What are the Residents?

[hsut@purdue-ecn.ARPA (Tsun-Yuk Hsu)]

	Rah! Rah! A question about the Residents, my favorite demented
synth-group!

	Anyway, nobody really knows who the Residents are, or whether the
same four people wear the masks with the big eyeballs. Their music is
mostly electronic, with lots of hilarious distorted vocals. It takes a
slightly warped sense of humor (like mine) to appreciate them, but they're
really one of the more innovative groups around. Their music ranges from
crazy rearrangements of old music which is always funny (3rd Reich and Roll
contains '60s and '70s hits seen thru Residents' eyeballs, George and
James contains hilarious versions of Gershwin and James Brown), relatively
straight electronic epics (Not Available), electronic simulations of
folk music (Eskimo) and warped film/video quasi-ambient pieces (Whatever
Happened to Vileness Fats). 

	Before you buy a Residents album, I'd suggest listening to some
of the music first just to experience the sound, since they sound very
different from most people. I know people with otherwise great tastes in
music who can't stand the Residents (they're in the minority, tho.)
My favorite Residents album is Not Available, a true concept album with
"singable" tunes and probably the most coherent thing they've done.
Eskimo is also very good, tho it's too draining to listen to more than
once a month.


				"Is obscurity the test tube of tomorrow
				 Or just a testing done 
				 To pave the way for sorrow?"

				 The Knife Fight, from Vileness Fats by
					the Residents

				 Bill Hsu