People Like Us http://www.peoplelikeus.org/ en Copyright 2010 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:03:24 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss DO or DIY with People Like Us on WFMU www.wfmu.org/peoplelikeus Subscribe to the Podcast of DO or DIY by clicking here - it will prompt your iTunes program to open, where you will receive the podcasts. People Like Us' radio show DO or DIY is now also a separate 24 HOUR DO or DIY Stream on WFMU! Yes indeed - DO or DIY is available all day, every day. 24 hours of All Things Avant Retard. You can listen to the stream through iTunes, by clicking here - it will download a file that you can then click on to play the stream. DO or DIY biog DO or DIY is a freeform sound art radio show broadcast weekly by Vicki Bennett (project name People Like Us) on WFMU. The philosophy behind the show is simple. That within the realms of avant-garde and experimental sound art the goalposts defining "accessible" and "inaccessible" are constantly moving. As the radar rises and dips, fragments and shards of underground creations unearth, and popular culture and artist resonate, shifting shapes accordingly with one another in reflections of changing spotlights. The avant-garde and popular culture rely on each other's energy. People Like Us collage both "hard to listen" works and popular listening matter, showing that in fact, beyond the restrictions of genre, genre IS the restriction and it is possible to like many kinds of art and music. The key is finding the door - DO or DIY leads the way into new and unusual realms of listening and hope to show the way in. Each show consists of collages made of sound works from the 20th and 21st century, often layered and looped many times over, resulting in an album type effect on each show. The pun "All Things Avant-Retard", a rhyme with "All Things Avant-Garde" literally means All Things Forward-Backwards. Essentially by using sonic extremes and apparent opposites we find some sort of central point or balanced perspective on music and sound. Suggested Listening: The Avant-Retard Mixathon" - A selection of the best of one season of DO or DIY from 2005. New Free WFMU iPhone/iPod Touch app! Also, if you have an iPhone or iPod Touch we are also pleased to announce that you can listen to not only the regular WFMU stream on the move at a glorious 128k, but also all of our special streams, recent DJ show archives and DJ podcasts including all of DO or DIY! You can download the much improved updated free WFMU app right here. ABOUT WFMU WFMU are very influential to NYC area record buyers, particularly ones who search for music out of the ordinary. The station was listed as #1 station in the USA by Rolling Stone critics for 4 consecutive years, was voted #1 station at 1999's Gavin Convention, subject of a New York Times magazine feature, and has gotten accolades from the WIRE, John Peel, Matt Groening & other luminaries. The format covers anything from home cassettes, noise, old country, rockabilly, electroacoustic, experimental, electronic, metal, out-jazz, krautrock, schlock, hip-hop, collage, garage, and pop from all decades. They've hosted Senegalese rappers, Japanese black metal bands, Tuvan psychedelic rock groups, Brit folk legends, indie rock darlings, and played about 2000 other genres they can't even begin to list. "WFMU is known as an oasis in the airwave desert. While most stations practice one-dimensional 'narrow-casting', WFMU embraces everything in the wonderful world of sound." - SPIN "WFMU is the best freeform radio station in America." - NEW YORK DAILY NEWS "Fantastic website, great archives. It is truly eclectic programming, unlike other stations, which claim to be eclectic." - MATT GROENING, SIMPSONS CREATOR "There's nothing better late at night in this town than climbing into the car and turning on and tuning into WFMU cracklin' across the river with whatever weird shit they're playin' tonight." - LEE RANALDO, SONIC YOUTH "Romping through the history of recorded sound, WFMU's disc jockeys often come up with unbelievable artifacts, revelatory juxtapositions and songs you thought you'd never hear again." - NEW YORK TIMES "This is one full-on Limey who believes believes believes that when it comes to transformation through sound, we should support WFMU for their percipient ur-cultural bravado. It's the 21st century and WFMU is here to celebrate our coming of age!" - JULIAN COPE, MUSICIAN/AUTHOR/HISTORIAN Pledge to the WFMU Marathon! ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2012/do_or_diy_with_people_like_us_on_wfmu.