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PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING
A celebration of the power of radio written in recognition of the centenary of the BBC, This New Noise saw the band joining forces with the 88 piece BBC Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Jules Buckley. A standout performance from 2022’s BBC Proms, it received 5*s in The Telegraph who called it “a resonant, timely and ultimately touching show”. Founder member J. Willgoose, Esq. remixed the concert from scratch, bringing out even more depth and texture from a multi-layered performance and showing it in a new light.
This New Noise is the second time Public Service Broadcasting have been commissioned for the BBC Proms. In 2019 the band performed an orchestral arrangement of their 2015 studio album The Race for Space with The Multi-Story Orchestra to mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to the Moon.
Public Service Broadcasting have been “teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade now. 2013’s debut album Inform - Educate - Entertain used archival samples from the British Film Institute as audio-portals to the Battle Of Britain, the summit of Everest and beyond. Two years later, The Race For Space used similar methods to laud the superpowers’ rivalry and heroism in orbit and on the Moon. An indie DIY phenomenon the album has remarkably since achieved gold disc status having sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. In 2017, joined by voices including Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield, Every Valley was a moving exploration of community and memory via the rise and fall of the British coal industry.
Their most ambitious undertaking yet, Bright Magic brought the listener to Europe’s heart and de facto capital, the cultural and political metropolis that is the ‘Hauptstadt’ of the Federal Republic of Germany – Berlin. Released in late 2021, and debuting at No 2 in the UK album chart, the band’s fourth album was described by Electronic Sound as “their most ambitious, leftfield and majestic work to date, their glorious creative peak, their magnum opus”, DIY said “it flourished at its most calm and erupted at its most fervent” and Clash said it “cemented PSB's reputation as a vital act right at the top of their game”. The album also featured multiple BBC Radio 6 Music A-Listed singles, including “People, Let’s Dance” [ft. EERA] and “Blue Heaven” [ft. Andreya Casablanca].
This New Noise is the second time Public Service Broadcasting have been commissioned for the BBC Proms. In 2019 the band performed an orchestral arrangement of their 2015 studio album The Race for Space with The Multi-Story Orchestra to mark the 50th anniversary of the first manned mission to the Moon.
Public Service Broadcasting have been “teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade now. 2013’s debut album Inform - Educate - Entertain used archival samples from the British Film Institute as audio-portals to the Battle Of Britain, the summit of Everest and beyond. Two years later, The Race For Space used similar methods to laud the superpowers’ rivalry and heroism in orbit and on the Moon. An indie DIY phenomenon the album has remarkably since achieved gold disc status having sold over 100,000 copies in the UK alone. In 2017, joined by voices including Manic Street Preachers’ James Dean Bradfield, Every Valley was a moving exploration of community and memory via the rise and fall of the British coal industry.
Their most ambitious undertaking yet, Bright Magic brought the listener to Europe’s heart and de facto capital, the cultural and political metropolis that is the ‘Hauptstadt’ of the Federal Republic of Germany – Berlin. Released in late 2021, and debuting at No 2 in the UK album chart, the band’s fourth album was described by Electronic Sound as “their most ambitious, leftfield and majestic work to date, their glorious creative peak, their magnum opus”, DIY said “it flourished at its most calm and erupted at its most fervent” and Clash said it “cemented PSB's reputation as a vital act right at the top of their game”. The album also featured multiple BBC Radio 6 Music A-Listed singles, including “People, Let’s Dance” [ft. EERA] and “Blue Heaven” [ft. Andreya Casablanca].
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: A perfect document of one of the most stunning live shows from PSB, with the power of the BBC symphony orchestra backing up their already epic compositions. It's a perfect match, and it's beautifully captured here for your listening pleasure.TRACK LISTING
01 Ripples In The Ether (Towards The Infinite)
02 This New Noise
03 An Unusual Man
04 A Cello Sings In Daventry [ft. Seth Lakeman]
05 Broadcasting House
06 The Microphone (The Fleet Is Lit Up)
07 A Candle Which Will Not Be Put Out
08 What Of The Future? (In Touch With The Infinite)
Following the critical and commercial success of their debut album last year and 18 months' extensive touring and festival appearances, Public Service Broadcasting release their eagerly anticipated second album, 'The Race For Space'. Once again working with exclusive archive footage from the British Film Institute, the new record tells the story of the American and Soviet space race from 1957 - 1972 via the duo's eccentric mix of guitar-driven electronica, propulsive drumming and spoken word samples culled from this uniquely rich period of modern history.
