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THE RESIDENTS
The Residents are an American art collective best known for their over 60 studio albums that were recorded over a period of over forty years. They also created some outstanding multimedia works, mainly three CD ROM projects and ten DVDs. Working as an anonymous collective, their identities were kept secret until in 2017 Hardy Fox revealed himself as their primary composer. Hardy died in October 2018, but the group continue to record and perform. In 2021, the band wanted to depart on a European tour called Dog Stab! but the Covid pandemic put a halt to it. 2022 wasn't more lucky, but early in 2023, The Residents finally made it to Europe stopping in Amsterdam, Brussels, London, Dublin, Oslo, Berlin, Vienna and many others. The concert presented here is the show at Kampnagel, Hamburg. The tour now offered a wider retrospective of The Residents' work, with less emphasis on Metal, Meat & Bone and Duck Stab! than had been seen in the earlier Dog Stab! shows. Instead the concerts focused on the Duck Stab material, with an additional greatest hits part thrown in for good measure. After the tour, The Residents parted ways with their long-time collaborator, guitarist Nolan Cook. Although Cook was planned to join the group on a UK/Europe mini-tour of their theatrical show God In 3 Persons - Live! in April 2024, those shows were ultimately cancelled, leaving the last date of the Faceless Forever tour as Cook's final performance with The Residents.
TRACK LISTING
1. Jambalaya
2. Hello Skinny
3. Cut To The Quick
4. Laughing Song
5. Bach Is Dead
6. Boxes Of Armageddon
7. Would We Be Alive?
8. Marching To The Sea
9. Cold As A Corpse
10. Smelly Tongues
11. Moisture
12. Constantinople
13. The Monkey Man
14. Semolina
15. Kill Him!
16. Blue Rosebuds
17. Theme From Buckaroo Blues
18. The Stampede
19. Lizard Lady
20. Dead Weight
21. Hungry Hound
22. Die! Die! Die!
23. Diskomo
24. Nobody Laughs When They Leave
Ahead of the curve as ever, in 1972 The Residents turned their back on the mainstream music industry and established their own Ralph Records imprint, taking control of every aspect of the recording, design and manufacturing process of their records. Over the next decade, Ralph would release numerous seminal singles and albums by a diverse range of artists from both the US and Europe, capturing the zeitgeist perfectly in the era of punk and new wave, when the DIY aesthetic went overground.
Featuring key singles, vital album tracks and a number of recordings appearing on CD for the first time, as well as previously unheard material from Schwump, Snakefinger, MX-80 Sound and Gary Panter, ‘Buy Or Die!’ is not only an insight into The Residents’ world but also into the workings of their DIY mindset, with most of the tracks here being recorded in the group’s own studio, and released in artwork produced by their own graphics department. From established names such as Yello and The Residents themselves, to lesser-known gems by Fred Frith, Tuxedomoon et al, this is a distinctive snapshot of that experimental and open-minded time and place, as seen through the lense of one of America’s most adventurous artists.
Complete with a 7,500 word first hand account essay from The Residents’ Mysterious Archivist, plenty of unusual and rare imagery and many tracks sourced directly from the Ralph tape archive, all overseen by The Residents (enabled by RA), ‘Buy Or Die!’ will entertain, enthral and infuriate in equal measure.
Featuring key singles, vital album tracks and a number of recordings appearing on CD for the first time, as well as previously unheard material from Schwump, Snakefinger, MX-80 Sound and Gary Panter, ‘Buy Or Die!’ is not only an insight into The Residents’ world but also into the workings of their DIY mindset, with most of the tracks here being recorded in the group’s own studio, and released in artwork produced by their own graphics department. From established names such as Yello and The Residents themselves, to lesser-known gems by Fred Frith, Tuxedomoon et al, this is a distinctive snapshot of that experimental and open-minded time and place, as seen through the lense of one of America’s most adventurous artists.
