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caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.


(I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to make this thread not sound like the ravings of a lunatic rear end in a top hat, but I'm going to try)

It is a near impossibility to explain who and/or what The Residents are, as the information provided to us by the official source must always be taken with a grain of salt for obvious reasons. To further exacerbate the situation intentionally, any information in this thread is 100% off the dome because I thought that would keep in the disinformation-heavy spirit of The Residents intact.

Formed in Shreveport, Louisiana in the mid-to-late '60s later relocated to San Francisco (by way of San Mateo), The Residents have been consistently recording under the philosophy of The Theory of Obscurity which posits that an artist does their best work outside of an audience's influence/expectation. The Residents have remained anonymous for almost 50 years at this point, have never granted an interview, have never shown their faces in public and perform exclusively in elaborate costuming.




CURRENT LOOK (for the new In Between Dreams show to be performed in Japan starting March 21st):



For more basic information, the recently released documentary Theory of Obscurity: A Film about The Residents might not answer the questions you have, but it's a very well-rounded starter package: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6h-AhQb60H0


MUSIC:
Even harder to define would be the musical output of the band (Which, if you were to collect every official release, fan club-exclusive, online sale and side-project still attributed to the band would probably hit at least 150 releases, possibly more). The Residents started off not knowing how to play their instruments and it shows - their earliest releases dabble mostly in tape collage and primitive sampling, probably best displayed on their proto-Mash Up album The Third Reich and Roll often credited as the first instance that anyone sampled James Brown on a recording:



Soon after that the band would focus entirely on testing the bounds of technology, delving deep into electronics, sampling, early MIDI, digitally read punch cards, even finding commercial success in early '90s CD Rom 3-D adventure games: Freak Show and Bad Day on the Midway.



Describing how the music sounds outside of the phrase "Bad Acid Trip" is futile and even that is selling it short: every album sounds completely different, absolutely alien and willfully obtuse, swinging from outright noise to space opera to disco to orchestral composition, radio plays, nursery rhymes, and everything in-between. Expect anything, everything and nothing.

INFLUENCE:



While we'll all probably be dead before The Residents are entered into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the influence of The Residents on culture in general should not be understated when you take into account that they're credited as the inventors of the modern narrative music video. Not only are their early videos on permanent display at the New York Museum of Modern Art, their entire body of work is in their collection, housed in the Ultimate Box set - every single release the band has ever recorded and a real eyeball mask housed in a real refrigerator. Fans include Les Claypool of Primus, Ween (who have been putting Residents eyeballs all over their posters lately), Earl Sweatshirt, Parquet Courts, Kesha, Animal Collective (who basically spent the first decade of their existence paying endless homage to the band. Listen to Eskimo and "We Tigers" back-to-back is pretty amazing), Matt Groening, Pee-Wee Herman, Talking Heads, Negativland, NoMeansNo, Flipper, etc. etc. etc

I think The Blue Man Group owes them $5.

THE GHOST OF HOPE:



Slated to be their first album an an official working unit/band since 2008's The Bunny Boy, The Ghost of Hope represents a new phase in The Residents' career, if only for the fact that the original composer has left and has been replaced with multi-instrumentalist Eric Drew Feldman, who has worked just about anyone you can think of including Captain Beefheart, P.J. Harvey, The Pixies and Frank Black, Polyphonic Spree, FEAR, and more.

Cherry Red Records posted:

“My heart is warm with the friends I make and better friends, I’ll not be knowing, Yet there isn’t a train I wouldn’t take, no matter where it’s going.” -Edna St Vincent Millay

While the great poet’s romantic relationship with train travel was undoubtedly heartfelt, she was definitely not traveling by rail as the 19th century neared its end. The dangers posed by increasingly fast trains, coupled with heavier and heavier cargo loads, moving across an aging rail system, made derailment a common occurrence. In addition, the primitive communications and safety mechanism of the era often resulted in either head-on collisions or, conversely, “telescoping,” which occurred when a stationary or slow-moving train was hit from the rear by another train on the same tracks. When this happened, especially in winter when the cars were heated by coal-burning stoves and illuminated by kerosene lamps, the wooden passenger cars were quickly engulfed in flames, resulting in a quick and unpleasant death for those surviving the initial impact. In retrospect, a simple fact was obvious: this revolutionary technology was progressing faster than society could regulate or control it.

Following their long tradition of projects based on narrative themes, The Residents are pleased to announce the release of The Ghost of Hope, a historically accurate album based on train wrecks from the late 19th and early 20th Centuries. After discovering a series of vintage news articles highlighting the dangers of train travel in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and inspired by the era’s graceful language, the group contrast that eloquence against the sheer horror of these devastating events. In their own unique style, the band has constructed a highly original series of tone poems quite unlike the music of anyone else – except, of course, The Residents. The album features guest collaborator Eric Drew Feldman – who has worked with everybody cool, so he’s already in your record collection.

If there’s a primary metaphor within this collection it is certainly found in that humble word ‘hope.’ When powerful men of the world build political campaigns around this simple four-letter word and fail, one wonders what life might become without it. Regardless, whether it be historical and literal, symbolic and metaphorical or simply nonsense, The Residents remain mum.

