This was the first Residents song I ever heard, and I was instantly hooked. Now I have 57 of their albums standing in my shelves. 🙂("Who's it for?" For me, apparently. Why should music need to be for regular people? Irregular people need their music as well.)
Fun fact: by this point in their career, The Residents had absolutely no idea how to play any insturments, thinking formal training just got in the way of creativity. Your comments about it being selfish are interesting. The Residents seem to operate in direct opposition to your thinking about "who is this for" - their Theory of Obscurity says an artist's purest work is created in a bubble, not taking into consideration audience or critical expectation and just creating for yourself. Selfish? Probably. But that also means The Residents have been doing and continue to do whatever they want to do and still tour the world to this day (I've already seen them three times this year including their 50th Anniversary blowout which had 97 performers including a full children's choir) and I think that's pretty rad. ...but yeah, aaaaabsolutely not for everyone lol
I love the Resident's early 1970's output. There's really great stuff in there. They became very popular among many post punk fans in the late 70's as their albums became more available.
My response to your question "who is this for" is... who cares who it's for? Why does art have to have an audience? Why can't something just exist as a piece of art? How is it selfish to anyone to self-promote, produce, and publish a piece your collective has worked on and put so much personal strife and raw personality into? Totally valid its not for you, but it's important to remember that they did indeed demo this and perform this live and this isn't just random noise. Plenty of it comes across that way, very much on purpose, but it is orchestrated noise. I've always adored the way you can really feel the time shifting between the parts since many are played at a very steady pace but are just at different tempos. They were certainly amateur musicians, but they were not amateur artists. This is a work, and a work worth just sitting back and listening to and letting yourself laugh at the silly bits and really feel the creepy bits.
"Who's it for?" Wow, you need to get out more. There's a whole big musical world you're clearly unaware of. Do you think this an anomaly? The Residents have been around 50 years, have toured the world, in concert halls and clubs, and with art installations. I just saw them last year in NYC with a new set up and it was amazing. The audience consisted of older fans, and younger fans that I bet were from NYU. That's who it's for.
This album may be more of their “mainstream” as well as their Commercial Album. The times I’ve seen them live , you’d be surprised that most shows were fairly packed. Go figure.
OK this was helpful (27min) I really wanted to hear if you had any comments regarding changes/harmony/melody (because its too weird for me to tell with my ear), but I think I see the verdict -- this is "Audio Art" and Vienna Teng's Pontchartrain is undeniably music... So, even though I took 10min of your life that you won't get back, please know your reaction (plus the music-biz angle in the discussion) is greatly appreciated!
Very good great music sounds great in concert there sold there art and like sold a refrigerator with records and solded for million dollar and now there samples
Rez follower since the 1980s here. Not Available is definitely not a Residents gateway-your takeaway is totally, totally understandable. Like if one was told to enjoy beef for the first time by eating tripe. If you would like to hear them more at Saturn than at Pluto😉, try Duck Stab or Metal Meat And Bone. Cheers.
I´d liken The Residents to the surströmming analogy. It´s not for everyone, but for those who are brave enough to try it, you may just like it in the end. My first experience with them was out of all things the joke of the end from a comic I happened to read; A simple 4-panel stripe of an eyeball in a tophat coming closer and closer bearing sharpened teeths in a dream, until the one who dreams about it ( Cyan ) calls her friend ( Nemi ) on the phone. Nemi then tells her that one shouldn't listen to The Residents before going to bed. Well, let´s just say that I didn´t heed the warning, and now I´m stuck loving their weird music.
Song just ended - it's the original from 78. I didn't know about the 2011 reissue (all my Residents are CDs from the 90s that I picked up used, but I knew about them from the mid 80s from a friend who had the the "Duck Stab" album - it's their most accessible and is maybe in the ballpark of They Might Be Giants.
Since this is a long vid, I'm going to comment in real time so I don't forget what to say, so I'm only 4min in... This song was on Not Available in 1978 the album is about Edweena (maybe spotify doesn't have that album?, Or maybe some curator didn't know what was going with their albums and got it wrong....)
Oh Rob, this is cruel. I mean, the Residents make Frank Zappa look like Donny Osmond. They make DEVO look like The Archies. I had a couple high school friends who were into the Residents. They were also into Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Flying Lizards. Nuff said. And I agree, usually the motive behind bands/musicians like this is to "poke the bear", all while giggling at everyone's discomfort. It does smack of immature, teen pranksterism. On the other hand, I've heard groups create music with a similar ethos that's actually quite listenable. For example Squonk Opera from Pittsburgh. They're part music, part theater but there's actually an attempt to use the music to support the concept and they know that if the audience enjoys what they're hearing they're more likely to be receptive to the message or concept. The Residents were just... something else!
