{"product_id":"welcome-abroad","title":"Welcome Abroad","description":"\u003cp\u003eWelcome Aboard – a strangely relevant 10-year-old album (originally released in May 2011) when People Like Us aka Vicki Bennett became stranded in the US after the Icelandic Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption closed much of northern Europe’s airspace.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVolcanically marooned in Baltimore and NYC, Bennett utilized some of her “free” time to work on the album and even gained audio contributions from fellow experimental musicians Jason Willett (of Half Japanese) and M.C. Schmidt (of Matmos) via her extended stay\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBennett derived thematic material of displacement, travel, and a longing for elsewhere from the natural disaster that caused her own predicament. Now strangely echoed by the Covid-19 outbreak and the various grounding of planes and stay at home policies worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhile the general mashup culture often centres on the instant gratification of seamlessly juxtaposing hooks, People Like Us tracks transform the source material into collages that are equal parts dissonance and pleasure, making artful commentaries on our culture and Bennett’s own existential amusement within such a wondrous world. No one could have predicted how relevant this album would have been 10 years later.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eVolcanoes or Viruses, \u003ci\u003eWelcome Abroad\u003c\/i\u003e is what happens when you’re stranded due to a freak natural occurrence trapping people all over the world and causing mass plane cancellations.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Discrepant","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50475075010891,"sku":"1117439","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/e44d9721-3acc-49ab-83f0-f19c0b51d20c_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727442186","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/welcome-abroad","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}