The Zone – World Premiere

The Zone will be premiered at Bristol Arnolfini on Friday 2nd November and will be introduced by Vicki Bennett.

Arnolfini:
http://www.arnolfini.org.uk/whatson/live/details/1423

The Zone is the first feature-length film by Vicki Bennett a.k.a People Like Us. Running Stalker and The Wizard of Oz side-by-side, it tells one story of two journeys to “the promised land, the world where dreams can be made real and reality is like a dream.” The films sit side by side, staying loyal to the linear narrative, but editing the longer film to the length of the shorter, revealing delightful harmonies and synchronicities both in images and narrative occurring far more than either pure chance would dictate or the imagination construct. The Zone is inspired by the Chance Operations of John Cage, Cut-Up techniques of Gysin/Burroughs and Kurt Schwitters, and single shot/durational films (Andy Warhol, James Benning).

Please note: this film is not being distributed as of January 2013 after a legal claim by Mosfilm, the rights holders of Tarkovsky.

Buy MOON MAGIC 7 inch single!

BUY MOON MAGIC 7 INCH SINGLE NOW

“Moon Magic 7 inch single” by People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz
Release date: 13 November 2012 (presales 13 October)
Illegal Art IA702 http://www.illegalart.net

“Moon” and “Magic” is a AA side 7 inch single, also on the Illegal Art label. Both tracks are taken from The Keystone Cut Ups DVD.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

All prices below INCLUDE shipping within stated price.

UK – price including P&P: $9.50
Buy in UK

EUROPE – price including P&P: $10.00
Buy in rest of Europe

ELSEWHERE – price including P&P: $13.00
Buy in rest of world

Feature in WIRED

If you live in the US/Canada, unless you are buying other merchandise from us at the same time it will work out cheaper to buy the 7″ direct from the Illegal Art Shop due to the fact that we post from Europe and have to charge for that.

People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz from “MOON MAGIC” 7″.

3 New Releases! DVD! 7 inch! Digital Download!

PEOPLE LIKE US & ERGO PHIZMIZ BRING YOU…
THE KEYSTONE CUT UPS DVD / MOON MAGIC 7″ / THE KEYSTONE CUT UPS DIGITAL DOWNLOAD
DVD and Digital Download Release Date: 31 October 2012
7 inch Release Date: 13 November 2012
Label: Illegal Art IA131 illegalart.net

We’re very pleased to announce the release on Illegal Art of a DVD, 7″ single and digital audio album!

When People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz premiered The Keystone Cut Ups at the Berwick Film and Media Art Festival in 2010, it was met with praise and wonder. Invoking a dreamlike atmosphere from the pairing of surrealist avant-garde cinema and silent-era comedy films with the quirky, yet emotionally resonating soundtrack carved out a unique sector of musical entertainment. This project stands tall as a statement against an industry that often flounders in its own creative bankruptcy.

Until now, this experience has only been available to those fortunate enough to see it performed live. But this October, people all over the world can see what all the hype is about for themselves when Illegal Art releases The Keystone Cut Ups on DVD, as well as just the musical portion as a digital download and as a 7′ single.

The festival commissioned the project in July of 2010 as an attempt to achieve something that would excite audiences in ways they were never expecting. People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz composed forty-five minutes of music that is simultaneously whimsical and poignant. Once the soundtrack was in place, visuals were assembled around the audio in order to create a stimulating assault on the mind that evokes a sense of the surreal and fantastical.

PROMOTIONAL TRAILER

PEOPLE LIKE US & ERGO PHIZMIZ : The Keystone Cut Ups & Moon Magic 7″ – PROMO.

BUY THE KEYSTONE CUT UPS DVD NOW
All prices below INCLUDE shipping within stated price.

Tracklist:
1. Orchestra 2. Hats 3. Statues 4. Thelma Todd 5. Machines
6. Aquopalypse 7. Chess 8. Magic 9. Spinning 10. Moon

UK – price including P&P: $13.00
Buy in UK

EUROPE – price including P&P: $14.00
Buy in rest of Europe

ELSEWHERE – price including P&P: $16.00
Buy in rest of world

The Keystone Cut Ups will play all regions, worldwide.

MOON MAGIC 7″ SINGLE by People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz
Available to purchase from 25 October 2012

http://peoplelikeus.org/2012/buy-moon-magic-7-inch-single/

Actual release date: 13 November 2012
Illegal Art IA702 http://www.illegalart.net

“Moon” and “Magic” is a AA side 7 inch single, also on the Illegal Art label. Both tracks are taken from The Keystone Cut Ups DVD.

