The Residents © Poor Know Graphics the Residents Wonder of Weird Sat 18 May 8Pm
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The Residents © Poor Know Graphics The Residents Wonder of Weird Sat 18 May 8pm The Residents Sometime in 1971, a rejected demo tape Randy Rose vocals submitted anonymously by an unknown group Charles Bobuck keyboards and tambourine to Warner Brothers was returned to its senders, Lionel Bob guitars addressed only to “The Residents.” Assuming the name as a suitably ambiguous identity, Residents Wonder of Weird retrospective created espousing the equally mysterious Bavarian by Barton Bishoff and Don Hardy philosopher N. Senada’s Theory of Obscurity, and represented to the outside world by the Find out more about the upcoming documentary shadowy Cryptic Corporation, The Residents set Theory of Obscurity, a film about The about changing music forever anyway, spreading Residents, at www.residentsmovie.com strangeness and disinformation as they went. Clubstage performance by Clinic Originally from Louisiana but by now immersed in the kaleidoscopic post-hippy artistic crucible of San There will be no interval in this concert Francisco, the band were joined by British guitarist Phil Lithman (dubbed Snakefinger for his speedy playing), one of a long line of musical collaborators who retained their own identities. Their début Meet the Residents was a gloriously messy cut’n’paste collage of pop music in a Zappaesque style. Early highlights include the Commercial Album of forty one-minute pastiche advertising jingles, (re-released with subversive animated videos in 2004) and Third Reich’n’Roll, an LP of rock classics as performed by Hitler. The Theory of Obscurity dictated that Not Available should remain unheard until forgotten completely, though contractual obligations required its eventual release. The group’s iconic full-head eyeball masks accessorised with top hats and tails soon appeared, though the theft of one in 1985 inspired the singer to don a giant skull instead. The Residents in turn begat Ralph Records, hosting As ever, The Residents warp the boundaries innovative artists including Yello, Tuxedomoon, The between rock’n’roll and the avant-garde – a Art Bears, Fred Frith and Renaldo and the Loaf. distinction they have always excelled at blurring. They were early adopters of synthesizers, sampling, Sometimes ribald, maybe even occasionally laserdiscs and myriad digital technologies, revealing, the show mixes eerily outré kitsch with especially video, including two surreal YouTube apparently confessional cabaret in a performance series, Timmy and The Bunny Boy. The unfinished where untrustworthy reminiscence and absurdity Vileness Fats long-form music film was shot using flow from story to song. The Wonder Of Weird fantastical sets and costumes made largely from resembles something akin to a traditional greatest newspaper. A big break came when their videos hits set, but with plenty of twists, as sinisterly jovial – many now in the New York Museum of Modern raconteur Randy takes the audience on a guided Art’s permanent collection and also available on tour through forty years and more of dubious the groundbreaking Icky Flix DVD – appeared history in what is their most autobiographical – on heavy rotation on the nascent, content-starved and even surprisingly intimate – live outing to date. MTV and they stepped out from the underground into the limelight as one of the quintessential Programme notes © Richard Fontenoy experimental outfits for the digital generation. Produced by the Barbican in association Sometimes The Residents pushed too hard. The with Glenn Max Events over-ambitious Mole Show tour in the Eighties, with the support and participation of equally You might also like… out-there magicians Penn and Teller, brought an epic trilogy to the stage. A surreal story of war Van der Graaf Generator and reconciliation between post-human factions, Sun 30 Jun, Hall the show was a financial disaster for the band, though the albums themselves remain among their Zorn@60 weirdest and best. Subsequent tours have been no Fri 12 Jul, Hall less ambitious, encompassing eerie psychodramas and multimedia operettas. The Residents have Mogwai enthusiastically explored interactive media, as well Performing live to Zidane, A 21st Century Portrait as soundtracks for documentaries (both imaginary Fri 26 Jul, Hall and real) and computer games, and have recently sketched out dunce-hatted, spoken word/orchestral work ‘Sam’s Enchanted Evening’. Their world is populated with disco Eskimos, freak shows and Check out our full spring programme at carnivalesque nightmares, such as the mistreated barbican.org.uk/contemporary conjoined twins of ‘God In Three Persons’, as told Sign up to our email list at in the Southern drawl of Mr Skull; while Molly barbican.org.uk/e-updates Harvey joined the monocular maestros narrating curious stories from the Bible for ‘Wormwood’ and Follow us the equally offbeat ‘Demons Dance Alone’, both @BarbicanCentre of which toured in strange, fluorescent style, /BarbicanContemporaryMusic Never willingly pulled from obscurity, The Residents Barbican-Music enjoy a devoted following and the eager attention of record collectors. Their legendarily-rare ‘Santa This programme is also available in digital Dog’ single sells for thousands of dollars, but the form for your smartphone and tablet group upped the ante by offering first editions of their entire output of singles, albums, DVDs, barbican.org.uk/programme CD-ROMS and other collectibles including an original eyeball mask and top hat as the Ultimate Box Set. Being The Residents, though, they announced the ten copies via an online infomercial-style video, everything packed inside a fridge for the equally cool price tag of $100,000. The Wonder Of Weird finds the group looking back elliptically at four decades of being music’s ultimate oddballs. Where The Mole Show needed a cast of sixteen to bring their mammoth production to life, the latest incarnation of The Residents is now a trio, claiming to be singer Randy, keyboard player Chuck and guitarist Bob. Having adopted new costumes and personas, their candy-coloured reprise of selected favourites is a typically self- mocking reinterpretation and revision of the story of The Residents and the darkly American tales they tell, often genuinely moving and theatrically bizarre. .