Utilizing various techniques, including music, sound effects and text from actual newspaper accounts from the era, The Ghost of Hope purports to recreate several of these horrific incidents. While the dangers described in these factual events are now largely confined to the past, humanity perseveres, valiantly thundering ahead into the uncharted realms of digital technology, genetic engineering, artificial intelligence and the attempt to spread our seed throughout the cosmos. Meanwhile, have we learned from the past or are we doomed to repeat our mistakes on an ever grander scale?

Tracklist:
Horrors Of The Night
The Crash At Crush
Death Harvest
Shroud Of Flames
The Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918
Train vs Elephant
Killed At A Crossing



The Ghost of Hope streets March 24th on CD (MVD) and special edition vinyl (Psychofon). While its contents remain a mystery, check out the intense, hyper-sexualized new music video for "Rushing Like a Banshee" here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8DjpU7ompc

IDENTITY:
While I'm sure as hell guilty of being one gossipy motherfucker when it comes to The Residents, it'd be cool to keep that poo poo under spoiler tags on the offshoot that a random person drops by unfamiliar and finds something intriguing about the whole thing. And if you're not 100% certain on the fact, I guarantee you the first idea you have in your head is probably the correct one. But, for curiosity's sake, the current official list of collaborators for The Ghost of Hope include:

Nolan Cook
Eric Drew Feldman
Carla Fabrizzio

Anything past that is merely rumors and speculation. Wink.

caligulamprey fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Feb 28, 2017

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caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

A selection of live performances:

From the Plains to Mexico (Cube E): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oc08SGxeTl8
Burn Baby Burn (Wormwood): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3-m0QX3Gpg
This is a Man's Man's Man's World (13th Anniversary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6_KtS1O6_I
The Car Thief (Demons Dance Alone): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o0ONwUu7os
44 No More (Shadowland): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgQe2pS9EpQ
Migration (The Mole Show): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eDpGgDZUyWA

Music Videos:
The Third Reich and Roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ve0XrTiFiwo
Hello Skinny: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AvJiyOPmsJs
One Minute Movies (an excerpt from The Commercial Album): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTJJb1UqjuA
Gingerbread Man: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hr-I6-gxecg


And, of course, The Residents dancing with Conway Twitty: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQyoLInWa40

NiceGuy
Dec 13, 2006

This is my BOOMSTICK
College Slice
This is a good thread. I have nothing to contribute other than to say that my dad used to play Residents records around the house when I was younger, so they've built up an almost larger-than-life status in my mind. Truth be told I find the mythos to be more intriguing than the music itself but when it's all said and done, they're one of the very few acts out there that will be able to say they did it their way, 100%. You have to respect the hell out of that, though I fear we may never get a definitive history from any of the members when it's over.

So is the prominent theory that Google supplies me w/r/t their identities (Homer Flynn, et all) generally accepted as truth? It's kind of fun to think of them now as a bunch of old farts dicking around with recordings for 50 some odd years but it also wouldn't surprise me if I found out that they rotated in other musicians as needed. Theoretically they could keep the act going forever that way.

edit: Should have read the wiki first but like you said, it's hard to get a good grasp on what's legitimate and what's not

NiceGuy fucked around with this message at 05:45 on Feb 28, 2017

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

NiceGuy posted:

Truth be told I find the mythos to be more intriguing than the music itself
That's definitely an opinion I tend to see that I don't agree with but understand 100%. Hell, in terms of actually listening to the stuff, I find the MIDI period to be pretty much unlistenable due to the tech. I find that the album I always point out in this case where everything came together including the music is Demons Dance Alone from 2002, written in the wake of September 11th. It's laser-focused songwriting, played astonishingly well with a naked emotion they hadn't displayed before or even since. The addition of Molly Harvey on vocals for this stretch of time is considered by most fans to be the pinnacle of their career - which at that point was already 30 years deep.

The Weatherman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxFDYRk9vlU
Caring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JM9qC68f74

NiceGuy posted:

So is the prominent theory that Google supplies me w/r/t their identities (Homer Flynn, et all) generally accepted as truth? It's kind of fun to think of them now as a bunch of old farts dicking around with recordings for 50 some odd years but it also wouldn't surprise me if I found out that they rotated in other musicians as needed. Theoretically they could keep the act going forever that way.
The line-up has been fairly consistent in terms of touring at least for the last decade-plus (I couldn't tell you who's playing what on the albums outside of Nolan Cook on guitar) - H/H with Cook on Guitar, Carla Fabrizzio on percussion including live drums and that cool electronic Marimba they used (the sounds were coded to the mallets themselves so the possibilities were endless) and Eric Drew Feldman on additional synths, and other stuff like bass guitar, accordion, Melodica, etc.

That's most definitely the reason why they've spent the last decade going on and on about death - these are dudes who are now in their 70s and most definitely feel like time is running out. GOSSIP BULLSHIT: I also feel like they're actually starting to desire the recognition they honestly deserve. I think that's why they decided to give themselves the names Randy, Chuck and Bob, why they all started accounts on social media (THE LEAD SINGER OF THE RESIDENTS HAS A TUMBLR. WHAT THE gently caress), why the majority of Shadowland was toured extensively in exotic, European vacation-y spots.

The official word as far as I know is that The Residents are in fact designed to go on forever with zero end game in sight. My dumb theory: I wouldn't be surprised if they're looking into hologram tech to have not just his presence still there past death, but expanding its use to incorporate CG effects to really get loving crazy - having the dude morph into a 20-foot-tall Satan and poo poo. It doesn't have to be just recorded footage of Tupac rapping, it can be ANYTHING.

