The Residents — Leftovers 1970-1988
Leftovers 1970-1988 is a two-CD compilation bringing together rare outtakes, alternative versions, & unreleased tracks from those avant-popsters The Residents. Over the two discs, we get a total of thirty-one tracks, and for a long-term fan of the eyeballed & top-hatted one, it is a truly fascinating/revelatory release.
The release is part of the pREServed series, which has seen Cherry Red Records, MVD Audio, and New Ralph join forces to release the definitive/multi-disc release of classic Residents’ albums- this is the first compilation from the series, and boy, it’s a real doozy. The two CDs come presented in a mini gatefold- with each of the discs coming in their own card slips, and a sixteen-page inlay booklet- with a write-up about the collection/ each of the tracks.
The collection brings together the three record shop LPs from the last few years, and adds eight previously unreleased tracks. As the title suggests, featured here are tracks dating from between 1970 & 1988, all laid out chronologically- and there are some true treasures on display.
On disc one, we open with “Rusty Concentrate” which gives us a snapshot of what existed before the Residents. And it truly doesn’t sound like the project they would become- after some male and female chatter, we move into a dubiously lyrical, strummed folk singsong with a lead male singer( not the normal Rez singer) and warbling female backing vocals. As we move through the first disc, we have “Crumbling Mountain Sketch” which serves up an abrasive, off-kilter, and generally skewed example of early instrumental electronica. Sure, it hints at what they’d go on to do, but it feels so much freer/ once again unlike anything the project had done. There’s “Paino Fragments 1&3” here, we get a great selection of bounding, dramatic, and experimentally taut piano cues. There’s out the wonderful jagged/warped/dada-infused guitar/ lo-fi glitch electro toning of “Never Played Guitar Before”. The first disc is finished off with six tracks from The Big Bubble sessions, and this is a fascinating look at how the collective started off with relatively formal-sounding elements/ tracks, then warped/ bent them into the sound of that album, which still stands as one of their more sonic ugly/awkward creations.
Disc two opens with “The Making Of A Mole” which runs at just over nineteen minutes, and brings together a selection of music themes/ elements not used on the Mole albums. These move between horn-led dramatics, to warbling/ wavering synth orchestrations, to bounding keys meet scratching electro textures, etc. Again, truly fascinating stuff- as one knows the sounds/ tones of the Mole albums so well, but not arranged like this. Later on, there is “Unused TV Music Concentrate” which slides in at just over the seven-minute mark, and consists of several short musical ideas- these move from elegantly jaunting piano/ synth string affairs, jigging ‘n’ snapping percussive workouts, through to dramatic midi constructions.
There’s no point beating around the bush, Leftovers 1970-1988 is only for long-term Rez fans, as you have to be very familiar with their albums, to find the true surprise, odd joy and weird wonder of what's on offer here. So, my top 5/ 5 mark is extremely biased!....here’s hoping for more Leftovers dated late 80’s onwards.