DOWNLOAD THE KEYSTONE CUT UPS AUDIO IN MP3 OR FLAC FORM
From the Illegal Art Shop
http://illegal-art.net/shop#release131

 With this release, Illegal Art continues to embrace a pay-what-you-want business model for high-quality downloads. All label releases over the last five years have been issued (or reissued) under a the flexible payment system. People Like Us & Ergo Phizmiz also have a history of offering free downloads of entire projects, both new and old.

REVIEWS so far

The Wire
Feature in WIRED
God Is In The TV 

 

DO or DIY with People Like Us on WFMU

DOorDIYSince Autumn 2003 People Like Us have been doing a weekly show on WFMU, called DO or DIY. The aim of the show is to mix highbrow with lowbrow to challenge whether there is much difference.  Archived playlists of at least 200 shows from 2003 to the present day can be found at www.wfmu.org/peoplelikeus

Vicki Bennett also curated/programmed RADIO BOREDCAST in Winter 2011/Spring 2012. It was first broadcast on basic.fm and now is archived at WFMU.

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.  It is now also a separate 24 HOUR DO or DIY Stream!  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.

About DO or DIY

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: DO or DIY fill in for Ken.

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

People Like Us now booking with Julie Tippex

We are now working with the art and music agency Julie Tippex – who will be taking care of future concert bookings. Agent Contact (available for festivals and special events)
Any other reasons to contact us can be done as ever through the contact form on our website front page.

If you can’t decide who to contact with your inquiry then send to the People Like Us Bookings page since it will be forwarded if relevant.

Biography

Since 1991 Vicki Bennett has been making CDs, radio, and A/V multimedia under the name People Like Us. By animating and recontextualising found footage collages Vicki gives an equally witty and dark view of popular culture with a surrealistic edge. People Like Us broadcasts an ongoing experimental arts radio and podcast show on WFMU, called “DO or DIY”, which, since it began in 2003, has had over a million “listen again” downloads.

Vicki has shown work at, amongst others, Tate Modern, The National Film Theatre, Purcell Room, The ICA, Sydney Opera House, Pompidou Centre, Sonar in Barcelona, The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, The Barbican, Maxxi in Rome, the BBC and Channel 4. She has also performed radio sessions for the BBC’s John Peel, Mixing It, and also CBC, KPFA and many more in the US. There have been features in The Observer, The Wire, NME and BBC website. People Like Us have been commissioned by The Arts Council England, The BBC, AV Festival, Sonic Arts Network, Forma, LUX and Lovebytes amongst others.

The almost entire People Like Us back catalogue is also available for free download, which has been generously hosted by UbuWeb in conjunction with PennSound, and also WFMU. PLU has been released on labels such as Illegal Art, Tigerbeat6, Soleilmoon, Sonic Arts Network, Touch and For Us Records (Rough Trade), both solo, and also collaborating with Matmos, Ergo Phizmiz, Wobbly and Christian Marclay.

Vicki had her first solo London show “The Doors of Perspection” at Vitrine Gallery in Bermondsey Square in July-September 2011.

Vicki recently completed the creation of a new live a/v performance called ”Consequences (One Thing Leads To Another)“, which premiered at transmediale in January 2013, and a film for live improvisers called Gesture Piece.  She is currently working on two short animation films for Animate Projects/Channel 4 television, UK as part of their Random Acts Series for broadcast on national television in Autumn 2013.

Press Quotes:

“… a freeform, unfolding imaginary landscape that is liberally peppered with slapstick.” – Phil England, The Wire

“Bennett has continued to impress us with her technical ability and her wonderful sense of the ridiculous.” – Olli Siebelt, BBC

“… beautiful, compelling, funny, crazy stuff. I listen to [People Like Us] while sitting at my drawing board.” – Matt Groening

“… it is that delirious adventure to tune in Disney cartoons while we administered a strong dose of amphetamines, LSD, and any other lysergic cocktail.” – J. Carlos Vellamueva, Rolling Stone (Mexico)

“… after prolonged exposure to the alchemical work of Vicki Bennett, we see and hear our own everyday world as one big joke which is already cut to pieces. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry.” – Drew Daniel, Matmos

“… warped-out easy easy-listening goddess and sample abuser extraordinaire.” – Ben Willmott, NME

“Bennett has taken Eisenstein’s montage collisions and refashioned them as bumper cars at a seaside carnival.” – Jim Supanick, Film Society of Lincoln Center