Information, education, entertainment: Public Service Broadcasting‘s missive is an admirable one, if a shade over-ambitious. The two-piece fuse together samples from public information films of old (along with other audio from antiquated material) and their own creations in an attempt to force the past and future to collide. The end product is a peculiarly gratifying one, but one which doesn’t quite do what the two creators intend.
It’s certainly an informative and entertaining musical form – the samples are intriguing oddities and the instrumental provided is enjoyable in its own right – yet the educational angle is a lofty goal not really achieved. Put that down to the collective sound: between the dreamy strings-led chillwave-esque soundscape, the influential electronic instrument contribution and the echoey manipulation of the samples, you’re too lost in the daydreaming nature of the sound to learn.
This is particularly the case with the London duo’s second EP Everest, which features the single ‘Everest’ and three sensory-discombobulating remixes, all sampling narration from the 1953 film ‘The Conquest of Everest’ which describes the illusory, fantastical experience felt climbing the eponymous mountain.
Their debut EP The War Room is a little less distant, but still features an absorbing collection of sounds. The words do add something to the sound, that’s for sure, but it’s the soothing nature of the old-age voices that offer more redemptive value than any facts presented.
I really must insist you listen to both EPs. Regardless of how successful Public Service Broadcasting are in their intentions, their sound is a success.
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