The Residents: true musical and media innovators
May 1, 2021 21:31:12 GMT -5
Yankeefan1955 and Tea-Rex like this
Post by Fatal Rewind on May 1, 2021 21:31:12 GMT -5
The Residents are a very amazing group just due to their longevity, but they've also done a ton of stuff, although who knows what all the truth can be about them, as even their origins could possibly be amazing (and different) than anyone else's: for a while on their Wikipedia page, it stated that they started off as a museum, having their signature eyeball helmet as one of its pieces. This has since been changed though, so who knows how they really started out. They are one of the biggest mystery bands out there, due to their members almost never having pictures posted of them without wearing disguises, they're mostly unnamed (identified by first name only usually, but then those might not even be their real names) and they almost never give interviews (interviews are usually done by band representatives). This leads to rumors that Les Claypool of Primus (another odd band) is a member, especially fueled when they covered one of The Residents's songs on an ep and have played others live.
However they truly started out, they formed their own label of Ralph Records, pretty unheard of for a band. Music videos actually started out in the 1960s, perhaps 1950s, but were mostly thought of as performance pieces and not much attention was paid to them. Once the 1970s hit with cable tv though, the genre really took off like gangbusters in 1981 (I think it was) when MTV exploded, playing these what used to be just mild curiosities 24/7. Well, The Residents not only made their own low-budget videos themselves, but they also started doing them in the 1970s, doing their own animation, plus MTV probably never played any of their stuff, you'd have to see a late night show like Night Flight or a low-power cable channel, an underground club or a Ralph Records video compilation in order to view what they'd done. They also recorded movie soundtracks, expanding to CGI, cds and dvds early on. They've released over 60 albums in their over 40 year history with possibly their biggest claims to fame (besides their longevity, along with being really weird in general) by releasing an album of 40 one minute long songs (!) and just falling short of being in the running for a Grammy award nomination for Best Album in their early years.
They would mostly do electronic music for the most part, but they also dabbled in rock, noise/metal, industrial, ambient, and probably other adjectives I can't even think of to describe their music with, being truly alternative to sum them up (and not like radio stations nowadays that play "alternative" music that sells millions). They also have many songs with odd structures and time signatures, along with many of their videos seemingly done as a video first and the music was added second. Many of them also feature a horror-like theme.
A long, convoluted Wikipedia page can be read about them, along with many of their videos being seen below. This might seem like a lot, but they've DONE a lot, plus most of these videos are only a minute long.
Third Reich–one of their earliest videos ever–again, from the 1970s–this one is strange (like they all are!) where it's not only mostly rock, but it's pretty straight forward, having several bars from the classics of "Land of a Thousand Dances" and "Wipeout". However, they also add tribal drumming, along with halfway through they seem to abandon the music and just seem to concentrate on showing you a video with sound effects. Also note this is done with stop motion photography, showing them dabbling in things such as this. I guess this was just a warning to the world what The Residents would be.
Act of Being Polite–possibly released during their "classic" period, this showcases their well-known keyboards, along with pleasant-sounding spoken/somewhat sung vocals. Although weird, note the early animation The Residents were already doing, plus the animated heart being squished seems to match with the lyrics a bit (not real common with them!).
Moisture–it's pretty clear where the rumors that members of Primus would make up The Residents due to the unusual guitar solo from Snakefinger (a pseudo-member of the band for many years) proves (by the way, was he ahead of his time with that blingy gold necklace way back in 1980? I think so!). It also sounds like a subdued Les Claypool on vocals, but it would've been too young to have been Primus. Anyway, this is one of many of The Residents's unsettling videos with a horror vibe (ugh, creatures with tentacles?), and in true mystery form, The Residents don’t appear until the very end...through a bit of fog...and their backs are turned.
Picnic Boy–kind of like South Park on acid, and with photos with psychedelic colors rather than the construction paper look, this actually has a prominent bassline to it, not heard very often in The Residents's catalog. It also sounds like Robert Smith of The Cure on tortured vocals, like during their "Love Cats" song (maybe that's why there's a cat in here?). There’s also some cgi, along with the usual weirdness, but beware of the brief gore at the very end (um, was that really necessary?).