Astrochicken
Aug 13, 2007

So you better go back to your bars, your temples
Your massage parlors!

Homer Flynn gave an interview on Rob Crowe's podcast and that's how I found out about the Residents. I haven't really branched out from Duck Stab, Eskimo, and some of Commercial Album though, I will check out Demons Dance Alone.

FalsePriest
Oct 20, 2010

"hi im pyle shittenhouse" *plop* *plop* *plop* "oops i have shit in your house lol"
Really like the Residents, it's great to see this thread.

I'll also have to check out Demons Dance Alone and would like to recommend 'Not Available' to anyone who hasn't heard it. I wanna say it's like nothing I've ever heard before in music but you can apply that to a bunch of Residents albums so I'll just say it's my favorite of theirs.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Astrochicken posted:

Homer Flynn gave an interview on Rob Crowe's podcast
Man, I completely blanked out on Rob Crow, dude's a huge Residents dork. He also does a sweet cover of Snakefinger's Man in the Dark Sedan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceBpKXKCsc).

Note to self: write something about Snakefinger in the thread soon.


FalsePriest posted:

'Not Available'
:hellyeah: Not just my favorite Residents album, my favorite album of all time. The album is so goddamn alien-sounding, I genuinely can't imagine human beings sitting in a recording studio playing that music on instruments.

They actually released an extended version a couple years back with seven extra minutes of music that was originally cut for time. Having the original burned into my brain for decades, the new bits really throw me for a loop every time I hear it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E-7SrAU1Nw

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

FUN FACT: When I originally said The Residents have never given an interview that's actually a half-truth. The original composer of The Residents (currently recording under the name Charles Bobuck) granted his first ever interview (after splitting from the band last year) earlier this month for Hardy Fox's Hacienda Bridge newsletter (100% worth checking out). Here's the interview in full:

quote:

Charles and I are relaxing on his covered porch. It is raining but it is a warm rain. I have a blanket over my lap. He is in shorts as he usually is. Charlie had opened a bottle of Pinot Noir, carefully smelling the cork before pouring measured amounts into our glasses. He then lectured me for five minutes over its merits while swirling the glass in circles.

When he finally paused, I ask if we can get started. He mumbled something about me always spoiling a good time.


Will Rothers: Let's address the first thing first. There have been several mentions about your health issues. How is your health?

Charles Bobuck: I think one's health is rather personal, but I can comfortably say that I do not have anything life threatening other than old age. Everyone has that at some point. I have some serious arthritis that affects my mobility as well as a problematic respiratory problem that is too boring to go into.


WR: That was enough to cause you to drop out of working with The Residents?

CB: It was enough to make me rethink my goals, after all, The Residents had to evolve into a touring band to pay the bills and I could no longer physically keep up. Stairs had become my enemy. I really wanted to get back into the studio anyway. Music for touring is very repetitive.


WR: Didn't you still have studio work needing to be done with The Residents?

CB: Not enough to keep me busy. The last album we released was The Bunny Boy in 2008. Nine years ago. That is the same time span as from Meet The Residents to The Mole Show. We all know what was done in nine years back then. I wrote music for Ghost of Hope three years ago and it kept being delayed by tours. I hear they are finally recording it. By now it will probably be totally different from what I wrote. I'm excited to hear it.


WR: You wrote music for Ghost of Hope three years ago?

CB: I was writing for Ghost of Hope at the same time as I was writing What Was Left of Grandpa. My original idea was that we would complete the recordings in the Spring of 2015, and release the album in September of that year. Then launch the Ghost of Hope Show tour in the fall of 2015. I was going to participate in conceiving the touring show and I wanted to develop the arrangements with my buddy, Eric Feldman, since he would be replacing me on the road.

That did not happen, the Shadowland show kept touring on and on, which meant I had nothing to do. Shadowland already existed and the GOH album was dropped, at least at that time. I suppose that greased my exit out of The Residents since I was facing total boredom (laughs.)


WR: Why didn't you start something independently? There was nothing to prevent you from working within The Residents concept.

CB: That is true. I could have declared What Was Left of Grandpa to be a Residents album, but I had tried that with Coochie Brake. It did not get the reception I hoped for and I ended up being frustrated. I thought it was a great project but Randy wanted to focus on live stuff. I had to adjust rather than trying to force something to conform to my expectations.


WR: It sounds like maybe you are blaming Randy?

CB: I know you need to ask that question, people want to know. I don't blame Randy, this is not a "blame" situation. Randy and I are long time friends. He loves performing more than anything and I love the studio more than anything. When the financial shift came, touring made money and recording albums didn't, he was in the position to spend energy on real-time projects and not albums. I wasn't happy about it, but it worked good for Randy. It was a force larger than us.


WR: Why didn't you work on the touring projects?

CB: I did. I was the person who proposed the smaller shows, the Randy, Chuck and Bob shows. To decreased the expense of touring, we needed to become a lean and mean organization. I wrote the arrangements for all the shows. I mixed and put together the live albums. I was 100% on board. I made obtuse Bobuck albums on the side. That worked for a while, then I started having old age issues that made touring unpleasant, even painful and I knew I had to stop. But it isn't like I am a kid, I am a senior citizen. I got my time in. I am supposed to slow down.