'The Race For Space' follows 'Inform - Educate - Entertain', Public Service Broadcasting's debut album which reached number 21 in the UK album charts and was nominated for 'Best Independent Album' at the AIM Awards 2013, as well as being The Guardian's Album of the Week and one of BBC 6Music's Top 10 albums of 2015.
Short biog: Taking in archive material from a variety of sources the new album sees the corduroy-clad J. Willgoose, Esq. and his faithful drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, continue their mission statement to Inform, Educate & Entertain. Through both the record and their uniquely spell-binding live audio-visual ‘Transmissions’, audiences witness the band weave samples from these films around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics, creating an array of diverse tracks. What emerges is, by turns, thrilling, moving, funny and powerful. The Independent’s Simon Price said of the band : “In their love of history, and their understanding of the dignity of the wartime generation, they remind me of British Sea Power, although Stereolab are closer sonically. PSB are progressive without the florid ornamentation of Prog, dense and complex with not a semiquaver wasted. It's an industrious, diligent sound, and, in the flesh, surprisingly danceable: slamming chemical beats accompanied by old cine footage, providing a peculiar opportunity to party to Pathe news”
'The Race For Space' follows 'Inform - Educate - Entertain', Public Service Broadcasting's debut album which reached number 21 in the UK album charts and was nominated for 'Best Independent Album' at the AIM Awards 2013, as well as being The Guardian's Album of the Week and one of BBC 6Music's Top 10 albums of 2015.
Short biog: Taking in archive material from a variety of sources the new album sees the corduroy-clad J. Willgoose, Esq. and his faithful drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, continue their mission statement to Inform, Educate & Entertain. Through both the record and their uniquely spell-binding live audio-visual ‘Transmissions’, audiences witness the band weave samples from these films around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics, creating an array of diverse tracks. What emerges is, by turns, thrilling, moving, funny and powerful. The Independent’s Simon Price said of the band : “In their love of history, and their understanding of the dignity of the wartime generation, they remind me of British Sea Power, although Stereolab are closer sonically. PSB are progressive without the florid ornamentation of Prog, dense and complex with not a semiquaver wasted. It's an industrious, diligent sound, and, in the flesh, surprisingly danceable: slamming chemical beats accompanied by old cine footage, providing a peculiar opportunity to party to Pathe news”
TRACK LISTING
1. The Race For Space
2. Sputnik
3. Gagarin
4. Fire In The Cockpit
5. E.V.A.
6. The Other Side
7. Valentina
8. Go!
9. Tomorrow
An album in three parts (Building A City / Building A Myth / Bright Magic), it is their most ambitious undertaking yet, bringing you to Europe’s heart and de facto capital, the cultural and political metropolis that is the ‘Hautpstadt’ of the Federal Republic of Germany – Berlin.
“Doing this felt inevitable, somehow,” muses J.Willgoose, Esq. “In my head, it was whirring and pulsing away for a long time, even before Every Valley - this fascinating, contrary, seductive place. I knew the album was going to be about the city, and its history and myths, and I was going to move there. So it’s quite a personal story. It’s become an album about moving to Berlin to write an album about people who move to Berlin to write an album…”
Though PSB’s use of electronics and surging guitar rock remain familiar, Bright Magic uses samples, and the English language, sparingly. It differs from their previous albums in other ways: less linear and narrative, instead it’s an impressionistic portrait of a city from the ground up. A Eureka moment of sorts came in November 2018 when Willgoose heard Walter Ruttmann’s radical Berlin tape-artwork Wochenende (or Weekend), which is sampled on three of Bright Magic’s tracks. Created in 1928, the piece collaged speech, field recordings and music into a sonic evocation of the city. Resolving to integrate these long-gone fragments with new manipulated sound sources, he set about making his own Wochenende, a narrative drama for the ears which decodes and realises the dreams of Berlin he’d constructed in his mind.