Wow. I'm really starting to wonder if you are some kind of music history AI that is roaming the internet... The friend who introduced me to The Residents (via Duck Stab), was also into Captain Beefheart ($3 room and $3 broom - no idea which album), DEVO (again forget the album), and Bowie "Scary Monsters", so it's actually a little scary that you nailed those...🤔
@@robshaw2639 Nah, I just think any American kid who grew up in the 70's or early 80's who encountered this stuff was likely to also encounter the same sort of Residents "fan". Since they were a pretty small slice of the music fan spectrum they probably all fit a similar profile. I mean, you don't just back into liking the Residents! There's usually a gateway group that bridges that gap. For a lot of people I imagine it was Zappa or Capt Beefheart. The DEVO connection is pretty obvious, but IMO Bowie is a more tenuous link.
OK. the google music track matches my CD from the 90s (I'm at 7min - the song hasn't started yet), I'm thinking your Spotify version might be this later (maybe longer?) version.... Let's find out...
Although I was rooting for you to love it, I'm equally satisfied by the looks of vague disgust, haha. I will say that they became much more traditionally musical over time (while still being boatloads of insane lyrically and performatively) and that's partly how they became so successful. If I can suggest one based on what you've said, check out a track or two from Bunny Boy or Demons Dance Alone. I feel like those albums are muuuuch more agreeable to newcomers ("Demons" especially could damn near be called a dark pop album) while still giving a good example of what Residents are all about.
Ah. Not about time or pitch - this is something I always wondered - are they just making sounds or is it something that fits into what we would call music (including microtones)? So maybe they are just making "audio art", not from the viewpoint of what humanity considers to be some form of "music"... (24 min)
The reference about Gene Simmons doesn't work - clearly the guy doesn't understand "art" or confuses it with becoming a professional musician (the 2 aren't directly related). People should do their music first - what they like and inspires them...compromising for money or success isn't art... Then...what is this music for? Me for example - I do enjoy The Residents together with other very eclectic artists like Capt. Beefheart, Pere Ubu and other many bands from the post punk age and more modern hip hop and rap and grime and Jazz too (I do listen to all). From your reaction - I belive you should broaden your horizons a bit....also, have another go to this band - I'd suggest Duck Stub or Commercial Album.
Keyboard player Don Preston (Frank Zappa) and drummer Chris Cutler (Gong, Henry Cow) played in the band. It's pretty strange hearing talking about the residents like a bunch of college kids making their first art project when trained jazz and classical musicians played in the band. Another virtuoso, Les Claypool from primus, said several times The Residents are his favorite band.
@@1mbpdf33 I mean, The Residents influenced bands like Devo, Ween and Primus, hearing this guy speaking about them like chocolatiers and "this shows how everybody can do it" is pretty strange, even more when A tier musicians believed and played with the band. "The production Is baddd mannn", it sounds like the average joe talking about the velvet underground, "what's this noise mannn, horrible production dudeeee". There is really people out there thinking that meaningful artistic choices like using worn out tapes to record an album were made because they didn't know better. "The production in heroin is awful mannn, the sound ain't cleannnn, those velvet underground are rubbish".
I don't really care who they influenced. That means nothing. Credit by association?? Pink Floyd created Dark Side Of The Moon. Does that make the More album just as good? But Don played in Zappa! So? Bowie played in Tin Machine. Nothing will convince me that this is nothing but shite.
@@1mbpdf33That just tells me you’re extremely close minded. Lemme guess, you also think Mr. Bungle, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Can, Pram, and Ween are also shit?
One of my favourite tracks and albums. 😍
This was the first Residents song I ever heard, and I was instantly hooked. Now I have 57 of their albums standing in my shelves. 🙂("Who's it for?" For me, apparently. Why should music need to be for regular people? Irregular people need their music as well.)
Lol I'm totally fine with that, if you enjoy it go for it! They obviously have fans.
This album is pure beauty and genius.
Yes, may be not for everyone. But for me Not Available and Eskimo are masterpieces of the best of art.
My favorite album! Seriously. Have played it hundreds of times. You should really check out Mark of the Mole. :)
Fun fact: by this point in their career, The Residents had absolutely no idea how to play any insturments, thinking formal training just got in the way of creativity.
