rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Dinsdale Piranha) (02/08/85)
During my recent trip to San Francisco, I got the chance to visit Ralph Records' new home. I got to see some unusual Ralphian artifacts (like a framed "The Residents Play the Beatles/The Beatles Play the Residents" single #1, various papier mache heads from the Mole Show, Frank Johnson, his wife Adele [don't ask]). I also got a few albums from the Ralph catalog which are each worth at least a mini-review. "Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats?" is the outgrowth of a rather ancient Residents project called (appropriately enough) Vileness Fats that they had begun in the early 1970's and abandoned. Partially due to the fact that by the time they had finished half of the project (intended to be the first full-length "music video"), they realized that video technology had surpassed the quality of the material that they had started out with. However, more recent developments in video technology enabled them to restore the original material and to greatly increase its clarity and quality. Using the already recorded video material (over ten years old and in black and white), the Residents recorded an entirely NEW soundtrack, releasing both a record album AND a one-hour video called "Whatever Happened to Vileness Fats?". (The video is combined with a live "Mole Show" concert.) The music lies somewhere between Diskomo, Fingerprince (i.e., the ballet "Six Things to a Cycle"), and the less industrial sections of "Mark of the Mole". It's probably among the most "accessible" Residents material available. They are still very much using the sounds of the Emulator, for those interested in equipment info (I think they're now using the Emulator II). The sounds range from the general bizarre "toy march" music that the Residents revel in to lush atmospheric passages of unusual beauty. In my opinion, this is the best Residents album since the Commercial Album, beating out even Residue and Tunes of Two Cities. They seem to be getting back to a more "symphonic" layered sound, but that's just my perspective. It's a really good album, worth getting ESPECIALLY if you HAVEN'T liked more recent Residents efforts as much as earlier stuff. The video is just what you'd expect from the Residents: the unexpected. Typical of the bizarre fairytale stories the Residents weave (a la Not Available), you have to see it to believe it (or not). It reminded me vaguely of the stark expressionistic work of early German silent films like "Das Kabinet" (The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari), but taking place in Wonderland. (??) I'll try to post some more information on some other Ralph albums, including "Contents Under Notice" from Rhythm & Noise, "HM" from Hajime Tachibana (ex-Plastics), ... As for "Ralph's Big Brother system", no word as yet if there's any chance that a Ralph computer system will be re-established in the near future. -- "Right now it's only a notion, but I'm hoping to turn it into an idea, and if I get enough money I can make it into a concept." Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr