The Race for Space

 
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Public Service Broadcasting
The Race for Space

[ Test Card / CD ]

Release Date: Friday 20 February 2015

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In 2015, it's easy to take for granted how important and far-reaching the space race was. But imagine yourself in 1957: News breaks that there's something in the sky - in space - and if you tune your shortwave radio to an especially high frequency, you can hear its signal chirping back to you as it circles the Earth. It's called Sputnik, the first man-made satellite launched into orbit. The Soviet Union's groundbreaking success ushered in a new era, and nothing has been the same since.

These themes lie at the core of Public Service Broadcasting's new album, The Race For Space, a song cycle that retells the American and Soviet tentpole events between 1957 and 1972 - roughly from Sputnik to Apollo 17 - and lets us hear that historical arc the way many experienced it at the time.

"And in the end, it's this awareness that ensures The Race for Space is more than the mere sum of its glistening parts. Contrary to their debut, its historical samples and retro stylings combine to substantial effect, lending it greater relevance and meaning than it would have possessed without either element. In that album, the quotation of dated genres had something of a kitsch and novelty-for-novelty's-sake element about it, whereas in this follow-up their quotations enjoy greater cohesion and impact, coming across as completely necessary to the purpose of representing the gulf that now separates a period of guileless confidence from one of skeptical pessimism. Admittedly, the album's focus on backwards-looking instrumentation might not be to everyone's taste, but I defy anyone who's ever been fascinated by the mysteries of space to listen to the oceanic lull of "The Other Side" or each resolute "Go" in "Go!" and not feel something bristling inside them." - Tiny Mix Tapes

Tracks:

1- The Race For Space
2- Sputnik
3- Gagarin
4- Fire in the Cockpit
5- EVA
6- The Other Side
7- Valentina Featuring Smoke Fairies
8- Go
9- Tomorrow