WR: I think some old-time, hard-core fans blame your leaving for ruining The Residents. You broke the illusion.

CB: The idea was to break it with Randy, Chuck and Bob. We intentionally demanded fans take a fresh look at The Residents. That is hardly "ruining." The illusion of The Residents did not end with the invention of RCB, it changed, it made a twist. The hard-core fans should know that The Residents are going to challenge their concepts. That is part of the idea. I am staunchly against fans determining what The Residents should be. That will be the true "ruining."

I don't want to be flippant. I think it is worth saying that choosing to leave The Residents was no easy decision. It look months of intense introspection. It was my decision and I still believe it was the wise thing to do for myself and The Residents.


WR: Do you remember the moment when you first realized that you would be leaving The Residents?

CB: There was no actual moment. A year earlier I realized I was unhappy, but I figured things would get better. When I didn't feel any change I started thinking about my options as well as what was important in life, the broader perspective. It all became very clear to me. It seemed simple and positive. The Residents seemed like it needed a drastic change. I realized that the drastic change would be me leaving. I still see things in a Residents way. Making a point of intentionally not doing something is a form of doing it. Like making a point by going on a hunger strike is still a form of eating. Just negative eating.


WR: Were you dealing with depression?

CB: Not clinical depression, but the kind of depression of knowing you have to resolve a problem in your life when you wish you didn't have to. I have high expectations for living. A lot of the depression was associated with aging. Everyone has to deal with physical degradation due to aging, but it is frustrating. I have always tried to make things better for myself. Change was being forced on me. What was important was protecting my friendship with Randy while rediscovering life pleasures. I realized a need to be part of nature, to have a guided transition from living to dying and rejoining the greater force. That sounds more mystical than it should. I am like a reverse child. I grow reverse younger until I disappear into where life comes from. Hmmm. That sounds even more mystical. Wine tends to have that effect on me.


WR: Speaking of mystical, do you follow a religious belief system? It sounds like you do.

CB: I do not follow philosophies made up by other people since I am as capable of making them up as the next guy. I do like the "we are all star matter" idea, and I see humans as part of the greater natural world. We are born and we die, and there is a beauty in that fragility that we share with all creatures.


WR: How are you and Randy getting along now?

CB: We are good. Ever since he moved to LA and I moved to the country we had not seen much of each other, unless we were touring. Our individual new living environments are a clear indication of how we are envisioning our futures. He wants to be closer to Hollywood and I want to be closer to nature.

He is benefiting from the change. When we worked together I had no encouragement to try singing and he had none to write music. He has a good music sense and a style that is different from mine. It is going to be fun to hear what he does.


WR: What has changed now that you have support from Hacienda Bridge and Klanggalerie instead of The Cryptic Corporation?

CB: Cryptic needs a bigger cash flow to operate. The Residents are the source of that income. Since I am just me, I don't have to make money anymore with music. I live on my pension and my royalties from forty years with The Residents. That is very freeing. I can now try things I didn't do before.


WR: Like singing?

CB: (laughs) Yeah. I am not a singer. I have gotten more comfortable using my voice as an element of the music. Randy's attitude toward singing has always been a great inspiration to me.


WR: Do you think you will do a project with Randy again?

CB: Neither of us has an objection to it, but at the moment it is not logistically realistic. He has to think in terms of making albums that can be toured. It makes the most sense that he would do recordings using musicians from the touring version of The Residents.


WR: So you see the current Residents as a "version?"

CB: There have been many Residents concepts. The eyeballs, the CDROM designers, the big performance shows. The reluctant rock band, Randy, Chuck and Bob. I expect a new Residents version in 2017 as the RCB one is a bit played out. Some people don't accept anything after 1980 as Residents. Residents is a word, the people behind the word are what counts.


WR: You were a primary person behind it. Are you implying that you are also a "version of The Residents?"

CB: I cant work using the word, "Residents." I can easily put that word in my past, but there is no way to leave who I actually am back there with that word. Who I am and what I do came with me. I can't use the word, but the word cannot use me either.


WR: What happened to "Chuck" and who is "Rico?"

CB: "Chuck" is part of The Residents touring band. He had to stay with Randy and Bob. Chuck was also Carlos, and I suppose, partly me. But I am not "Chuck." That was a character I played for the show. That is a stage name and I am no longer on the stage. Chuck and Carlos kind of folded together and was able to fit into one small touring case that never has to be unpacked. Rico is the spirit of the case. Hmm. I think that is the wine talking.

I'll start over. Despite how difficult it is for people to accept, The Residents is a concept, not a band. Concepts are free to take various forms, even ones that superficially seem like a band. Touring requires the illusion of a band. Basically the organizing team assembles the resources required to make a concept work. As dry as that sounds, it is what producers do, and The Residents is a production. There is no Randy, Chuck, Bob, Carlos, or Rico. Just assembled resources.


WR: Who is the "organizing team?"

CB: Well, now that Hardy is gone it is primarily Homer Flynn, the only remaining original Cryptic guy. But Cryptic has two newer corporate owners too. So there are three inputs with Homer being the primary one. The Residents concept is completely malleable. It doesn't have to be associated with music. It could become an iPhone app design company. That is the remarkable aspect that sets the Residents apart from "bands."