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2012/do_or_diy_with_people_like_us_on_wfmu.html do or diy avant garde avant-garde Beware The Blog collage FMA Free Music Archive mashup mp3 People Like Us PLU Vicki Bennett WFMU Thu, 10 May 2012 17:03:24 +0000 Tickets now available for the World Premiere of The Keystone Cut Ups Opening Gala - The Keystone Cut Ups People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz 15th September 2010 Location: The Maltings Theatre, Berwick-Upon-Tweed, UK UK / 2010 / 40 min / Cert. Suggested 12 World Premiere The premiere performance of the new commission from artists People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz opens the Festival. The Keystone Cut Ups is a live performance that combines video-collage with an original musical score, created using sampling and live instrumentation, to explore the aesthetic, contextual and stylistic relationships between early silent-comedy and early avant-garde cinema. Using the influence of slapstick comedy on the Surrealists as a starting point, the piece takes us on a madcap journey, combining the techniques and popular imagery of the two genres. The Surrealists took to cinema easily, using it as a device to show their disdain for established artistic tradition. In their quest to liberate the imagination, they believed that the process of juxtaposing unrelated elements would create images of great emotional and poetic power. Thomas Pynchon wrote, “one could combine inside the same frame, elements not normally found together to produce illogical and startling effects”. In early silent films the actors often came from the Vaudeville tradition. They used flamboyant body language and facial expressions, a style suited to melodramatic comedy, which was popular at the time for its escape value. The earliest films were influenced by the presentation methods of theatre and the stage sets and inclusion of orchestras and dancers were motifs of entertainment that stuck throughout cinema’s evolution. The Keystone Cut Ups employs a surrealist approach, presenting images side by side on the screen at the same time. It includes the everyday objects, such as top hats or umbrellas that were utilized as props by both slapstick comedians and the Surrealists, as well as reflecting the concerns of the day like mass industrial automation, and the stories made popular through film at the time, which included clunky monsters and the fantasy of trips to the moon. The work reflects simultaneously on the histories of these two distinct schools of cinema and how they inform one another, whilst producing a work whose structure and format is informed by both silent comedy and early experimental and avant garde cinema. - Iain Pate Don’t miss this unique event (which we have slaved over for the past two months!!!), followed by a drinks reception in the Maltings’ Stage Door Bar. http://www.berwickfilm-artsfest.com/events-and-films/8/10/opening-gala-the-keystone-cut-ups# ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/tickets_now_available_for_the_world_premiere_of_the_keystone_cut_ups.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/tickets_now_available_for_the_world_premiere_of_the_keystone_cut_ups.html events timeline Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:20:58 +0000 A new commission for People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival Berwick-upon-Tweed 15–19 September 2010 http://www.maltingsberwick.co.uk/September/091502.html Now in its 6th year, the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival returns to celebrate the art of film in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Over the course of five action-packed days, we will be offering a whole range of feature and short films, artists' film and video work and specially commissioned pieces. These will be screened at the Maltings and other unique architectural locations across town as part of the Artist's trail. This year's theme, Stagings, explores the role of the screen as a stage, turning Berwick itself into a platform for screening, projecting and staging moving image. The selected works offer different approaches to the relationship between performer, camera and audience and will include dance on film, music videos and old classics – something for everyone: from children to families to fans of film, art, theatre and music. There are four new commissions this year, of which one is for the creation of a brand new live a/v performance from People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz to be premiered in Berwick on Wednesday 15 September. People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz - Over the past five years the collaboration of People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz has produced two full length albums, a podcast series, a live soundtrack to Christian Marclay's 'Screenplay', a 7" single on Touch, and a 10" EP. Their work has been disseminated internationally to widespread critical acclaim, straddling the absurd with the accessible, filtering experimental and avant-garde techniques through the looking glass of humorous pop music. They have come to resemble something akin to the Morecambe & Wise of the