J.Willgoose, Esq. said “I started to get a feeling for where the title of Bright Magic wanted to take me, towards ideas of illumination and inspiration, electricity and flashes of light and colour and sound (all the tracks would eventually be colour coded). I sent it to the rest of the band, and said, I know it’s going to change, but we’ll see how the city itself colours that.” J.Willgoose, Esq moved to Berlin from April 2019 to January 2020. Combining sound archaeology and the flâneuring of the psychogeographer, one street-level pursuit of the city’s energy involved Willgoose walking the Leipzigerstrasse, site of the city’s first electric streetlight, using a wide-band electromagnetic receiver from Moscow’s Soma Laboratories. “I walked up and down recording electrical currents and interference,” he laughs. “You can hear a few of these little frequency buzzes, clicks and impulses in Im Licht (a song inspired in part by pioneering lightbulb manufacturers AEG and Siemens). It’s what I was trying to do in the wider sense, I suppose – to capture those tiny little pulses you pick up while walking through a city.”
He wrote and recorded in Kreuzberg’s famous Hansa Tonstudio recording complex. This brought closer several inescapable musical touchstones: Depeche Mode’s classic eighties triumvirate, U2’s Achtung Baby and, crucially, Bowie’s “Heroes” and Low. “The whole shape and structure of the record is very much in debt to Low,” says Willgoose. Indeed, the Warszawa-evoking “The Visitor” – whose designated colour is the particular Orange of that album’s sleeve – was initially intended to feature a sample of Bowie reflecting, says Willgoose, on “how he viewed himself as this vessel for synthesizing and refracting other influences, and presenting avant-garde influences to the mainstream. We tried to absorb a bit of that spirit.”
As well as EERA, the album’s other guest voices include Blixa Bargeld, veteran of The Bad Seeds and Einstürzende Neubauten, who becomes the voice of Berlin’s industry on the robo-teknik “Der Rhythmus der Maschinen”. Andreya Casablanca of Berlin garageistes Gurr stands in for Marlene Dietrich in “My Blue Heaven”, an anthem of proud self-determination.
A very pro-European record, Bright Magic is ultimately not just about one city, but all centres of human interaction and community which allow the free exchange and cross-pollination of ideas.
“Doing this felt inevitable, somehow,” muses J.Willgoose, Esq. “In my head, it was whirring and pulsing away for a long time, even before Every Valley - this fascinating, contrary, seductive place. I knew the album was going to be about the city, and its history and myths, and I was going to move there. So it’s quite a personal story. It’s become an album about moving to Berlin to write an album about people who move to Berlin to write an album…”
Though PSB’s use of electronics and surging guitar rock remain familiar, Bright Magic uses samples, and the English language, sparingly. It differs from their previous albums in other ways: less linear and narrative, instead it’s an impressionistic portrait of a city from the ground up. A Eureka moment of sorts came in November 2018 when Willgoose heard Walter Ruttmann’s radical Berlin tape-artwork Wochenende (or Weekend), which is sampled on three of Bright Magic’s tracks. Created in 1928, the piece collaged speech, field recordings and music into a sonic evocation of the city. Resolving to integrate these long-gone fragments with new manipulated sound sources, he set about making his own Wochenende, a narrative drama for the ears which decodes and realises the dreams of Berlin he’d constructed in his mind.
J.Willgoose, Esq. said “I started to get a feeling for where the title of Bright Magic wanted to take me, towards ideas of illumination and inspiration, electricity and flashes of light and colour and sound (all the tracks would eventually be colour coded). I sent it to the rest of the band, and said, I know it’s going to change, but we’ll see how the city itself colours that.” J.Willgoose, Esq moved to Berlin from April 2019 to January 2020. Combining sound archaeology and the flâneuring of the psychogeographer, one street-level pursuit of the city’s energy involved Willgoose walking the Leipzigerstrasse, site of the city’s first electric streetlight, using a wide-band electromagnetic receiver from Moscow’s Soma Laboratories. “I walked up and down recording electrical currents and interference,” he laughs. “You can hear a few of these little frequency buzzes, clicks and impulses in Im Licht (a song inspired in part by pioneering lightbulb manufacturers AEG and Siemens). It’s what I was trying to do in the wider sense, I suppose – to capture those tiny little pulses you pick up while walking through a city.”
