Reviews of "The World of Listen With Sarah"

If you've ever asked "who in the world would have thought it?" then the answer would probably be Sarah Nelson, a.k.a Listen With Sarah.

Andy Kershaw's genial tones pronouncing names of various places to an insane folk-beat backdrop, a "philosophy of time" spoken to swaying Hawaiian guitars and playful percussion experimentation, a "treatment" of the longest abbreviation in the world, the "www" phenomenon, which is a collection of people saying "www" with varying seriousness to more laid-back tropical luxury, and Kershaw again in various snippets that lead into a sunny jungle dance intrigue. It all makes up this World Of Listen With Sarah EP, and it's all in a day's work for a beacon of UK underground mischief.

Surreal cross-references fly like bards' vignettes, and Sarah is incessantly adding to her pot in the name of sorceress-like arrangement. There was a single of hers released only last week on Cherryade (My Little Hula Girl), and an alternate version appears here with a new intro that features people talking about it in a casual manner, elucidating the theory behind the track and adding effortlessly to its ironic magic, a magic that sees a cumbersome mouthful form the centrepiece of a hazy countryside dream.

It's been said before that there's a wonderful English eccentricity and natural strangeness about Sarah's recordings, and this is another release that leaves you with a beguiling tinge of benevolent Cutler brilliance. Altogether now, "www..."

Neil Jones for MusicOMH.

Within seconds of the lead track of this EP (well, it's a mini-album really) you've heard random bursts of stuttering organ, drums and, well, Andy Kershaw listing locations in a forced 'It's Grim Up North' style (whether he likes it or not), and you realise (or re-realise) that things are not entirely as they seem in 'The World of Listen With Sarah'.

Originally broadcast on that very man (Kershaw)'s show, this is a six-track journey through the experimental audio planes with Kershaw as your tour guide. On your trip you'll be able to sample the claustrophobic calypso-meets Techno-Trumpton of 'Tempus Trampus' (which culminates, I kid you not, with a gabba-waltz remix of the theme music from kids' favourite Chigley) and the acapella-techno of 'Bored of Techno / I Can't Speak Now' which builds up a repetitive refrain of snappy soundbites to provide an unexpected rhythm.

There's a return to calypso with the post-modern 'World Wide Hula' (a track which makes reference to itself half way through!) which comes across, like much of this album, like a toned-down Cassetteboy - where the emphasis is on fun rather than shock value.

By the time we reach album closer 'Real Jungle High', a loop-based techno-noir escapade with 'realistic' animal sounds and a constant ' I'm real fucking high on drugs' mantra, we've visited the four corners of the world of Listen With Sarah. We've lost our traveller's cheques, we've had a dose of the shits, but, like them all, it's a trip we'll never forget.

But anyway, back to the music. Some would call this a noise, some would call this completely unlistenable, but those people bought the Mika album this week. Be interesting - get this EP.

Richie Brown for Culture Deluxe.

Here be, here be, a three track intro (‘My Little Hula Girl/Animal Boum’) to Listen With Sarah’s cut-up world of abstract collage wiv big heads glued with love onto ikkle bodees. Fings like that. In my head, anyway. Sheepy wigs onto cows, bunny-ears onto Andy Kershaw. They all inhabit Sarah’s zoo, particularly the latter who appears often in her work and is a keen supporter of it. ‘My Little Hula Girl’ whips bits from web address call-outs off her radio, with Marc Riley, Da Bank and Louise Kattenhorn, cut into weeny bits and turned into jigsaw-jumble. Or a jumble-sale jigsaw. All the wrong bits, or not enough bits, dunno, but…but…crash, bang, wallop, what a picture. Dubyadubyadubyadot n’that, all painted into a hula-surf sway, a theme that appears often in her work. ‘Animal Boum’ reworks her Festive Fifty favourite ‘Animal Hop’, and here a little horn gets added to the fuzzy-felt farmyard like a moth upon which a book has been hastily closed. ‘Drum N’ Berceuse’ is another old favourite, with its junglist Playschool skippery. ‘The World Of Listen With Sarah’ is the more recent gear, with more Kershaw (‘Ramblin’ Andy’) as he’s re-cut into rapid travelogue over a glitchy squeeze-box hoe-down jaunt. Also here are Trumptonphilic hula-folk mantrics (‘Tempus Trumpus’), speech-impedimental mandrigal convergence loops (‘Bored of Techno/Can’t Speak Now’) and a farmyard noise-wheel dig into underground old-school techno, or something (‘Real Jungle High’). A big in-joke factor, but Sarah is coming up alongside People Like Us in the playful re-appropriation stakes, and is wrapping around the championship belt, as master of the jigger-re-jig, as we speak.

Skif for Vanity Project.

More releases this month from our friends at Cherryade Records and, as well as the usual sweet bribe, they dig themselves firmly into my heart straight away this time with Listen With Sarah’s first track. Now its safe to say Sarah might be the most used female song/ artist name in the world but no matter when the first track on your new EP ‘The World of Listen With Sarah’ is a breakbeat mash up with BBC Radio Three legend Andy Kershaw naming places. It’s cleverly edited and Andy’s gorgeous sink-into-a-bath with me and Ali Farke Toure type voice is irresistible. Things can barely top that but Tempus Trumpus which follows is a nice, strangely structured 30s style tune based on Freddie Trumptom’s Trumpton theme. The rest of the EP is similarly strange, English and just fucking, absolutely brilliant. Get it, please. Oh and you might as well get My Litte Hula Girl and vs Kontikis as well!

Alex Lawson for Shadowplay.

A magician of mash-up, Listen With Sarah has a dry sense of humour and to makes a homage through her EP to Dj’s Huw Stephens, Rob Da Bank and Andy Kershaw. The danger with the humble mash-up is that will be just a load of clips squashed together in some sort of random order. However Listen with Sarah clearly understands her craft and makes her songs different and humorous, but still some of the tracks are that fluid, are a bit too odd. Buy hey! It’s a bit of light hearted fun after all and I quite like it. 3/5

Gareth for Funky As Fudge.