PEOPLE LIKE US & ERGO PHIZMIZ - "Perpetuum Mobile" CD (Soleilmoon)
This is a collaboration between long running British female sample artist/video artist PEOPLE LIKE US and Lounge/Tropical collage musician and ERGO PHIZMIZ. Its seamless sampling, layering, and segueing of lots of lounge music, kitsch, yodeling, and other funny detritus. It's very fun and silly but also very well mixed and put together. Very seamless, like a great DJ. There aren't many jarring cuts or big transitions. Some great vocal samples. The story behind the making is good if I'm to actually believe it and really the story doesn't matter but I'll tell it anyways. Each artist uploaded some of their music to a shared server, the other downloaded them, manipulated them and re-uploaded them. Some of the vocals are samples and I think they each sang on a few tracks but either way there is no shortage of absurd lyrics. I swear one track there is mention of midgets and I heard lyrics about sausages, dogs, monkeys, carousels, whisky, and more. The P. MILES BRYSON is about the only thing I can think to compare to this.
**1. Tubas which turns into a slow umpapa. Toy percussion sounds, birds, and what sounds like a sung advertisement for some breakfast food. All over the place really, more toy instrument sounds and kids and fast cartoon music.
**2. Great mostly not understandable helium vocals. This over something that sounds like Hawaiian guitar. Throw in some other vocal snippets and I swear the mention of midgets. Vocals from different sources over the top of each other. Ha ha, I swear Hawaiian vocals and our female helium vocals together! Play this!
3. Simple fast piano, parade sounding music, lots of vocals making noises but not words, some yodeling, a 50s feel to the music. The ending of a piano piece with the clapping. A type writer? Buzzer? Stuttering vocals?
4. Percussion of different types with ominous sound track music. Gets almost dancey with hiccup sounds on vocals.
5. Slow banjo.
**6. A waltz with vocals that go something like "oomp diggy diggy oomp pa pa", Lawrence Whelk show style female vocals singing about apple trees and carousels. Just don't listen to this on acid and you'll be ok.
**7. 50s game show sounds with vocal screams in the background. Munchkin vocals underneath pretty female vocals that are eventually looped. Then chacha!. Some dude with a nice voice and then more tuba. The kitchen sink and very busy.
**8. Straight lounge kitsch that sounds like an advertisement and reminds me a bit of SENIOR COCONUT. "I could eat your little bottom on a plate, I could eat your eyes as well."
9. Some practicing violin, some umpapa, and some banjo
10. Some playing with the left and right channel, a slimy person telling me I could be great and lots of orchestra sounds. A sample of "Lets misbehave". Lots of layers swirling up and down the scale instruments that almost caused me motion sickness.
11. Cha cha and a story about poo. Bells, gun shots, bike horns, and jazz.
**12. All about underwear and something tattooed on his butt. Some tap dancing and dramatic marching band sounds.
**13. Mechanical, sampled scream, and vocal cut ups from other PEOPLE LIKE US tracks.
14. Can't place the ditty, "my body lies over the ocean"?
15. Horns that almost sound like farts and jumbled vocals. Straight up silly.
**16. Absurd lyrics about bellies, sausages, dirty dogies, combined with some 60s/70s song I can't place and a banjo.
**17. Fast, accordion, piano, and some orchestra with chopped up vocals. All fast and discernible on the very edge of losing it.
18. Ha, aptly titled "Oh no not another cha cha" but it's not that cha cha. Banjo, vocals, kids vocals, sappy sax, and odd lyrics.
AMAZING stuff. -mph