Loneliness–this is one of THE most "normal", straight forward videos you're going to get from them, looking like the Dust Bowl tragedy that hit here in the States many decades, if not nearly 100 years ago, with the washed-out colors. The music is very fitting, but, as for the usual Residents weirdness, for some reason all the people have dogs' heads. This is one of several of their songs that make you go "it should be longer!", as it’s damn good enough and will go through your head (this and "Moisture" has been going through mine all week). I love this song, actually.
Nice Old Man–I really hate the dynamics on this one, with certain jarring notes being way too damn loud, but the rest of the song's good though. Is that a female doing the vocals? Who is she? It's the usual strange video though, with fat, grotesquely-shaped people flying and crawling around. Strange musician folk, these Residents.
Constantinople–somewhat of a "normal" song structure, this video isn't, of course. More cgi and mostly static background images. Note the one Resident not wearing their eyeball helmet, as they have also used various animals and an old man as masks in concert. Beware the nudity though for those on a shared computer and/or if your internet gets monitored at work (naked Sumo wrestler-type guy constantly spinning around; ugh!).
Man's World–although it sounds different than the original, this is one of the times where The Residents can be pointed at selling out (such as the previous video--sorta), as this video, aside from whoever the blue guy is, is not only straight forward, but it also follows the lyrics at times (how dare they!). Gotta love the way they look for the last couple of minutes in their white tuxedos though!
Burning Love–another sellout point, even though this doesn't sound anything like Elvis, this one is, strangely, alternative rock (what's with the bellowing vocals though?). Although pretty straight forward, the video is also still slightly odd, at least. What the heck, after many years, REM turned more towards rock, rather than their Byrds-like music, and Depeche Mode also changed from their Euro-synth to becoming a rock band, probably dividing the hell out of their audience.
Love Is...–more weirdness with the odd, keyboard structure, along with the chanting, plus the video, as per usual (ugh! Why, why? [Let's just say you've been warned once the window display comes up.])
La La-hey, they look cute here for once! I love the way they come bounding into the rooms, plus it looks like they updated the mouth from "Act of Being Polite" after all those years. The rest's a weird drug trip though.
Life Would Be Wonderful–ok, this is THE strangest one yet! It's actually very accessible, straight forward musically and lyrically and you can hear the southern Louisiana accent while it's being sung. VERY sellout for them, but then rumors are The Residents are in their 70s now, so perhaps they got tired of being weird?
Well, hope you all have enjoyed, there's tons more, and I’m not an expert of the group. They have led a quite different, underground life though.
However they truly started out, they formed their own label of Ralph Records, pretty unheard of for a band. Music videos actually started out in the 1960s, perhaps 1950s, but were mostly thought of as performance pieces and not much attention was paid to them. Once the 1970s hit with cable tv though, the genre really took off like gangbusters in 1981 (I think it was) when MTV exploded, playing these what used to be just mild curiosities 24/7. Well, The Residents not only made their own low-budget videos themselves, but they also started doing them in the 1970s, doing their own animation, plus MTV probably never played any of their stuff, you'd have to see a late night show like Night Flight or a low-power cable channel, an underground club or a Ralph Records video compilation in order to view what they'd done. They also recorded movie soundtracks, expanding to CGI, cds and dvds early on. They've released over 60 albums in their over 40 year history with possibly their biggest claims to fame (besides their longevity, along with being really weird in general) by releasing an album of 40 one minute long songs (!) and just falling short of being in the running for a Grammy award nomination for Best Album in their early years.
They would mostly do electronic music for the most part, but they also dabbled in rock, noise/metal, industrial, ambient, and probably other adjectives I can't even think of to describe their music with, being truly alternative to sum them up (and not like radio stations nowadays that play "alternative" music that sells millions). They also have many songs with odd structures and time signatures, along with many of their videos seemingly done as a video first and the music was added second. Many of them also feature a horror-like theme.
A long, convoluted Wikipedia page can be read about them, along with many of their videos being seen below. This might seem like a lot, but they've DONE a lot, plus most of these videos are only a minute long.