He wrote and recorded in Kreuzberg’s famous Hansa Tonstudio recording complex. This brought closer several inescapable musical touchstones: Depeche Mode’s classic eighties triumvirate, U2’s Achtung Baby and, crucially, Bowie’s “Heroes” and Low. “The whole shape and structure of the record is very much in debt to Low,” says Willgoose. Indeed, the Warszawa-evoking “The Visitor” – whose designated colour is the particular Orange of that album’s sleeve – was initially intended to feature a sample of Bowie reflecting, says Willgoose, on “how he viewed himself as this vessel for synthesizing and refracting other influences, and presenting avant-garde influences to the mainstream. We tried to absorb a bit of that spirit.”
As well as EERA, the album’s other guest voices include Blixa Bargeld, veteran of The Bad Seeds and Einstürzende Neubauten, who becomes the voice of Berlin’s industry on the robo-teknik “Der Rhythmus der Maschinen”. Andreya Casablanca of Berlin garageistes Gurr stands in for Marlene Dietrich in “My Blue Heaven”, an anthem of proud self-determination.
A very pro-European record, Bright Magic is ultimately not just about one city, but all centres of human interaction and community which allow the free exchange and cross-pollination of ideas.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: PSB are back! It's been a long wait since their last full-length in 2017, but 'Bright Magic' has every one of the standard PSB tricks we love them for plus a few more. Filmic electronic groove, kosmische library-tinged synthplay and instantly addictive melodies. No doubt this will excite the earholes of new listeners and existing fans of the band alike, and shows a new progression of this already formidable musical force.TRACK LISTING
‘Bright Magic’
Der Sumpf (Sinfonie Der Großstadt)
Im Licht
Der Rhythmus Der Maschinen (ft. Blixa Bargeld)
People, Let’s Dance (ft. EERA)
Blue Heaven (ft. Andreya Casablanca)
Gib Mir Das Licht (ft. EERA)
The Visitor
Lichtspiel I: Opus
Lichtspiel II: Schwarz Weiss Grau
Lichtspiel III: Symphonie Diagonale
Ich Und Die Stadt (ft. Nina Hoss)
‘Bright Magic (Demos)’
(Bonus CD With PIASR1230LPBK Only)
Der Sumpf (Sinfonie Der Großstadt) (Demo)
Im Licht (Demo)
Der Rhythmus Der Maschinen (Demo)
People, Let's Dance (Demo)
Blue Heaven (Demo)
Gib Mir Das Licht (Demo)
The Visitor (Demo)
Lichtspiel I: Opus (Demo)
Lichtspiel II: Schwarz Weiss
Grau (Demo)
Lichtspiel III: Symphonie Diagonale (Demo)
These four tracks were first performed in 2018, at the BBC's Biggest Weekend event, which saw the band debut the new material on the slipways on which the Titanic was built, broadcast live on BBC 6Music. The EP tells the story of the construction of the ship and its early, tragic, demise. The band focus on the perspectives of those who built and sailed her, whilst showing their own talent for using a mixture of music and archive audio footage to provide a new perspective on well-known events.
J. Willgoose, Esq. of Public Service Broadcasting says: “I thought it was an interesting challenge to tell the story of the ship's construction as part of Belfast's proud industrial history, the spirit of optimism of the pre-war age that she represented, and then an abstract and, I hope, respectful depiction of both the sinking of the ship (represented by the repeated Morse code distress call, C - Q - D) and the discovery of the wreck in 1985.”
The opening two tracks, ‘The Unsinkable Ship’ and ‘White Star Liner’, carry the EP forward with a motorik energy, carefully tracing the construction and launch of the ship. As the EP reaches its close, the music shifts into a more volatile state on the powerful ‘C - Q - D’ - the Morse code call sign for “All stations: distress” - before closing on the reflective ambience of ‘The Deep’, an adaptation of Archibald Joyce's ‘Songe d'automne’, the piece of music which noted Titanic historian Walter Lord concluded was probably the last to be played as the ship sank. Coupled with the impassioned voice of survivor Eva Hart, it’s a moving end to the EP, one that is a fitting tribute to those who built the ship and those who perished upon its demise.
