The myth surrounding this recording is the icing of the
cake. Underneath one will find The Residents in their most
bittersweet moments. This piece of music overflows with
emotions, inspiration and a passion for experimentation.
Besides it's poetry for life (that's how long it'll take
you to decipher the lyrics).
Supposedly recorded in 1974, as The Resident's second
album, but not released as it was recorded under the
conditions of N. Senada's Theory of Obscurity. Not
Available was not meant to be released until its creators
had forgotten about its existence and the record lived up
to its name until a fall out with their record company
resulted in The Residents vanishing to London with the
tapes of their forthcoming Eskimo album. Ralph Records
decided to release this album instead, conveniently getting
both themselves and The Residents off the hook.
Not Available is meant to be an opera, but don't try and
work out the story line, for that way madness lies.
Strange, considering the time it was supposed to have been
made, that this sounds nothing like the primitive Meet The
Residents album or Swastikas on Parade and far more like,
say, Fingerprince which was recorded on an 8-track machine.
Hmm.. could it be that the whole thing was a Ralph / Rez
scam? The work that went into the strange vocal harmonies
must have been considerable, and the result is strange and
haunting.
For me, this album says everything about The Residents.
Their music can be warm, baffling, simple, sad, stirring,
even beautiful - and let's not forget strange. This album
has all of that, and more. Completely compelling, it calls
you back to explore and investigate again and again. And
every time, when you get there, it's just as mysterious as
last time. I have not the slightest idea what this
wonderful album is about, but I love it to death.