WR: If The Residents are "assembled resources," what is "Charles Bobuck?"

CB: (Laughs loudly, then a long silence) I have to confess that I am somewhere in between a resource and a person. There is only one me so I cannot be replaced. But in the same way that I participated in The Residents illusion, I now have a "Charles Bobuck" that is partly illusion. There are differences. I can do interviews, I never have to wear a mask. I can have opinions about the world. It is a comfortable change for me.


WR: Then you are okay with me publishing an actual photo of you? (Charlie starred at me and then very slowly shook his head "no.")
Why not?

CB: I'm not certain what I look like.


WR: Am I talking to a person or am I talking to an illusion?

CB: I try to be honest with you, Will. You know me. I also like to tell stories and sometimes the stories are more interesting than the reality. I don't think this is a good line of questioning, the nature of reality. Reality is a vortex and we can only end up lost and confused.


(Charlie said he was getting chilly and went inside to get a jacket.)


WR: Since we all know there is not as much interest in music and CDs anymore by the general public, what is your perspective on getting your music out to people?

CB: The line from that Bobby McGee song comes to mind. Freedom being a word for nothing to lose. I have nothing to lose. I don't have to get it out to the public. Most people in the world who make music do it for the pleasure it brings, not for money or fame. It is not an ego thing.

I am really enjoying making Tiny Tunes and if someone doesn't like one, it is of no consequence. I have a short attention span and they are a pleasure to record. I can use them for the newsletter, for downloads, like the Black Tar thing on Halloween. Klanggalerie has collected a bunch for a CD. EGGS FOR BREAKFAST.


WR: Eggs for Breakfast? Why Eggs for Breakfast?

CB: (Smiles) When Roman and I first moved to the country, we raised chickens. They are sort of horrible animals, but they do lay eggs. Lots and lots of eggs. Every morning there would be a cry through our house, "Eggs for Breakfast!" Roman was very inventive about finding new egg dishes to eat, but it was always eggs for breakfast. Until we got rid of the chickens.

An egg is also the beginning of life just as breakfast is the beginning of the day. Symbolically it represents a fresh start. While eggs have the potential to become a chicken, they are also a magically thing all by themselves, an egg. These tiny tunes could become full fledged songs, but I'm not into potential, I'm embracing the moment. I accept that a tiny tune is a thing to be appreciated. My Tiny Tunes are me laying eggs.


WR: Looking beyond the new CD, what does your future look like in your mind?

CB: Hardy talked me into doing the Hacienda Bridge project by saying that it would only run through 2020. That meant I wouldn't get stuck in another open ended concept. We are all older and a sense of closure to what we do feels good. That still gives us plenty of time to turn ideas into results. To me it means doing as much as I can as quickly as possible.


WR: Your album, Bobuck Plays The Residents had a sad quality about it, not the manic Residents quality we all love.

CB: Sad? Really? I am naturally fragile, I am told. There is a very thin layer of skin separating me from the world. I wanted to take the songs away from seeming manic. I didn't always write them to be performed that way.

(Charlie paused for a long time, his head down in thought.)

I am not sad, Will, really I'm not. I can miss the old days, but I already did the old days, every single moment of those forty years. I do miss the people I worked with. I felt like I lost a family when I stopped touring. I can't go back to who I was, though. Life is lived in only one direction.


WR: (Charlie gazed out into the rain, a bit of a distant look in his eyes. I could tell I had lost his attention.) Do you want to stop?

CB: So many memories, Will.
(Charlie managed a smile at me, and I could see a lifetime playing in his eyes.)

NiceGuy
Dec 13, 2006

This is my BOOMSTICK
College Slice
That was a fascinating read, thanks for that.

Noise Machine
Dec 3, 2005

Today is a good day to save.


Regarding some of the spoiler chat...

When they had that gigantic sale/auction a few years ago with the refrigerator that held their entire creative output, there was a mystery prize for 500 K or 1 Mil or whatever the sum was. My pet theory was that the mystery prize was that you *became* a Resident, or at least got complete control over their catalog. I could easily see Homer Flynn (it's a pretty safe assumption he's been in it for the long haul. Just listen to an interview with him and an interview with Randy back to back...) getting a nice chunk of change and saying "Thanks, it's your problem now!" leaving you to decide how the band was going to continue, or if you just wanted to reissue the back catalog for all time.

When I saw the 40th anniversary show (World Of Weird) tour, it did a THING to me. The entire show was based on how long they've been doing this, and how it's not going to last forever. Randy talked about Chuck wanting to leave and do his own thing with his husband on a chicken farm, and how that's totally ok. There was also a bit that I don't believe was scripted, where Randy kept checking his phone during instrumental passages and told us mid-way through the show that his cat was at the vet, and he was waiting for updates from his friend on his cat's condition. After seeing a few reunion tours or bands that just keep chugging going "Yeah, we can totally play cuts from our debut album 30 years ago, no problem!" it was especially chilling to see a band as opaque as The Residents talk about how it can't go on forever, and eventually people will leave and be replaced so they can continue making music as "The Residents", whatever that may be.

El Gallinero Gros
Mar 17, 2010

Noise Machine posted:

Regarding some of the spoiler chat...

