Education, Education, Education as the old phrase goes. If only Tony Blair had spent less time murdering Iraqi children and more time encouraging entertaining and informative albums like The Race For Space.
Kicking off with the unmistakeable voice of John F Kennedy, it seems Public Service Broadcasting aim to narrate the first 15 years of the space race. Such is the depth of samples from NASA and various news sources, that you end up immersed in the scene, routing for the Yankees and cursing the USSR under your breath (note to self, maybe not a headphone album if you’re inclined to do the same).
If anyone has seen Portlandia, you might remember the scene where a cat is recruited to a band in order to have a new gimmick. There’s always a similar danger with PSB that the gimmick of combining newsreel sounds and forward thinking funk/ambient/electronica may be too much, but somehow it manages to be even fresher than the WW2 blockbuster that was Inform – Educate – Entertain.
Tracks like ‘The Other Side’ are actually motivational and inspiring in both subject matter and sound. Playing like a movie soundtrack, with the vivid images painted in your head as opposed to a Stanley Kubrick-esque film projection, the cinematic qualities of the album will draw you in time and time again.
In some ways however this is an album that makes absolutely no sense as individual tracks, which is both it’s strength and weakness. The loose narrative is so strong, with peaks and plummets at just the right moments, that taking individual tracks at a time is rather a pointless and dull exercise. This is great in terms of having a brilliant album to chill out and relax too, but not so much if it pops up on shuffle while commuting into work (unless you work for NASA).
What this is then is perhaps a prog rock album in the most accessible form possible. In much the same way that British Sea Power did, PBS have managed to create music that channels the intrigue and mystique of the best cinema. A piece that opens up the mind and allows it to explore. Try getting that from R Kelly‘s ‘Ignition’!