Your comments about it being selfish are interesting. The Residents seem to operate in direct opposition to your thinking about "who is this for" - their Theory of Obscurity says an artist's purest work is created in a bubble, not taking into consideration audience or critical expectation and just creating for yourself. Selfish? Probably. But that also means The Residents have been doing and continue to do whatever they want to do and still tour the world to this day (I've already seen them three times this year including their 50th Anniversary blowout which had 97 performers including a full children's choir) and I think that's pretty rad.
...but yeah, aaaaabsolutely not for everyone lol
I love the Resident's early 1970's output. There's really great stuff in there. They became very popular among many post punk fans in the late 70's as their albums became more available.
My response to your question "who is this for" is... who cares who it's for? Why does art have to have an audience? Why can't something just exist as a piece of art? How is it selfish to anyone to self-promote, produce, and publish a piece your collective has worked on and put so much personal strife and raw personality into? Totally valid its not for you, but it's important to remember that they did indeed demo this and perform this live and this isn't just random noise. Plenty of it comes across that way, very much on purpose, but it is orchestrated noise. I've always adored the way you can really feel the time shifting between the parts since many are played at a very steady pace but are just at different tempos. They were certainly amateur musicians, but they were not amateur artists. This is a work, and a work worth just sitting back and listening to and letting yourself laugh at the silly bits and really feel the creepy bits.
"II thvaht Can't Get Enough issz fram '75."
"Who's it for?" Wow, you need to get out more. There's a whole big musical world you're clearly unaware of. Do you think this an anomaly?
The Residents have been around 50 years, have toured the world, in concert halls and clubs, and with art installations. I just saw them last year in NYC with a new set up and it was amazing. The audience consisted of older fans, and younger fans that I bet were from NYU. That's who it's for.
THE strangest and most mysterious band out there
This album may be more of their “mainstream” as well as their Commercial Album.
The times I’ve seen them live , you’d be surprised that most shows were fairly packed. Go figure.
OK this was helpful (27min) I really wanted to hear if you had any comments regarding changes/harmony/melody (because its too weird for me to tell with my ear), but I think I see the verdict -- this is "Audio Art" and Vienna Teng's Pontchartrain is undeniably music... So, even though I took 10min of your life that you won't get back, please know your reaction (plus the music-biz angle in the discussion) is greatly appreciated!
Very good great music sounds great in concert there sold there art and like sold a refrigerator with records and solded for million dollar and now there samples
Rez follower since the 1980s here. Not Available is definitely not a Residents gateway-your takeaway is totally, totally understandable. Like if one was told to enjoy beef for the first time by eating tripe.
If you would like to hear them more at Saturn than at Pluto😉, try Duck Stab or Metal Meat And Bone. Cheers.
I´d liken The Residents to the surströmming analogy. It´s not for everyone, but for those who are brave enough to try it, you may just like it in the end.
My first experience with them was out of all things the joke of the end from a comic I happened to read;
A simple 4-panel stripe of an eyeball in a tophat coming closer and closer bearing sharpened teeths in a dream, until the one who dreams about it ( Cyan ) calls her friend ( Nemi ) on the phone.
Nemi then tells her that one shouldn't listen to The Residents before going to bed.
Well, let´s just say that I didn´t heed the warning, and now I´m stuck loving their weird music.
Song just ended - it's the original from 78. I didn't know about the 2011 reissue (all my Residents are CDs from the 90s that I picked up used, but I knew about them from the mid 80s from a friend who had the the "Duck Stab" album - it's their most accessible and is maybe in the ballpark of They Might Be Giants.
Yeah, having imagination is asking too much.
I have everything by The Residents. Not Available is my favorite album of theirs.
Since this is a long vid, I'm going to comment in real time so I don't forget what to say, so I'm only 4min in... This song was on Not Available in 1978 the album is about Edweena (maybe spotify doesn't have that album?, Or maybe some curator didn't know what was going with their albums and got it wrong....)
"15:32 People of Tomorrow are the Children of Today bj L.U.O."
Oh Rob, this is cruel. I mean, the Residents make Frank Zappa look like Donny Osmond. They make DEVO look like The Archies. I had a couple high school friends who were into the Residents. They were also into Zappa, Captain Beefheart, and the Flying Lizards. Nuff said. And I agree, usually the motive behind bands/musicians like this is to "poke the bear", all while giggling at everyone's discomfort. It does smack of immature, teen pranksterism. On the other hand, I've heard groups create music with a similar ethos that's actually quite listenable. For example Squonk Opera from Pittsburgh. They're part music, part theater but there's actually an attempt to use the music to support the concept and they know that if the audience enjoys what they're hearing they're more likely to be receptive to the message or concept. The Residents were just... something else!