When they had that gigantic sale/auction a few years ago with the refrigerator that held their entire creative output, there was a mystery prize for 500 K or 1 Mil or whatever the sum was. My pet theory was that the mystery prize was that you *became* a Resident, or at least got complete control over their catalog. I could easily see Homer Flynn (it's a pretty safe assumption he's been in it for the long haul. Just listen to an interview with him and an interview with Randy back to back...) getting a nice chunk of change and saying "Thanks, it's your problem now!" leaving you to decide how the band was going to continue, or if you just wanted to reissue the back catalog for all time.

When I saw the 40th anniversary show (World Of Weird) tour, it did a THING to me. The entire show was based on how long they've been doing this, and how it's not going to last forever. Randy talked about Chuck wanting to leave and do his own thing with his husband on a chicken farm, and how that's totally ok. There was also a bit that I don't believe was scripted, where Randy kept checking his phone during instrumental passages and told us mid-way through the show that his cat was at the vet, and he was waiting for updates from his friend on his cat's condition. After seeing a few reunion tours or bands that just keep chugging going "Yeah, we can totally play cuts from our debut album 30 years ago, no problem!" it was especially chilling to see a band as opaque as The Residents talk about how it can't go on forever, and eventually people will leave and be replaced so they can continue making music as "The Residents", whatever that may be.

This reminds me of how there have been discussions at certain points, apparently, where the members of KISS would find new people to keep the brand going after Gene and Paul die/stop (whichever happens first). Except in this case it feels less ghoulish, probably because while I'm sure the Residents like making money off their ventures, and it's probably a priority, they'd rather be remembered for being interesting and good.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Guys, I highly suggest you subscribe to Hardy Fox's Hacienda Bridge newsletter (via hardyfox.com). Real honest-to-goodness behind the curtains poo poo like

quote:

The original design for The Residents "look" was that they didn’t have feet. Walking seemed very plebeian. Even rolling seemed a better option than feet, though no design for wheels was ever close to being implemented. For many years a front curtain was a requirement for Residents shows so that the group could already be on the stage when the curtain opened sparing the embarrassment of walking.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Noise Machine posted:

Regarding some of the spoiler chat...
5 million dollars. :eyepop:

Noise Machine posted:

There was also a bit that I don't believe was scripted, where Randy kept checking his phone during instrumental passages and told us mid-way through the show that his cat was at the vet, and he was waiting for updates from his friend on his cat's condition.
That was actually a scripted bit that happened at every show, thankfully. Seeing the man sit down during long instrumental passages checking his phone was kind of disconcerting until he started talking about the circumstances of the texts.

Noise Machine
Dec 3, 2005

Today is a good day to save.


caligulamprey posted:

5 million dollars. :eyepop:


Then that only adds evidence to my theory

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Billboard has a decent write-up detailing plans for the future, including:

Several videos released for the album tracks.
Two more albums in the works
A year of touring

I hope they end up figuring out how to pull off The Ghost of Hope as a touring show. Having a fourth tour in a row being a retrospective (Greatest hits?) seems a bit much. Hit me with that new poo poo, yo.

Blast Fantasto
Sep 18, 2007

USAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!
I went to a Shadowland show last year, alone. It was one of the most chilling experiences of my life, I felt like I was in a waking nightmare.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Randy Rose has apparently become his own completely separate entity apart from The Residents, insisting he has nothing to do with the current line-up, live shows or even the album itself:

NotDead: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmslJI3FvuM
WhatTheFuck!: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzgMvadja9E

I'm curious to see where this leads. I think it ties into Chuck - even though the Randy, Chuck And Bob narrative has come to a close, Chuck continues to release music under that name, so it makes sense that Randy's out there, too. Who know's what the gently caress is up with Bob, though.



Blast Fantasto posted:

I went to a Shadowland show last year, alone. It was one of the most chilling experiences of my life, I felt like I was in a waking nightmare.
I got a copy of Shadow Stories which collects all the video interludes onto CD. I haven't listened to it forever because the story of the diver having a near-death experience gives me the goddamn heebie jeebies.

EDIT: There's a song about The Residents/music anonymity on the new Magnetic Fields album! Neat surprise.

caligulamprey fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 14, 2017

Noise Machine
Dec 3, 2005

Today is a good day to save.


My friend and I had :350: before the Shadowland show, and my mind couldn't really look at Randy without going nuts, but if I tried to look at the backdrop I thought it was going to come to the front of the stage.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

If you're not opposed to :filez: , The Ghost of Hope has leaked all over the webternet. Initial reaction: this is one of the best things they've ever done. Hoooooooooooly poo poo. gently caress.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Goddaaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn that's fuckin' dope.





In Between Dreams setlist:
1. JELLY JACK
2. LOSER = WEED / PICNIC IN THE JUNGLE
3. GOD'S MAGIC FINGER
4. BABY SISTER
5. INSTRUMENTAL
6. THE BLACK BEHIND
7. THE MAN IN THE DARK SEDAN
8. FROM THE PLAINS TO MEXICO
9. THE MONKEY MAN
10. TEDDY
11. MAN'S WORLD
12. TRAIN VS ELEPHANT
13. RUSHING LIKE A BANSHEE
14. SIX MORE MILES
EC1. INSTRUMENTAL
EC2. DIE! DIE! DIE!

Astrochicken
Aug 13, 2007

So you better go back to your bars, your temples
Your massage parlors!

