People Like Us and the Sounds of Irritation

Hello Readers!

I've recently discovered a musician that exemplifies what The Boring Tree is all about.

People Like Us employs many musical techniques in a new way that creates a final product that is utterly unique.

Listen to the People Like Us album "Abridged Too Far" here.

Also, listen to a short audio story on People Like Us with interviews from musicians Mike Fetting and Joe Macintosh. The player should be at the bottom.

Now hopefully you just listened to links and have some idea of what People Like Us is.

People Like Us is a pseudonym for DJ artist Vicki Bennett. People Like Us is a sample artist, meaning she takes multiple clips from other music and mizes them together to create an entirely new song. Sampling is not nearly a new art form and there have been many many artist trying to push the boundaries of sampling but none produce a final product quite like People Like Us. Why is that?

One of the largest contributors to People Like Us' sound is the concept of "irritainment" that Vicki Bennett created with People Like Us. "Irritainment" is a sampling concept that refuses to allow the listener to get comfortable with any one sample; when a sample is being played it switches just before you can really enjoy the sample.

People Like Us also uses hard cutting and digital feedback to transition between samples. This idea while not completely original, is certainly not a mass movement in media. There are many moments in Abridged Too Far where the music cuts to an entirely new line of musical "thought" which requires the audience to make a (sometimes) large cognitive jump; the audience has to adjust to a new beat immediately or be lost for the rest of the song.

How does People Like Us fit into the Classifications of Niche Media?

Intent- With People Like Us, Vicki Bennett clearly set out to make many pieces of music that are to be viewed as art forms. On her home webpage, Vicki Bennett is listed as an avant garde artist; this shows that she knows what she intended to do with music when creating for People Like Us, not just creating music for the sake thereof. There is a clear thesis and authorship behind the distinct People Like Us sound.

Oddness- People Like Us certainly exhibits an odd musical style through its use of the concept of "Irritainment", hard music/beat/sample shifts and an intense use of digital noise as transition. These concepts, while not entirely ridiculous when separate, when used together they create a uniquely strange style.

Findability- While not entirely that challenging to find most of the People Like Us albums are only available for purchase from Vicki Bennett's home page or for download online. Attempting to find any video or media on People Like Us that has not been published by Vicki Bennett is certainly a challenge. Its findable, but you need to be seeking it out.

Satisfaction- People Like Us is highly satisfying (to me); much of the noise and odd sample cuts generally build off each other to create an uniquely beautiful crescendo of battling sounds. Many times it works some times it doesn't, but I think it satisfying and I think you will too!

Check it out!

Thanks for reading,
Alex.