Wow. I'm really starting to wonder if you are some kind of music history AI that is roaming the internet... The friend who introduced me to The Residents (via Duck Stab), was also into Captain Beefheart ($3 room and $3 broom - no idea which album), DEVO (again forget the album), and Bowie "Scary Monsters", so it's actually a little scary that you nailed those...🤔
@@robshaw2639 Nah, I just think any American kid who grew up in the 70's or early 80's who encountered this stuff was likely to also encounter the same sort of Residents "fan". Since they were a pretty small slice of the music fan spectrum they probably all fit a similar profile. I mean, you don't just back into liking the Residents! There's usually a gateway group that bridges that gap. For a lot of people I imagine it was Zappa or Capt Beefheart. The DEVO connection is pretty obvious, but IMO Bowie is a more tenuous link.
I listened to The Residents once. I'm still receiving therapy for that.
OK. the google music track matches my CD from the 90s (I'm at 7min - the song hasn't started yet), I'm thinking your Spotify version might be this later (maybe longer?) version.... Let's find out...
"1 aw mj athr faewritt thinhs, that schaers semmblansc vitth Not Available issz thie albam Burn bj Sister Machine Gun; 1 satsch hiihschaed beinh Inside."
Although I was rooting for you to love it, I'm equally satisfied by the looks of vague disgust, haha. I will say that they became much more traditionally musical over time (while still being boatloads of insane lyrically and performatively) and that's partly how they became so successful. If I can suggest one based on what you've said, check out a track or two from Bunny Boy or Demons Dance Alone. I feel like those albums are muuuuch more agreeable to newcomers ("Demons" especially could damn near be called a dark pop album) while still giving a good example of what Residents are all about.
Ah. Not about time or pitch - this is something I always wondered - are they just making sounds or is it something that fits into what we would call music (including microtones)? So maybe they are just making "audio art", not from the viewpoint of what humanity considers to be some form of "music"... (24 min)
Next please putri ariani AGT 2023 🙏
Up
The reference about Gene Simmons doesn't work - clearly the guy doesn't understand "art" or confuses it with becoming a professional musician (the 2 aren't directly related).
People should do their music first - what they like and inspires them...compromising for money or success isn't art...
Then...what is this music for? Me for example - I do enjoy The Residents together with other very eclectic artists like Capt. Beefheart, Pere Ubu and other many bands from the post punk age and more modern hip hop and rap and grime and Jazz too (I do listen to all).
From your reaction - I belive you should broaden your horizons a bit....also, have another go to this band - I'd suggest Duck Stub or Commercial Album.
This is the equivalent to the worst 'B' horror/sci-fi film's soundtrack 😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢😢
in over your head.
This must have been fun for them to make because it sure as hell isn't fun to listen to.
It whiffs of being weird because of musical limitation.
Keyboard player Don Preston (Frank Zappa) and drummer Chris Cutler (Gong, Henry Cow) played in the band. It's pretty strange hearing talking about the residents like a bunch of college kids making their first art project when trained jazz and classical musicians played in the band. Another virtuoso, Les Claypool from primus, said several times The Residents are his favorite band.
Funny how you mention it sounding like a bunch of college kids making their first art project... 😂 On some level you know what I mean.
@@1mbpdf33 I mean, The Residents influenced bands like Devo, Ween and Primus, hearing this guy speaking about them like chocolatiers and "this shows how everybody can do it" is pretty strange, even more when A tier musicians believed and played with the band. "The production Is baddd mannn", it sounds like the average joe talking about the velvet underground, "what's this noise mannn, horrible production dudeeee". There is really people out there thinking that meaningful artistic choices like using worn out tapes to record an album were made because they didn't know better. "The production in heroin is awful mannn, the sound ain't cleannnn, those velvet underground are rubbish".
I don't really care who they influenced. That means nothing. Credit by association?? Pink Floyd created Dark Side Of The Moon. Does that make the More album just as good? But Don played in Zappa! So? Bowie played in Tin Machine. Nothing will convince me that this is nothing but shite.
@@1mbpdf33That just tells me you’re extremely close minded. Lemme guess, you also think Mr. Bungle, Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart, Can, Pram, and Ween are also shit?
🤔🤔🤔 NO