rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (01/17/86)
Robert Palmer's column today was about the Residents current 13th Anniversary
Tour, which comes to NYC tonight (1/16) and tomorrow (1/17) at the Ritz.
Though I disagree (as would the Residents, most likely) with some of his
attempts to categorize them, the article is nonetheless informative. Some
interesting extractions (reprinted without permission):
"The Residents have been making records for 13 years. Their concept album
*Eskimo* (1979) brought a new sophistication to the descriptive use of sound
effects in instrumental rock. "Not Available" (1974) and "Duck Stab" (1978)
laid foundations for today's more adventurous electronic rock and synthesizer
pop. On "The Third Reich n' Roll" (1975) they detonated various pop-rock
oldies with blasts of machine-noise and Dadaist humor, in a manner that has
become practically mandatory for pop deconstructionists since. But the
Residents' faces have never adorned an album cover. For their relatively few
public appearances they have worn masks, most notably huge plastic eyeballs
that completely cover their heads.
"... on their current tour, the Residents have been playing to audiences of
roughly 1500 to 2000 people a night. Their records are distributed by
Ralph Records in the US (109 Minna St., San Francisco, CA 94105) and many are
sold by mail. 'The label operates like a fan club,' Mr. [Hardy] Fox said.
[NOTE: Hardy Fox is a "member of the Cryptic Corporation", the "brain
trust that handles [the Residents'] affairs. ... Actually, longtime Residents
watchers have theorized that the four members of the Cryptic Corporation and
the four anonymous band members are the same people. ... Mr. Fox flatly
denied being one of the Residents."] 'Major labels have shown interest, but
requested that the group add a drum box or do something to make their sound
more marketable, which was, of course, ridiculous.' But in Europe, the
Residents are on contract to Warner Brothers; on their last visit, they sold
out shows at Paris' Olympia Theater and London's Hammersmith Odeon. They
are also favorites in Japan.
"Strangled-sounding vocals have long been characteristic of their recordings,
along with crunching electronic drones that retain a homemade, low-tech
quality. But the Residents primarily work with sounds, using instruments
like the Emulator, the prototype of which was tested by the group and which
can store and make available to the player any recordable sounds. [i.e.,
it was one of the first instruments devoted to digital reproduction of
sampled sound -rlr] Their music has frequently been groundbreaking; it can
also be somewhat silly."
Friends of mine at work especially liked this set of extracts from the
article:
"'The Residents' music tends to attract some weirdos.'"
"Strange or not, Residents fans are more numerous than one might
imagine. 'Virtually every town, no matter how small, has its group of
weirdos who like offbeat music,' Mr. Fox said. 'These people tend to know
each other, and to tell other people who might be interested. It's a word
of mouth thing, but on the underground level, the Residents are one of the
biggest things in existence. They're a lot larger than people suspect.'"
Though Palmer persistently categorizes them in the "rock" or "pop"
categories, the Residents had long considered their style to be (if
anything) anti-rock. Among their other work is a ballet score called
"Six Things to a Cycle" (found on the album "Fingerprince"), a movie
soundtrack ("The Census Taker"), "The Mole Show" (a stage presentation
of the Mark of the Mole story including choreography and narration),
and the "Commercial Album" (a record consisting of 40 one-minute pieces
of such diverse styles as to boggle the mind). The remaining tour dates:
1/16-1/17: New York (The Ritz) 1/31: Washington DC
1/22: Montreal 2/7: Chicago
1/24: Toronto 2/8: Milwaukee
1/26: Ann Arbor 2/10: Minneapolis
1/27: Cleveland 2/13: Kansas City
--
"If you see this boy", said the ballerina, "do not---I repeat, do not---attempt
to reason with him." Rich Rosen pyuxd!rlr