Public Service Broadcasting – Inform-Educate-Entertain

Public Service Broadcasting are a London based duo who have trawled the BBC archives to dub old public messages over their enthralling and evocative electro music. This, ladies and gentleman, is no flash in the pan gimmick. What we have is one of the finest albums of 2013 that you should all go and buy immediately.

If there was to be a blueprint for an album opener, Inform-Educate-Entertain would surely tick all the boxes. It is a rasping soaring piece of majesty worthy of Orbital at their finest. One of the broadcast splices states ‘a bright new era is dawning’ and when listening to this song, it certainly feels as though it might be. Despite being released before Royal Mail was decided to be sold off, it utilises excerpts in tandem with some great guitar licks which relay the fury many of us feel about yet another decision made in the name of greed.

This sense of loss is beautifully encapsulated by the track ‘Night Mail’. The old clips inevitably create a wave of nostalgia but it is the lush pianos and protracted synths that conjure the sense of something fading away never to return. And for what? To bump up the deficit reduction statistics so Messrs Cameron and Osborne can revel in yet more unfounded glory. If there was a song to sum the coalition’s lack of compassion and shortsightedness, this is most certainly it.

‘Spitfire’ will lead fans of Lemon Jelly to recall the ‘Shouty Track’ and ‘Staunton Lick’ on hearing this. However, like all quality music, they have borrowed from the past and added their own ambition to the mix. The combination of modern day Radiohead guitars with British Sea Power’s pop sensibilities gives this track an edge which their contemporaries simply do not have.

For all the brilliance of ‘Inform-Educate-Entertain’, it is occasionally guilty of filler. This is not because of a lack of imagination, more of a lack of originality in the execution. ‘Signal 30’ is a highly enjoyable track but if truth be told, it is something the Go! Team did with more flair. ‘The Now Generation’ meanwhile, feels like watered down version of Primal Scream’s ‘Swastika Eyes’. it is a real pity, an injection of something here could have made this song as strong as others on the album.

Perhaps the most interesting track on the album though is the stripped back ‘ROYGBIV’. Proclaiming ‘there is colour in the reach of everyone’, it is by far the most uplifting and optimistic track of the album. More importantly is hints that the duo could have a hit single hidden in their locker. This is not it, by any means, but the use of the banjo is incredibly infectious for the first two minutes and. the second half of the song has a brilliant funk riff reminiscent of A Certain Ratio. It also has the Beeb extract ‘I believe in this world to come / I think it’s going to be a pretty good one.’ A simple message but one this country is in dire need of as the Coalition’s divide and rule tactics run amok.

Overall, TT would have to say this album is not a classic. Nonetheless, it feels like the start of something genuinely inspiring and life-changing. On reading about the duo, you could be forgiven this is a one off gimmick. We feel, however, that this is the beginning of a remarkable journey to be had, one which hopefully coincides with a brave and optimistic British government that speaks to its electorate with heart, rather than with one eye on big business’ profit margin.

Suede Live At Cliffs Pavilion, Southend

Recent reports from Fleetwood Mac's shows at the 02 were of a band keen to promote substandard new material and ignorant audiences who were there purely for nostalgic reasons. Tonight in Southend, the same cannot be said of Suede or Suede's fans.

When Suede returned to the aforementioned 02 in 2010, it was purely for a trip down memory lane. It was an amazing gig for all, but tonight trumped it hands down because of the great new material. After fading away in 2003 many held their breath for anything half decent when 'Bloodsports' came out earlier this year. What they actually got was an album on par with their self-titled début, sitting just behind the majestic 'Dog Man Star' and pop triumph of 'Coming Up' in the pecking order (for us anyway). If 2010 was a year for everyone to remember how good they were, 2013 is a year for everyone to be realise how great they are.

The first song is the beautiful 'Faultlines'. It is an odd choice to open with because of its slow, piano led tempo. Lyrically however, it is a notification to all that they are still the 'litter on the breeze':

'Is it birdsong or is it just the car alarms

Making me feel so young and savage like the dawn?

Celebrate the pale dawn, celebrate the birdsong

Celebrate, this is your time

Although we live in the wreckage and on the faultlines'

Following 'Faultlines' came 'Bloodsports' opening two tracks, 'Barriers' and 'Snowblinds'. If Anderson and Co were worried about the Essex crowd knowing the new tunes (which they most certainly did) they did not show it. Anderson was at his glam- rock best dancing on stage and swinging the microphone aloft as if it were an extension of himself. The band were playing far more aggressively than the reunion tour of 2010, maybe they saw this tour as a war of attrition to win over the loyal fans with their new material. What they didn't bargain for, was their loyal 30 plus fan base to behave like teenagers and to obsess over their new album and show their love for it so passionately.

Hits such as 'Trash', 'Animal Nitrate' and 'Beautiful Ones' succeeded this opening, along with the odd B-side and more new material, all of which went down a storm. Nevertheless, nothing seemed quite as poignant as the first 15mins of this set. Suede gave the alternative a voice in the 90s, particularly to those in the notoriously dull suburbs of Essex. In 2013, they are still carrying the torch, one where the flame burns as big and as bright as ever.