Demons dance alone is.. shockingly different than what I'm used to from them. Somehow or other it's just what I needed right now because I can't stop listening to it. The car thief is stellar.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

The Theory of Obscurity documentary is now available to stream for free via Amazon Prime!

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Pre-orders for the limited edition vinyl just went up: https://www.psychofonrecords.com/product/residents-ghost-of-hope-vinyl/



quote:

The Ghost of Hope vinyl “Die-Hard Lenticular Set” includes the following: 2x one-sided clear/red split vinyl with clear front-and-back cover foil sheets, held in a folded double 12″ clear pic disc cover. The vinyl feature lenticular “Flip Flop” labels on both B-sides of the records. The Die-Hard package will be priced at €99,99 and is strictly limited to 100 numbered copies. And that is not all…The lenticular set comes with the special Ghost of Hope Bonus Package, which includes a very large 25x25cm (10″) 3D-animated lenticular stickerplate with the cover art from the Ghost of Hope…PLUS a one sided Glow-in-the-Dark 7″ vinyl with ‘Train vs Elephant’ as a Bonus Track. The Bonus Package, like a ghost late for a haunting, will arrive at your door separately (free of charge) from the vinyl at a later date...



quote:

The Ghost of Hope vinyl Collector’s Edition is a 3 color splatter vinyl with red black and grey over white, held in a red innersleeve and hand-numbered. The Collector’s Edition also comes with a 6 postcard set! Limited to 200 copies and priced at €34,99.

MVD will distribute plain black vinyl and CDs to US stores starting tomorrow!

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Last night was the official listening party which included a performance by The Residents billed pretty specifically as not being a concert, but the band adding texture to the album as it played. Looks like a loving dope concert to me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PiFess79N4g


caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Well goddamn! The entire performance was shot professionally and up in its entirety on YouTube!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLZhbzgRwS8

Noise Machine
Dec 3, 2005

Today is a good day to save.


I'm hoping that this is the format of the tour. It would be a very Residents thing to release an album with sparse arrangements, only to play it on the road as "No, THIS is how it should sound" with the real arrangement only heard live. Probably just a pipe dream.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Noise Machine posted:

I'm hoping that this is the format of the tour. It would be a very Residents thing to release an album with sparse arrangements, only to play it on the road as "No, THIS is how it should sound" with the real arrangement only heard live. Probably just a pipe dream.
In Between Dreams will be the current touring show, but there's a couple of factors that make me wonder:

In Between Dreams was put together at the last moment. The Residents knew they would be touring, but the offer to play Japan was floated to them before they had even started planning what the tour would be - they'd already put plans for a Ghost of Hope tour on the back burner because they felt it would need enough of a stage production that they'd want to sit down in a city for multiple shows like Cube-E. IBD was created as a weird hybrid of the Randy, Chuck and Bob trilogy (even recycling the projection prop from Shadowland) with a little bit of Ghost of Hope thrown in AND instrumental segments pulled from the next album they're already writing/recording. The tour doesn't start until November in Europe, plenty of time for them to shape it into something else entirely.

Initially this San Francisco show was billed as an album release party including the band adding "live texture" to the CD as it plays, but it kind of morphed into what's in the video: a re-worked album with every band member present and guest vocalists, to boot. I wonder if it's a dry run for a minimalist Ghost of Hope touring show.

I really dig the vibe the band has during this, though. What initially seems like nervousness from The Singer (he does fumble throughout the first track) eventually reveals itself to be more of an entirely different character - this weird, imposing Grim Reaper death spectre that just stands there looming, completely still and terrifying. Or maybe it's just weird that he isn't running around the stage in clown shoes, screaming about blowjobs and waving a giant dildo around. Either way, I love it.

caligulamprey fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Apr 1, 2017

Lunsku
May 21, 2006

My first touch with The Residents was Wormwood live recording in its entirety in the Finnish national broadcasting network radio just before the turn of the millennium. That sounded hella cool. Went to Eskimo, Commercial Album, the first couple of records from there. But somehow it has been the Wormwood that really stuck with me.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Lunsku posted:

My first touch with The Residents was Wormwood live recording in its entirety in the Finnish national broadcasting network radio just before the turn of the millennium. That sounded hella cool. Went to Eskimo, Commercial Album, the first couple of records from there. But somehow it has been the Wormwood that really stuck with me.
I'm really delighted they're bringing back a(n electronic) drum kit for the new tour, but man the live drum setup for the Wormwood tour sounded gnarly as hell.

Nothing much has been going down Residents news-wise, but Secret Records is teasing a new Residents release that never got a release on vinyl. Pre-orders up on June 16th with a possible late July release. I picked up their 13th Anniversary in Holland reissue a couple weeks back and it's really pretty and sounds excellent.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGMB2BHNR_o

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Secret Records just put up the pre-sale for their Snakey Wake release, which has never been released on vinyl. Side 1 is the studio recording and side 2 is the live performance. Two color variants, hand numbered with a download card limited to 200 copies each (another limited edition press of 300 will be coming out on Cyan blue vinyl courtesy of MVD, not numbered, no download).

https://secretrecords.bandcamp.com/

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.



