J Willgoose Esq from Public Service Broadcasting. Photo / Getty Images
J Willgoose Esq from Public Service Broadcasting. Photo / Getty Images
The 2013 debut album Inform-Educate-Entertain by this British duo married sometimes driving rock or evocative soundscapes with spoken word samples from old British and American docos and films.
The result was a thrilling mix which, with almost Futurist enthusiasm, embraced a time when progress (mail trains of the 30s, theSpitfire), adventure (the ascent of Everest) speed and technology (colour television) were an exciting prospect.
Watch the music video for Gagarin by Public Service Broadcasting:
This album - as the title suggests - narrows the focus to that period when Mankind breached the final frontier. Opening with JFK ("we choose to go the moon..."), the nine pieces move through historic space exploration moments (the heart-stopping Fire in the Cockpit and The Other Side when Apollo 8 first disappeared behind the moon and was out of contact with Earth for an hour).
This is most often a listening experience, although Gagarin - which celebrates the cheeky looking Soviet cosmonaut - comes with a funky dance beat. PSB play Womad soon and, with film backdrops, live instrumentation and samples, they are an exciting prospect, even if sometimes this release lacks the frisson of excitement their debut had.
Artist: Public Service Broadcasting Album: The Race for Space Label: Southbound
