine first and whether the vaccine was actually necessary.
At the end, the massive epidemic that the media and governments were predicting didn't materialize. Whether it was because enough people were vaccinated or whether it was b/c the virus just didn't spread is still not known (and probably will never be known).
And the government ended up having a surplus of unused vaccine. But I guess it is better to have more than less, but people are still questioning the govt's response.
posted by bitteroldman at 7:54 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by randomination at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by randomination at 7:59 AM on January 14, 2011
Oh no. Trish Keenan was a wonderful artist with such a neat voice.
I remember listening to Work and Non Work so much when it came out that I created a musical based on the album in my head. My 17 year old brain turned it into a 1970's afterschool special about drugs mixed with the creepy movie Watcher in the Woods. I think since then, I have always had a broadcast album in my rotation at any given time.
She will be missed.
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posted by Lapin at 8:03 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
I remember listening to Work and Non Work so much when it came out that I created a musical based on the album in my head. My 17 year old brain turned it into a 1970's afterschool special about drugs mixed with the creepy movie Watcher in the Woods. I think since then, I have always had a broadcast album in my rotation at any given time.
She will be missed.
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posted by Lapin at 8:03 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!
posted by The Discredited Ape at 8:04 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by The Discredited Ape at 8:04 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is incredibly sad news. I read about her illness yesterday evening but I never thought it would end like this, so soon. Broadcast are one of my favourite bands and this is very hard to take. Here's to you, Trish.
posted by Ted Maul at 8:09 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Ted Maul at 8:09 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
I don't think that it's exactly common, Potomac Avenue, but it's not unheard of, either. Most people who died of H1N1 last year were previously healthy. The identifiable risk factors were not necessarily things that would be considered a medically huge deal: being pregnant, for instance, or having asthma. It was probably just terribly shitty bad luck.
Anyway:
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posted by craichead at 8:10 AM on January 14, 2011
Anyway:
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posted by craichead at 8:10 AM on January 14, 2011
Very sad news, I only recently discovered Broadcast.
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posted by jonesor at 8:16 AM on January 14, 2011
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posted by jonesor at 8:16 AM on January 14, 2011
H1N1 has flared up again in the UK lately: Guardian, Telegraph.
posted by rory at 8:24 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by rory at 8:24 AM on January 14, 2011
The world is definitely a little less beautiful now.
posted by saulgoodman at 8:24 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by saulgoodman at 8:24 AM on January 14, 2011 [2 favorites]
Oh god. Broadcast were so great.
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posted by Dismantled King at 8:29 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by Dismantled King at 8:29 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Oh, what the FUCK.
I saw Broadcast perform, in a stripped down version, a little over a year ago in NYC. I was expecting them to do somewhat grittier, stripped down versions of their songs, which would have been totally great and lovely. Instead, they came on stage and just freaked out for the first twenty minutes of the set. I don't really know how else to describe it - it was like being enveloped by harsh, beautiful, pulsing sound, while abstract visuals imagery pulsed on the screen between the two performers. I stood with my jaw agape for the entire time.
I've seen so many shows now that it's incredibly rare for a band to completely surpass my expectations. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen that show, and deeply saddened that I'll never get to do it again. More than I could express here.
So, rather than try, I'll just let Trish do it: Corporeal.
Fuck.
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posted by TheRoach at 8:30 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
I saw Broadcast perform, in a stripped down version, a little over a year ago in NYC. I was expecting them to do somewhat grittier, stripped down versions of their songs, which would have been totally great and lovely. Instead, they came on stage and just freaked out for the first twenty minutes of the set. I don't really know how else to describe it - it was like being enveloped by harsh, beautiful, pulsing sound, while abstract visuals imagery pulsed on the screen between the two performers. I stood with my jaw agape for the entire time.
I've seen so many shows now that it's incredibly rare for a band to completely surpass my expectations. I feel incredibly lucky to have seen that show, and deeply saddened that I'll never get to do it again. More than I could express here.
So, rather than try, I'll just let Trish do it: Corporeal.
Fuck.
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posted by TheRoach at 8:30 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
(This is the song accompanying Warp's statement breaking the news)
If you think nothing is yours
If I think everything belongs to me
How wrong I'll be
None of us have anything
There's a place I have never explored
Another world we have yet to conquer
And until then none of us have anything
posted by naju at 8:30 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
If you think nothing is yours
If I think everything belongs to me
How wrong I'll be
None of us have anything
There's a place I have never explored
Another world we have yet to conquer
And until then none of us have anything
posted by naju at 8:30 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Aww, man. I wasn't wild about their first albums but they were putting out really neat stuff by the end. And such a shitty, random way to go too.
posted by klangklangston at 8:32 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by klangklangston at 8:32 AM on January 14, 2011
how does a healthy young adult die of Flu?
At least in the early going, H1N1 was killing young, healthy people at a much higher rate than do more established flu bugs, which are rarely fatal in non-immunocompromised young adults. This is apparently pretty common for a new strain.
posted by escabeche at 8:32 AM on January 14, 2011
At least in the early going, H1N1 was killing young, healthy people at a much higher rate than do more established flu bugs, which are rarely fatal in non-immunocompromised young adults. This is apparently pretty common for a new strain.
posted by escabeche at 8:32 AM on January 14, 2011
I hate to start useless speculation, but how does a healthy young adult die of Flu? Is it more common than I thought?