avant-garde… Individually both artists have produced a vast body of work that collectively spans hundreds of hours, across film, theatre, albums, radio and live performance. Most recently People Like Us released the album 'Music For The Fire' in collaboration with Wobbly on the Illegal Art label (with a new solo record due later in the year). Ergo's most recent productions are the new album 'Things to Do and Make' on Care in the Community Recordings, and the contemporary opera about radio, magic and death 'The Mourning Show'. www.berwickfilm-artsfest.com The other commissions by other artists are: Mat Fleming, Deborah Bower and Harriet Plewis – Mat has been making films since he was 18 with a special enthusiasm for 8mm and 16mm film. In 2001 he co-founded Cineside, which became the Side Cinema, and then Star and Shadow Cinema collective. Deborah is an artist, film enthusiast and zine maker. Having studied fine Art, she works mainly with film and the pieces often involve lone characters performing to camera in a cinematic manner. Harriet is a performance artist, movement director and co-founder of experimental theatre collective, The Awkwards. She trained at Ecole Jacques Lecoq, Paris and frequently performs with companies including Zephyr in Zanussi Dance Collectif and Factory Party Productions. Her work, often comic, is concerned with the representation of authenticity and modern approaches to protest. Corin Sworn – originally from Canada, Corin now lives and works in Glasgow. Her practice examines shifting ideals and understandings from one period in history to another. Sworn examines these themes through the production of objects, ephemera and films. These films use various historical events and understandings to construct loose narratives that wander among fragments of the past. Through the use of appropriation much of her work is built from these 'fragments'. BJ Nilsen - is a Swedish sound and recording artist. His work is primarily focused on the sound of nature and its effect on humans, field recordings, and the perception of time and space as experienced through sound, often electronically treated. Nilsen has created worked for documentary film, television and sound designer. He has collaborated with, among others, Chris Watson, Christian Fennesz, Hildur Gudnadottir, Semiconductor, Brandon La Belle, Phillip Jeck and Jon Wozencroft.]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/a_new_commission_for_people_like_us_ergo_phizmiz.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/a_new_commission_for_people_like_us_ergo_phizmiz.html events timeline Wed, 15 Sep 2010 21:39:52 +0000 Ergo Phizmiz Special on DO or DIY DO or DIY with People Like Us - Ergo Phizmiz Special Wednesday 15th September http://www.wfmu.org/peoplelikeus Join Ergo Phizmiz in the studio for this week's DO or DIY featuring the premiere broadcast of the entirety of Ergo Phizmiz's score for "La Puce de Neige" ("The Snow Flea"), a mime puppet-opera for Buchinger's Boot Marionettes, which premiered in Marseille, November 2009. The show, created for children, tells the story of Kerugug, a snow flea who in the Arctic who is displaced to Antartica through a hole in the world, and his journey back - with an evil ice-cream in hot pursuit, sneaking snow fleas to use as anti-freeze in his produce. The piece combines field-recordings of Inuit folk songs with a memetic score that references Mussorgsky, Moondog, French folk songs, Augustus Pablo, Prokofiev, Strauss, and Raymond Scott. http://www.ergophizmiz.net]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/ergo_phizmiz_special_on_do_or_diy.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/ergo_phizmiz_special_on_do_or_diy.html do or diy Wed, 15 Sep 2010 10:44:41 +0000 Gwilly Edmondez on DO or DIY Gwilly Edmondez on DO or DIY with People Like Us Wednesday 8th September On WFMU at 7pm NY time Improvising vocalist and sampler-spitter Gwilly Edmondez joins People Like Us to talk about paperweights, bog-standard footwear and 50 Pence, while dashing off a handful of 21st century pop songs that are already ahead of their time. In a revealing discussion, Gwilly helps unravel some of the mysteries of modern awareness while promoting the complete decomposition of all music. http://www.kakutopia.com http://www.ubu.com/sound/edmondez.html http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Gwilly_Edmondez]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/gwilly_edmondez_on_do_or_diy.