J. Willgoose, Esq. of Public Service Broadcasting says: “I thought it was an interesting challenge to tell the story of the ship's construction as part of Belfast's proud industrial history, the spirit of optimism of the pre-war age that she represented, and then an abstract and, I hope, respectful depiction of both the sinking of the ship (represented by the repeated Morse code distress call, C - Q - D) and the discovery of the wreck in 1985.”
The opening two tracks, ‘The Unsinkable Ship’ and ‘White Star Liner’, carry the EP forward with a motorik energy, carefully tracing the construction and launch of the ship. As the EP reaches its close, the music shifts into a more volatile state on the powerful ‘C - Q - D’ - the Morse code call sign for “All stations: distress” - before closing on the reflective ambience of ‘The Deep’, an adaptation of Archibald Joyce's ‘Songe d'automne’, the piece of music which noted Titanic historian Walter Lord concluded was probably the last to be played as the ship sank. Coupled with the impassioned voice of survivor Eva Hart, it’s a moving end to the EP, one that is a fitting tribute to those who built the ship and those who perished upon its demise.
TRACK LISTING
1. The Unsinkable Ship
2. White Star Liner
3. C-Q-D
4. The Deep
Third album from Public Service Broadcasting, the brainchild of London-based J. Willgoose, Esq. who, along with his drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, and their bass player, keys and horns man extraordinaire, JFAbraham, is on a quest to inform, educate and entertain audiences around the globe.
Released 7th July, on Every Valley Willgoose takes us on a journey down the mineshafts of South Wales valleys. Yet the record is a metaphor for a much larger, global and social malaise, using the history of coal mining to shine a light on the disenfranchised.
The album features guest vocals from James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Derbyshire trio Haiku Salut, the award winning Welsh singer Lisa Jên Brown, and Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell on lead single ‘Progress’.
Recorded at the Ebbw Vale Institute, South Wales.
Released 7th July, on Every Valley Willgoose takes us on a journey down the mineshafts of South Wales valleys. Yet the record is a metaphor for a much larger, global and social malaise, using the history of coal mining to shine a light on the disenfranchised.
The album features guest vocals from James Dean Bradfield (Manic Street Preachers), Derbyshire trio Haiku Salut, the award winning Welsh singer Lisa Jên Brown, and Camera Obscura’s Tracyanne Campbell on lead single ‘Progress’.
Recorded at the Ebbw Vale Institute, South Wales.
TRACK LISTING
1. Every Valley
2. The Pit
3. People Will Always Need Coal
4. Progress [ft. Tracyanne Campbell]
5. Go To The Road
6. All Out
7. Turn No More [ft. James Dean Bradfield]
8. They Gave Me A Lamp [ft. Haiku Salut]
9. You + Me [ft. Lisa Jên Brown]
10. Mother Of The Village
11. Take Me Home
Re-release of debut mini-album.
Granted unique access to propaganda films from WWII-era Britain by the BFI and setting them to new music, Public Service Broadcasting unveil ‘The War Room’. Expect breathtaking visuals, brooding synths and pounding drums as J. Willgoose, Esq and his drumming companion Wrigglesworth teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future. The first single from the mini album, Spitfire, received rave reviews and became a permanent fixture on BBC 6Music over May & June. It won the public vote for the Rebel Playlist before spending 5 weeks on the main daytime playlist, as well as being awarded Artrocker's Single of the Month. The second single ‘London Can Take It’ is unveiled this August. The title, visuals & samples for the Blitz-based banjo belter come from a film of the same name, filed by American correspondent Quentin Reynolds. The film was shown to audiences in the USA in order to shore up support for Britain and its allies. As the eye of the world is trained on London for the 2012 Olympic Games, this track reminds us of a time when the public had to endure more trying times than Olympic traffic lanes and a disrupted commute. The War Room is dedicated to J. Willgoose, Esq.'s great-uncle, George Willgoose, who died at the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940 aged 26.
The War Room mini album was initially released on 28th May 2012 on Test Card Recordings as a limited edition run of 500 vinyl which sold out within 2 weeks via the band’s website.