For 18-49 year olds, the hospitalization rate for last year's season was around 21 out of 100,000. (source) So not that common.
posted by smackfu at 8:39 AM on January 14, 2011
For 18-49 year olds, the hospitalization rate for last year's season was around 21 out of 100,000. (source) So not that common.
posted by smackfu at 8:39 AM on January 14, 2011
Awful. "Papercuts" is one of my favorite songs ever ever. We will miss you, Trish.
posted by mintcake! at 8:48 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by mintcake! at 8:48 AM on January 14, 2011
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posted by greta simone at 8:50 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by greta simone at 8:50 AM on January 14, 2011
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HaHa Sound is an amazing album and Man Is Not A Bird is an amazing song.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:56 AM on January 14, 2011
HaHa Sound is an amazing album and Man Is Not A Bird is an amazing song.
posted by The Card Cheat at 8:56 AM on January 14, 2011
Man, that's too bad. Saw them here at Lee's Palace in Toronto in 2000 or so and bought their album.
I'll always associate that first album, The Noise Made by People, with a great time in my life: 3 weeks we spent living in a hotel in Northern California that year while my wife was training with Yahoo. During the day I'd walk our (then two) very little kids around San Francisco or drive up through the Santa Cruz mountains blasting that album and others.
posted by chococat at 9:20 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'll always associate that first album, The Noise Made by People, with a great time in my life: 3 weeks we spent living in a hotel in Northern California that year while my wife was training with Yahoo. During the day I'd walk our (then two) very little kids around San Francisco or drive up through the Santa Cruz mountains blasting that album and others.
posted by chococat at 9:20 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by seventyfour at 9:26 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by seventyfour at 9:26 AM on January 14, 2011
I'll put this on my shelf of people who rocked and died too early. In between Jeff Buckley and Mark Sandman.
posted by Foam Pants at 10:05 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by Foam Pants at 10:05 AM on January 14, 2011
Terrible, terrible news. They were a wonderful band.
posted by ciderwoman at 10:10 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by ciderwoman at 10:10 AM on January 14, 2011
Dammit, such a loss. Work and Non-Work has been on regular rotation at my house for 13 years. Broadcast and the Focus Group was The Wire magazine's #1 album for 2009.
posted by porn in the woods at 10:16 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by porn in the woods at 10:16 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm sorry for her family and the band.
My first exposure to Broadcast was when they opened for Sea and Cake. Had no idea what to make of it - I'd never heard Broadcast or heard of them before, and the act didn't go over totally well with me, because they weren't in the groove I'd attended to the show for. But I bought The Noise Made By People off their table during the break anyway. It had a Stereolab-ish vibe, but they were clearly trying to make their own musical space somewhere nearby, rather than mimicking them.
It comes out every so often for another listen; I don't know if I would put it on any kind of favorite-albums list, but it gets more plays than many of the albums I would unhesitatingly list. It's good in ways I've never really understood.
posted by ardgedee at 10:19 AM on January 14, 2011
My first exposure to Broadcast was when they opened for Sea and Cake. Had no idea what to make of it - I'd never heard Broadcast or heard of them before, and the act didn't go over totally well with me, because they weren't in the groove I'd attended to the show for. But I bought The Noise Made By People off their table during the break anyway. It had a Stereolab-ish vibe, but they were clearly trying to make their own musical space somewhere nearby, rather than mimicking them.
It comes out every so often for another listen; I don't know if I would put it on any kind of favorite-albums list, but it gets more plays than many of the albums I would unhesitatingly list. It's good in ways I've never really understood.
posted by ardgedee at 10:19 AM on January 14, 2011
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posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 10:27 AM on January 14, 2011
posted by Hey Dean Yeager! at 10:27 AM on January 14, 2011
Work and Non-Work and The Noise Made By People became part of the soundtrack to my life from the first moment I heard them.
This is so fucking wrong.
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posted by holgate at 10:36 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
This is so fucking wrong.
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posted by holgate at 10:36 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Could this be partially due to the fact that working musicians don't usually get to go to the doctor when they get sick? Wilco's Jay Bennet basically died from lack of health insurance, and I'd hate to think that's becoming a trend.
In any case this was a sad, untimely death.
posted by chaff at 10:43 AM on January 14, 2011
In any case this was a sad, untimely death.
posted by chaff at 10:43 AM on January 14, 2011
A big, big loss. Trish was just hitting her stride with her sound collage collaborations with The Focus Group. Broadcast's albums are all amazing, but there's no other way to experience how wondrous they were unless you saw them live. I was really lucky being first exposed to them when they opened for Godspeed You Black Emperor! in Los Angeles in November of 2000. When Trish vocals kicked in on 'Come On, Let's Go,' everyone in the audience were completely immersed in their sound. They ended their set with a rollicking version of 'Drums on Fire' (on their Extended Play Two EP) which really blew me away. I picked up THE NOISE MADE BY PEOPLE that very week.