Third Reich–one of their earliest videos ever–again, from the 1970s–this one is strange (like they all are!) where it's not only mostly rock, but it's pretty straight forward, having several bars from the classics of "Land of a Thousand Dances" and "Wipeout". However, they also add tribal drumming, along with halfway through they seem to abandon the music and just seem to concentrate on showing you a video with sound effects. Also note this is done with stop motion photography, showing them dabbling in things such as this. I guess this was just a warning to the world what The Residents would be.
Act of Being Polite–possibly released during their "classic" period, this showcases their well-known keyboards, along with pleasant-sounding spoken/somewhat sung vocals. Although weird, note the early animation The Residents were already doing, plus the animated heart being squished seems to match with the lyrics a bit (not real common with them!).
Moisture–it's pretty clear where the rumors that members of Primus would make up The Residents due to the unusual guitar solo from Snakefinger (a pseudo-member of the band for many years) proves (by the way, was he ahead of his time with that blingy gold necklace way back in 1980? I think so!). It also sounds like a subdued Les Claypool on vocals, but it would've been too young to have been Primus. Anyway, this is one of many of The Residents's unsettling videos with a horror vibe (ugh, creatures with tentacles?), and in true mystery form, The Residents don’t appear until the very end...through a bit of fog...and their backs are turned.
Picnic Boy–kind of like South Park on acid, and with photos with psychedelic colors rather than the construction paper look, this actually has a prominent bassline to it, not heard very often in The Residents's catalog. It also sounds like Robert Smith of The Cure on tortured vocals, like during their "Love Cats" song (maybe that's why there's a cat in here?). There’s also some cgi, along with the usual weirdness, but beware of the brief gore at the very end (um, was that really necessary?).
Loneliness–this is one of THE most "normal", straight forward videos you're going to get from them, looking like the Dust Bowl tragedy that hit here in the States many decades, if not nearly 100 years ago, with the washed-out colors. The music is very fitting, but, as for the usual Residents weirdness, for some reason all the people have dogs' heads. This is one of several of their songs that make you go "it should be longer!", as it’s damn good enough and will go through your head (this and "Moisture" has been going through mine all week). I love this song, actually.
Nice Old Man–I really hate the dynamics on this one, with certain jarring notes being way too damn loud, but the rest of the song's good though. Is that a female doing the vocals? Who is she? It's the usual strange video though, with fat, grotesquely-shaped people flying and crawling around. Strange musician folk, these Residents.
Constantinople–somewhat of a "normal" song structure, this video isn't, of course. More cgi and mostly static background images. Note the one Resident not wearing their eyeball helmet, as they have also used various animals and an old man as masks in concert. Beware the nudity though for those on a shared computer and/or if your internet gets monitored at work (naked Sumo wrestler-type guy constantly spinning around; ugh!).
Man's World–although it sounds different than the original, this is one of the times where The Residents can be pointed at selling out (such as the previous video--sorta), as this video, aside from whoever the blue guy is, is not only straight forward, but it also follows the lyrics at times (how dare they!). Gotta love the way they look for the last couple of minutes in their white tuxedos though!
Burning Love–another sellout point, even though this doesn't sound anything like Elvis, this one is, strangely, alternative rock (what's with the bellowing vocals though?). Although pretty straight forward, the video is also still slightly odd, at least. What the heck, after many years, REM turned more towards rock, rather than their Byrds-like music, and Depeche Mode also changed from their Euro-synth to becoming a rock band, probably dividing the hell out of their audience.
Love Is...–more weirdness with the odd, keyboard structure, along with the chanting, plus the video, as per usual (ugh! Why, why? [Let's just say you've been warned once the window display comes up.])
La La-hey, they look cute here for once! I love the way they come bounding into the rooms, plus it looks like they updated the mouth from "Act of Being Polite" after all those years. The rest's a weird drug trip though.
Life Would Be Wonderful–ok, this is THE strangest one yet! It's actually very accessible, straight forward musically and lyrically and you can hear the southern Louisiana accent while it's being sung. VERY sellout for them, but then rumors are The Residents are in their 70s now, so perhaps they got tired of being weird?
Well, hope you all have enjoyed, there's tons more, and I’m not an expert of the group. They have led a quite different, underground life though.