Complete with a 7,500 word first hand account essay from The Residents’ Mysterious Archivist, plenty of unusual and rare imagery and many tracks sourced directly from the Ralph tape archive, all overseen by The Residents (enabled by RA), ‘Buy Or Die!’ will entertain, enthral and infuriate in equal measure.
TRACK LISTING
DISC ONE
1 Ivory And The Brain Eaters - Fire
2 The Residents - Smelly Tongues
3 The Residents - Satisfaction
4 Schwump - Aphids In The Hall
5 Schwump - You're A Martian / Home
6 Schwump – ‘maginary Dreams (Demo)*
7 The Residents - Beyond The Valley Of A Day In The Life
8 The Residents - Tourniquet Of Roses
9 The Residents - Constantinople
10 Snakefinger - The Spot
11 Snakefinger - Smelly Tongues
12 The Residents - Hello Skinny
13 The Residents - Not Available (A Brief Introduction)
14 The Residents - Santa Dog '78
15 Art Bears - Rats & Monkeys
16 Art Bears - Collapse
17 Art Bears - The Winter Wheel
18 Snakefinger - What Wilbur?
19 Snakefinger - Kill The Great Raven
20 Chrome - Meet You In The Subway
*previously Unreleased
DISC TWO
1 Chrome - I Left My Heart In San Francisco
2 MX-80 Sound - I Left My Heart In San Francisco
3 The Residents - I Left My Heart In San Francisco
4 Tuxedomoon - I Left My Heart In San Francisco
5 Snakefinger - Picnic In The Jungle
6 MX-80 Sound - Someday You'll Be King
7 MX-80 Sound - White Night
8 Tuxedomoon - What Use?
9 Tuxedomoon - 7 Years
10 MX-80 Sound - It's Not My Fault
11 Snakefinger - The Model
12 The Residents - Diskomo
13 Snakefinger - The Man In The Dark Sedan
14 The Residents - Amber
15 The Residents - Shut Up, Shut Up RDX
16 Gary Panter - Tornader To The Tater
17 Gary Panter - Italian Sunglasses Movie
18 Gary Panter - Rozz Tox*
19 Snakefinger - Golden Goat
20 MX-80 Sound - O Type
21 MX-80 Sound - Old Too Fast*
*previously Unreleased
DISC THREE
1 Fred Frith - Dancing In The Street
2 Fred Frith - What A Dilemma
3 Yello - Bimbo
4 Yello - I.T. Splash
5 Yello - Night Flanger
6 Yello - Bostich
7 Yello - Rock Stop
8 MX-80 Sound - Why Are We Here?
9 Tuxedomoon - Jinx
10 Tuxedomoon - Incubus (Blue Suit)
11 Fred Frith - A Spit In The Ocean
12 Fred Frith - Saving Grace
13 Renaldo And The Loaf - A Medical Man
14 Renaldo And The Loaf - Honest Joe's Indian Gets The Goat On The Way To The Cowboys' Conga
15 Renaldo And The Loaf - Ted's Reverie
16 Renaldo And The Loaf - Melvyn's Repose
17 Snakefinger - Breakfast In Baltimore (1981 EP Demo)*
18 Snakefinger - Life Isn't Easy (1981 EP Demo)*
19 Yello - Pinball Cha Cha
20 Yello - Homer Hossa
21 Snakefinger - Eva's Warning
22 The Residents - Would We Be Alive?
*previously Unreleased
In 1989 The Residents recorded an album of Elvis hits called "The King & Eye". Anyone familiar with the group's work would not be surprised to hear no attempt at recreating the original arrangements - re-interpreting the songs and digging into their Freudian undertones, usually overlooked in the lyrics. For The Residents, Elvis's life became a cautionary tale: a story of lost innocence, and how, in death, Elvis became the ultimate Americana icon. Ironically, The Residents chose to make their statements on "The King & Eye" through the voice of an aging Elvis imitator. Fifteen years later, in 2003, The Residents asked German remix whiz, Paralyzer, to listen to the original 24 track master recording and see what he would do to re-interpret their album - Paralyzer accepted the challenge but asked the group to give him free rein in reconstructing the pieces.