Her passing really came out of nowhere...very reminiscent of Stereolab's Mary Hansen a while back.
Rest in peace, Trish.
posted by chicofly at 10:54 AM on January 14, 2011
Her passing really came out of nowhere...very reminiscent of Stereolab's Mary Hansen a while back.
Rest in peace, Trish.
posted by chicofly at 10:54 AM on January 14, 2011
> Could this be partially due to the fact that working musicians don't usually get to go to the doctor when they get sick? Wilco's Jay Bennet basically died from lack of health insurance, and I'd hate to think that's becoming a trend.
I doubt that was an issue; lack of health insurance isn't an issue here in the UK.
This is very sad. Music Has The Right To Children is one of my favourite records, and the Focus Group collaborations were great.
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posted by hot soup girl at 11:06 AM on January 14, 2011
I doubt that was an issue; lack of health insurance isn't an issue here in the UK.
This is very sad. Music Has The Right To Children is one of my favourite records, and the Focus Group collaborations were great.
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posted by hot soup girl at 11:06 AM on January 14, 2011
This is very sad. Music Has The Right To Children is one of my favourite records
And... I'm a knob. I meant The Noise Made by People, of course.
posted by hot soup girl at 11:08 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
And... I'm a knob. I meant The Noise Made by People, of course.
posted by hot soup girl at 11:08 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
Keenan had a truly amazing, lovely voice.
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posted by millions at 11:09 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by millions at 11:09 AM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
For those not familiar - the last track on Prefuse 73's Surrounded by Silence beautifully sampled Broadcast's Still Feels Like Tears. The song is titled And I'm Gone...., which now seems sadly fitting.
posted by TheRoach at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2011
posted by TheRoach at 12:27 PM on January 14, 2011
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posted by lefty lucky cat at 4:23 PM on January 14, 2011
posted by lefty lucky cat at 4:23 PM on January 14, 2011
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I saw them every time they came to NYC. I once stood next to her as she watched the opening band to her own show. Way too nervous to saying anything at all...
posted by griphus at 5:12 PM on January 14, 2011
I saw them every time they came to NYC. I once stood next to her as she watched the opening band to her own show. Way too nervous to saying anything at all...
posted by griphus at 5:12 PM on January 14, 2011
Broadcast has been one of my stealth favorite bands for a long time. I mean, I didn't think of them if you asked me about my favorite bands, but I always loved their albums and would be delighted if I came across one of their songs during the course of my day. She was a couple years younger than me and I am pissed off that this is such a random way for her to die.
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posted by matildaben at 5:15 PM on January 14, 2011
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posted by matildaben at 5:15 PM on January 14, 2011
I didn't even know she was sick.
I'm really glad I managed to see Broadcast last year, even though it wasn't really so much my cup of tea. I started with The Noise Made By People, but the album I really loved was the follow-up, Haha Sound; the initial stabs they'd made towards moody, atmospheric retro-futurism turned into a bizarre, psychedelic whirlwind of sound that moved further and further away from the initial Stereolab comparisons. Tender Buttons shifted again into what felt to me like a more introspective sound—less reverb, more synths—but also had some really neat stylistic one-offs like "Tears in the Typing Pool."
That Vulture write-up of Trish Keenan's life in Broadcast touches on how I felt about their recent career, and that concert by extension: something very different from what I'd been used to, still in the early stages of experimentation but something that could've led to another amazing Broadcast album. For a lot of people, the collaboration with The Focus Group was it, but clearly there was more in store for us. I wish we'd been able to hear it.
posted by chrominance at 9:15 PM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
I'm really glad I managed to see Broadcast last year, even though it wasn't really so much my cup of tea. I started with The Noise Made By People, but the album I really loved was the follow-up, Haha Sound; the initial stabs they'd made towards moody, atmospheric retro-futurism turned into a bizarre, psychedelic whirlwind of sound that moved further and further away from the initial Stereolab comparisons. Tender Buttons shifted again into what felt to me like a more introspective sound—less reverb, more synths—but also had some really neat stylistic one-offs like "Tears in the Typing Pool."
That Vulture write-up of Trish Keenan's life in Broadcast touches on how I felt about their recent career, and that concert by extension: something very different from what I'd been used to, still in the early stages of experimentation but something that could've led to another amazing Broadcast album. For a lot of people, the collaboration with The Focus Group was it, but clearly there was more in store for us. I wish we'd been able to hear it.
posted by chrominance at 9:15 PM on January 14, 2011 [1 favorite]
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posted by tempythethird at 6:20 AM on January 15, 2011
posted by tempythethird at 6:20 AM on January 15, 2011
Very sad.
posted by Anatoly Pisarenko at 5:27 PM on January 15, 2011
posted by Anatoly Pisarenko at 5:27 PM on January 15, 2011
A friend of Trish's has posted a mix CD she compiled over at Soundcloud.
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:32 PM on January 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Dr-Baa at 5:32 PM on January 18, 2011 [3 favorites]
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posted by Blazecock Pileon at 7:09 AM on January 14, 2011