Cut-Up music, collage, art, etc. doesn't necessarily mean something is listenable. I know, this is an obvious statement, but I make it because I want to clarify that I don't like all collage or cut-up works. Sometimes they're terribly unoriginal or just artsy for the sake of being artsy. If art doesn't have substance, be that substance intentional or not, I'm not interested. It's like Lady Gaga, I can't stand her but a lot of people believe she's the most original pop artist in years. I don't get that at all, especially since she's just retreading Madonna's career path, but maybe people see something I don't. Maybe they're not familiar with Madonna or didn't live through her era of media magic. If you weren't there the first time it might be more forgivable to take the replication for the genuine article, but that doesn't mean it's good. The KLF are an example of something that can't be made to happen again, it's just too strange and complicated. You can't explain the legacy of The KLF by simply listening to their music or reading a condensed history of their exploits, you either had to be there or you have to do some real research, and even then you're still missing out on the experience of having seen some of it happen. I never saw the awards performance where they shot rubber bullets and played live with a band of "noise terrorists", only to leave a dead sheep outside the front door of the venue, but I did see their videos and buy their records while they were available, and that counts for something. Try to get kids interested in The Beatles and watch their confused expressions, at least until you get to the more substantial parts of their careers like The White Album or Sgt. Peppers, something they can type WTF? about.
Anyway, the real point of this rambling statement about relevancy goes back to the idea of substance. Some things never lose what made them special, partly due to how unique they were to begin with. To bring The KLF back into the fray, listen to Chill Out and you'll have one of two reactions, the first being awe at how wonderful it is with the second being a total disregard for the contents. If you're in that first group, you understand how life changing that album is and how unique it can be for each person. It's your own little trip through the desert in the middle of the night, your own communication with the universe, a meeting of peace with alien species, whatever you want it to be. That's kind of what Welcome Abroad is like.
Vicki Bennett, aka People Like Us, is no stranger to the art of collage, but what she does on Welcome Abroad is extraordinary. Stuck in the US after the Icelandic volcano eruption, she created this album of displaced feelings and longing for her home which is a little sad but a lot dreamy. I compare it to Chill Out because it feels like a journey, one that will be specific to each listener. When you recognize the music you'll be transported to a specific time or place, but if you don't it will create a new memory for you. This is to say, if you recognize Carly Simon's Nobody Does It Better, the loops and samples will remind you of your enjoyment or disdain for it, whereas if you don't know it and hear it afterwards you'll think of People Like Us first. Even if you do know it already, hearing it here will add to your memories. That's a pretty magical thing, being able to change or add to an already existing memory.
The easiest way to describe Welcome Abroad is to say it's an easy-listening collage, but that still misses the point. Yes, much of the material might be more relaxing fare but the whole is so much greater than the sum of its parts. Lines of music from multiple versions line up with each other, unconnected melodies merge to form new ones, children's records tie-in with dark country music to form something somewhere between heartwarming and slightly disturbing. It sticks with you and there isn't anything out there I can compare it to.
Welcome Abroad will be released tomorrow via Illegal Art, meaning you'll be able to download the MP3 version of the album free and you'll be able to purchase alternative formats for very little, sometimes with great bonus features, though you can listen to the whole album now via the SoundCloud player below. If you enjoy what you hear, please visit the Illegal Art page and purchase a download so Miss Bennett can continue to make her wonderful music.
Welcome Abroad is the soundtrack to a dream - overlaying a cabaret with the circus, a music hall with the radio, a nightclub with the movies. Finely tuned sounds from the collective unconscious, fitted together with care and clarity and skill, producing a hallucinatory landscape that shifts and slides, shimmering with each new sample. Julie Andrews duets with Jim Morrison? Damn. - Steinski
People Like Us - Welcome Abroad by People Like Us
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