Ween keeps putting Residents on their posters and I love it very much. I still need to get my San Francisco show posters on my wall, including:



:nws: close-ups of Eyeballs, tophats and giant ejaculating penisesesessss:

Giga Gaia
May 2, 2006

360 kickflip to... Meteo?!

Picked this up, thanks. How did you feel about the quality of the live LP they've got available? I'm assuming you bought it?

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Giga Gaia posted:

Picked this up, thanks. How did you feel about the quality of the live LP they've got available? I'm assuming you bought it?
I ended up gifting it to a friend, but I played it front to back before handing it over and the sound (plus the entire package) was so nice, I'll definitely be picking up every Residents release they do, especially since they seem to want to concentrate on material that hasn't ever been released on vinyl. Apparently Homer Flynn has already designed 10 more Residents releases for the label, too!

Oh yeah, forgot to mention about the Snakey Wake release: the first 200 orders come with a free patch! They're down to about 30-ish at this point.

Giga Gaia
May 2, 2006

360 kickflip to... Meteo?!
Nice. Hopefully they have one available when I get paid next. Couldn't justify dropping that much money on both albums in one early morning haze.

Astrochicken
Aug 13, 2007

So you better go back to your bars, your temples
Your massage parlors!

caligulamprey posted:

Man, I completely blanked out on Rob Crow, dude's a huge Residents dork. He also does a sweet cover of Snakefinger's Man in the Dark Sedan (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ceBpKXKCsc).

This is great, thanks. It's also the only exposure i've had to anything exclusively snakefinger related. Maybe it's the music video but i get a very early, early devo vibe from the original.

Giga Gaia
May 2, 2006

360 kickflip to... Meteo?!

Got my record today; sounds and looks great. Forgot the patch was in it when it fell out at me. A fine purchase. Secret Records ships really fast too. Both times hitting my doorstep a day after I got the tracking code email. Thanks again for the heads up on them.

Are you going to partake in the archive eBay auction Cryptic has going on?

Giga Gaia fucked around with this message at 23:14 on Aug 23, 2017

achillesforever6
Apr 23, 2012

psst you wanna do a communism?
Finally found that old Documentary on The Residents with Penn & Teller (Penn was a manager for the band in the 80s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vT4CzFRFp5U

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Giga Gaia posted:

Are you going to partake in the archive eBay auction Cryptic has going on?
I bought plane tickets to go see three nights of Sparks in L.A. the night before they announced the auction, so I'm out. :argh:

Anyone else interested in looking to see how loving dedicated Beatles fans are, Check out the Cryptic eBay page here!



Cool poo poo in the pipelines:

quote:



"Extended, 4CD anthology set chronicling the career of the legendary San Francisco experimentalists and curated with the band themselves, from the debut 1972 single to the band's most recent album, The Ghost Of Hope. Singles, fan favourites, album highlights, live recordings and material never before available on CD. Detailed track-by-track sleeve notes, new imagery produced exclusively for this collection and an introduction from Homer Flynn of The Cryptic Corporation. 80 tracks across 4 CDs, presented in hardback book package. Includes Santa Dog, Satisfaction, Constantinople, Diskomo, It's a Man's, Man's, Man's World, Hit The Road Jack, Don't Be Cruel, Hello Skinny, Smelly Tongues, Jello Jack, Rushing Like A Banshee, plus material from numerous classic albums. An ideal introduction for the curious, and a fresh perspective for the band's dedicated fanbase. Since 1972, The Residents have produced a remarkable run of singles, classic albums and off-the-wall projects defying categorisation. Produced with The Cryptic Corporation, this is The Residents as they've never been heard before. Includes rare recordings, live versions and exclusive extracts and edits, and is packed with photographs and insightful commentary."


San Francisco radio station KALW did a 2-hour special with Homer Flynn called "The Residents go to the Dogs," Where they discussed in detail the history of Santa Dog and the various reinterpretations they've done over the years, including the debut of Santa Dog '17, due out later this year as a 7' by Psychofon. You can listen to that here: https://archive.org/details/KALWHomerFlynnInterview

Klanggalerie is re-releasing Title in Limbo, the collaboration between The Residents and Renaldo and the Loaf as a two CD set which will include the infamous 4Daze demo tape for the first time ever: http://klanggalerie.com/gg200-2. They're also doing a release of I Murdered Mommy, the soundtrack to the aborted video game the band was designing until the Adventure Game format died.

Cherry Red Records will be reissuing more vinyl including albums that have never been released on the format - The Gingerbread Man and Bad Day on the Midway being two examples given. Those releases will be exclusive to the official Residents mailing list, which you can sign up for here: http://eepurl.com/cApg2T

Holy moly, being a Residents fan can be exhausting.

caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.



The Residents are now crowdfunding (?) two new albums via PledgeMusic. The first one called I AM A RESIDENT! invites fans to record their own Residents cover and submit it for the chance to show up on the album proper, along with INTRUDERS, a collection of all new material. Digital downloads, vinyl packaging, slipmats, posters, socks, all sorts of dope poo poo ahoy:

https://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/theresidents

The $15 nets you both albums on digital download.

Also they buried the lead in the Golden Ticket description: US tour starts in April!

caligulamprey fucked around with this message at 23:21 on Oct 4, 2017

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caligulamprey
Jan 23, 2007

It never stops.

Surprising absolutely everyone and no one, Hardy Fox has come out as the original main composer of The Residents.

Why?

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