Granted unique access to propaganda films from WWII-era Britain by the BFI and setting them to new music, Public Service Broadcasting unveil ‘The War Room’. Expect breathtaking visuals, brooding synths and pounding drums as J. Willgoose, Esq and his drumming companion Wrigglesworth teach the lessons of the past through the music of the future. The first single from the mini album, Spitfire, received rave reviews and became a permanent fixture on BBC 6Music over May & June. It won the public vote for the Rebel Playlist before spending 5 weeks on the main daytime playlist, as well as being awarded Artrocker's Single of the Month. The second single ‘London Can Take It’ is unveiled this August. The title, visuals & samples for the Blitz-based banjo belter come from a film of the same name, filed by American correspondent Quentin Reynolds. The film was shown to audiences in the USA in order to shore up support for Britain and its allies. As the eye of the world is trained on London for the 2012 Olympic Games, this track reminds us of a time when the public had to endure more trying times than Olympic traffic lanes and a disrupted commute. The War Room is dedicated to J. Willgoose, Esq.'s great-uncle, George Willgoose, who died at the Battle of Dunkirk in 1940 aged 26.
The War Room mini album was initially released on 28th May 2012 on Test Card Recordings as a limited edition run of 500 vinyl which sold out within 2 weeks via the band’s website.
TRACK LISTING
1. If War Should Come
2. London Can Take It
3. Spitfire
4. Dig For Victory
5. Waltz For George
“They blend the voices of the past with the music of the present to astounding effect” Independent
“Genuinely original, innovating and amazing” Artrocker Best Electro Act 2013
Public Service Broadcasting release their debut album which will be accompanied by an extensive 46-date UK tour in February, March and May.
Taking in archive material from the BFI and StudioCanal along with classic American public information films (such as the brutal driving-safety messages found on single ‘Signal 30’), the album sees the corduroy-clad J. Willgoose, Esq. and his faithful drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, seeking to fulfil their mission statement over a wide range of subject matter and styles.
Through both the record and their uniquely spell-binding live audio-visual ‘Transmissions’, audiences will witness the band weave samples from these films around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics, creating an array of diverse tracks. What emerges is, by turns, thrilling, moving, funny and powerful; or, if you will, informative, educational and - most of all - entertaining.
The Independent’s Simon Price said of the band : “In their love of history, and their understanding of the dignity of the wartime generation, they remind me of British Sea Power, although Stereolab are closer sonically. PSB are progressive without the florid ornamentation of Prog, dense and complex with not a semiquaver wasted. It's an industrious, diligent sound, and, in the flesh, surprisingly danceable: slamming chemical beats accompanied by old cine footage, providing a peculiar opportunity to party to Pathe news”
“Genuinely original, innovating and amazing” Artrocker Best Electro Act 2013
Public Service Broadcasting release their debut album which will be accompanied by an extensive 46-date UK tour in February, March and May.
Taking in archive material from the BFI and StudioCanal along with classic American public information films (such as the brutal driving-safety messages found on single ‘Signal 30’), the album sees the corduroy-clad J. Willgoose, Esq. and his faithful drumming companion, Wrigglesworth, seeking to fulfil their mission statement over a wide range of subject matter and styles.
Through both the record and their uniquely spell-binding live audio-visual ‘Transmissions’, audiences will witness the band weave samples from these films around live drums, guitar, banjo and electronics, creating an array of diverse tracks. What emerges is, by turns, thrilling, moving, funny and powerful; or, if you will, informative, educational and - most of all - entertaining.
The Independent’s Simon Price said of the band : “In their love of history, and their understanding of the dignity of the wartime generation, they remind me of British Sea Power, although Stereolab are closer sonically. PSB are progressive without the florid ornamentation of Prog, dense and complex with not a semiquaver wasted. It's an industrious, diligent sound, and, in the flesh, surprisingly danceable: slamming chemical beats accompanied by old cine footage, providing a peculiar opportunity to party to Pathe news”
TRACK LISTING
Inform – Educate – Entertain
Spitfire
Theme From PSB
Signal 30
Night Mail
Qomolangma
ROYGBIV
The Now Generation
Lit Up
Everest
Late Night Final