The Residents — Marching To The See
The recordings here come from the bands 2013 Amsterdam date. And each of the twelve tracks here find the three piece project creating radically different versions of tracks from their album versions- so even the most seasoned fan will, at times, take a little bit to realize what the track is, which of course makes this whole release so rewarding & stand alone compared to your normal live album.
The album opens up with a mash-up of two tracks: Loser=Weed (originally appearing as the B side of their manic retake on the Rolling Stones Satisfaction) &, Picnic In The Jungle (which originally appeared on 1979’s Chewing Hides The Sound- the first solo album from their then guitarist Snake finger). It starts up with a chopping & stream engine like electro reggae mix of synth/ guitar & those distinctive Residents vocal, before moving into more deep weaves of pulsing synth texturing & singed guitar work.
A bit latter on we get a Spanish gitar meets guitar virtuoso & beats retake of Jelly Jake: The Boneless Boy( from the band’s 1990 album Freakshow)- this later adds into the mix of dramatic swoons of sampled string textures, eerier theremin like textures, which are topped with swooping & disturbing vocals.
I won’t go into detail any other tracks here, as I feel it will spoil the surprise of the new versions- but trust me if you’re a Residents fan you’ll find a lot here that will both surprise, entertain & puzzle.
All told this is a highly consist and wholly rewarding live album- with each track been a worthy & original re- imagining of The Resident’s past, brought up to weird & wonderful up-to-date-ness. You can’t say this with many live albums, but I think this could easily been enjoyed by non fans too, as the whole band put their all into their performers, it’s all well enough captured, & it’s varied/quirky ride through-out.