The Residents' Historical

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Nostalgia Time
Big Brother

Remember way back in 2007? Oh that's right. It is still 2007. At this time of the year it is customary to have a flashback into what all happened in Residents World. It is quite simple to name the projects: Freak Show ultimate edition and The Voice of Midnight, from Mute; The Ralph America Best left Unspoken and Night of the Hunters releases. The surprise, The Sandman Waits. A Video Retrospective. I'll even throw in the live performance of Mr. Kite in Milan last September, a very unpublicized download-only test release of RMX, and the fact that the Historical here on BOG was completely rebuilt.

But a list like that doesn't reveal very much.

The crown of the year is worn by The Voice of Midnight. By all accounts, a major new work. Even with criticisms about the "radio-drama" rendition of the finale, no one can deny that the multi-layered music and writing perfectly captures the retelling of ETA Hoffman's, The Sandman. So while it illustrates ever growing skills at handling complex and subtle nuances and is a must own for any collection, how is it for just plain fun listening? Just as the original story is not much fun reading, this album will not be in heavy rotation just for pleasurable listening. Though certainly that is part of the calculation by The Residents. They designed it as a "play" and no one listens to a play over an over as they might a new album by, say, Amy Winehouse.

That is why The Sandman Waits is such a treat. Coming as a bonus CD with the first 500 copies of VOM sold by Ralph America, Sandman Waits is nothing but fun, the Diskomo to somber Eskimo. Swinging from atmospheric soundscapes to campy "Fly Me to the Moon," The Residents extract a whole different side to the tragic, Voice of Midnight tome.

The big story of the year could turn out to be the opening of the eL Ralpho Archives. The archive logo appears on three releases in 2007, the Best Left Unspoken instrumental series and Night of the Hunters. All indications are that Ralph America will continue to release titles from the archive in the coming years.

Mute releasing Freak Show and confirming the release of Duck Stab and Eskimo for 2008 shows that Mute is still in The Residents corner even as the overall music business quakes and music sales drop. Two big thumbs up for Mute.

In the performance arena, the brief appearance of The Residents in Milan and the talk of an orchestral performance points toward the idea of "appearances" but not "touring." But at this time we have little to go on other than rumors that suggests any appearance in 2008. Orchestral parts have been cropping up on the last few Mute releases so that might mean something connected to orchestral performances in light of the recent rumors.

The question now is what can we expect for 2008. It is only December 2007 and already three titles have been announced for 2008. Ralph America has released a vague hint that there is more up that sleeve than just the Animal Lover Instrumental due out in a couple of weeks.

And what will be the successor to The Voice of Midnight for 2008? Not a hint so far. But keep in touch with the BOG and you'll be the first to know.

Holiday Greetings to all,
Big Bro