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/gwilly_edmondez_on_do_or_diy.html do or diy Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:46:36 +0000 Two live performances in the Ukraine in August Forma will be presenting two evenings in the Ukraine this August, which will include People Like Us performing Genre Collage. People Like Us present Genre Collage Bill Morrison's Decasia A Secret Understanding (Forma production including various artists) at the following two festivals: 13 August Sevastapol Festival Ukraine - ASU, Decasia, PLU Festival details here - http://www.balaklava-odyssey.com/bb-std/tp/bo10start.html and http://www.britishcouncil.org/ukraine-arts-contemporary-media-artwork.ht 28 August Lviv Contemporary Art Week http://www.arthouse.lviv.ua/anons/?ca_programid=30]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/two_live_performances_in_the_ukraine_in_august.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/two_live_performances_in_the_ukraine_in_august.html events timeline Sat, 28 Aug 2010 11:17:33 +0000 People Like Us play Vintage At Goodwood Genre Collage" at Vintage At Goodwood on Saturday 14th August 2010. http://www.vintageatgoodwood.com/artists/programme.aspx Location Check the Vintage At Goodwood website since they are still updating this, but give or take a small amount of time, this will be the Saturday evening line up at Goodwood. Saturday LOUNGE House DJs - Karminsky Experience 17.45-18,45 Saturday LOUNGE SWING OUT SISTER 18.45-19.45 Saturday LOUNGE SWINGLE SINGERS 20.15-21.15 Saturday LOUNGE TONY HATCH 21.45-22.45 Saturday LOUNGE PEOPLE LIKE US 22.45-23.30 ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_play_vintage_at_goodwood.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_play_vintage_at_goodwood.html events timeline Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:55:09 +0000 For those that pre-ordered the new This Is Light Music LP... ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/for_those_that_preordered_the_new_this_is_light_music_lp.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/for_those_that_preordered_the_new_this_is_light_music_lp.html timeline Sat, 07 Aug 2010 22:15:45 +0000 Borful Tang session on DO or DIY WFMUat 7pm NY time A beacon of light transmitted from his hermetic dwelling in Oakland, California, Borful Tang is proud to bring a gaggle of exclusive new material to the DO Or DIY show. With the help of producer/engineer Dominic Cramp (Evangelista, Vulcanus 68, Qulfus) Mr. Tang has crafted a handful of short narrative pieces compromised of nuggets from his vast vault of found sounds: a news report on the Commodore 64; a warped skipping Jesus record for children; an Austrian synth demonstration DVD; the Sapphire and Steele box set! It is all source material for this fiendish cut-up specialist. And all of it set to a musical interplay that puts him in a class all his own. These pieces are also in support and celebration of Borful Tang’s latest, release, Herd and Unherd, out now on Gigante Sound. Playlists and archives for DO or DIY]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/borful_tang_session_on_do_or_diy.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/borful_tang_session_on_do_or_diy.html do or diy Wed, 04 Aug 2010 13:03:04 +0000 This Is Light Music Picture Disc LP Prints of Darkness exhibition at http://www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk/ from 17 July to 04 September 2010, People Like Us have been commissioned to make a vinyl picture disc responding to the title theme of the exhibition. This Is Light Music will be available for shipping to you from the second week in August. You can pre-order here. Please note - if you are intending to buy the print that Vicki was commissioned to do, please contact Edinburgh Printmakers through the above website url, since they are offering the record free to the first 20 people buying a print. Prices below in US Dollars include postage and packing.

UK - price including P&P: $35.00
Buy in UK

EUROPE - price including P&P: $40.00

Buy in rest of Europe

ELSEWHERE - price including P&P: $46.00
Buy in rest of world

Please note - this LP costs more than some other merchandise you may have bought from us - this is because of the nature of the item, in that the gallery needed to cover costs, etc, plus it costs more to post this kind of item. We assure you we always try and make things available as cheaply as we can! For more info on the exhibition and how we responded to the task here: http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_new_record_and_print_in_edinburgh_exhibition.html]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/this_is_light_music_picture_disc_lp.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/this_is_light_music_picture_disc_lp.html shop timeline Sun, 01 Aug 2010 11:13:29 +0000 People Like Us Play The Harbour Festival in Bristol Saturday 31st July at 5.15pm, all the details are here. The start time may be subject to slight change so please arrive early. http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/live/details/682 ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_play_the_harbour_festival_in_bristol.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_play_the_harbour_festival_in_bristol.html events timeline Sat, 31 Jul 2010 10:57:00 +0000 People Like Us new record and print in Edinburgh exhibition Prints of Darkness Exhibition

You and your guests are invited to the reception for the Prints of Darkness exhibition on Thursday 29 July, 6-8pm. RSVP to gallery@edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk Artist Talk by Vicki Bennett (People Like Us) 29 July 2010, 4.30-5.30pm, Gallery 2, Edinburgh Printmakers Vicki Bennett will deliver a talk about her work in the field of audio-visual collage, through her innovative appropriating and cutting up of found footage and archives. Admission is free but places are limited so please call or email to book: T 0131 5572479 or gallery@edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk Edinburgh Printmakers presents its world premiere exhibition of new work exploring record cover art, curated by Sarah-Manning Cordwell, Norman Shaw, and Edward Summerton and published by Edinburgh Printmakers. This exhibition will include original prints by eleven Scottish artists and a new LP of music by People Like Us, aka international award-winning multimedia artist Vicki Bennett. Buy This Is Light Music picture disc LP here http://www.peoplelikeus.org/shop/ Celebrating the vinyl record as an abiding audio-visual artefact, this project recalls the golden age of the record cover in the thick of post-psychedelia’s goth-surrealistic art-nouveau apocalyptic landscape explosion, now being revived in a current resurgence of collectable limited-edition records with original artwork. People Like Us illuminates this dark visual ride with ‘This Is Light Music’, an exclusive full-length picture-disc album in a limited edition of only 250. This record is available as part of a lavish limited edition boxed-set publication which houses the record and a pull-out poster in a gatefold sleeve, and includes essays by People Like Us and co-curator Norman Shaw. This publication is on sale throughout the exhibition, together with specially commissioned t-shirts and badges by the participating artists. Download the essay by Vicki Bennett (pdf) Information here on purchasing a print (pdf) Dates of Exhibition: 17 July to 04 September 2010 Opening Hours: Weekly Tuesday - Saturday 10.00am - 6.00pm CLOSED SUNDAY & MONDAYS Admission: Free Venue: Edinburgh Printmakers, 23 Union Street, Edinburgh, EH1 3LR Telephone: 0131 557 2479 Website: www.edinburgh-printmakers.co.uk Press Preview in The List http://www.list.co.uk/article/26790-people-like-us-celebrate-record-cover-art-in-prints-of-darkness/]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_new_record_and_print_in_edinburgh_exhibition.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_new_record_and_print_in_edinburgh_exhibition.html events timeline Thu, 29 Jul 2010 13:50:00 +0000 People Like Us play Supersonic Festival, Birmingham 23rd October 2010. More details of times nearer the time, here and at the Supersonic website. SWANS + GODFLESH + HALLOGALLO 2010 – Michael Rother + Friends present the music of NEU! + NAPALM DEATH HEADLINE SUPERSONIC FESTIVAL 2010 with PEOPLE LIKE US / DEMONS (W/SICK LLAMA) / OvO/ PART WILD HORSES MANE ON BOTH SIDES / DOSH / TWEAK BIRD / DRUMCORPS / CAVE / PCM/ JAILBREAK FEAT. CHRIS CORSANO + HEATHER LEIGH / MELT BANANA / JAMES BLACKSHAW / LICHENS / BONG / GNOD / VOICE OF THE SEVEN THUNDERS / NECRO DEATHMORT / GNAW / EAGLE TWIN / BLUE SABBATH BLACK FIJI]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_play_supersonic_festival_birmingham.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_play_supersonic_festival_birmingham.html events timeline Sun, 25 Jul 2010 13:29:16 +0000 People Like Us to play at MACBA Barcelona UPDATE... This concert has now been rescheduled for Thursday 22nd July at MACBA, Barcelona. It was previously postponed due to Volcanic Ash displacement! Please scroll down for the Variations program information on the MACBA site. Variations Concert Program Here's a press feature on the season. MACBA ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_to_play_at_macba_barcelona.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/people_like_us_to_play_at_macba_barcelona.html events timeline Thu, 22 Jul 2010 14:49:45 +0000 Osymyso session on Do or DIY with People Like Us Wednesday, July 21st, 7pm - 8pm "I have to say, I'm not very good at writing about myself or my stuff. Am I supposed to do it in the 3rd person? Who knows. Here's a paragraph for you. Feel free to change it, reduce it, expand on it or ask me to come up with something else entirely. There's no theory or deep thought gone into this mix, to be honest I was just happy to be doing my own thing for once so it's just unadulterated nonsense really." - Osymyso ]]> http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/osymyso_session_on_do_or.html http://www.peoplelikeus.org/2010/osymyso_session_on_do_or.html do or diy Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:10:28 +0000