The Residents — Not Available(Preserved Edition)

Not Available is the next in the Preserved edition series from Cherry Red and MVD audio- which sees ultimate editions of classic Residents albums. This time around we get a double CD reissue that takes in a newly remastered album, a disc full of unreleased material and a neat inlay booklet- all presented in a mini gatefold. Originally released in 1978, though claimed to have been recorded four years early, Not Available was the projects stab at creating their own surreal & wacky take on the musical form- bringing together elements of bizarre music hall/ light opera, with early Electronica and off-kilter jazz-ness. And like a few of The Residents albums, this really sounds unique, & unlike anything project had released before or since.

Over the years Not Available has had a few reissues, and most recent of these was 2011’s Cryptic/ MVD audio basic CD and a vinyl reissue of the album- with this last edition the album got a remastering, and that was about it. This new version, like all of the Preserved series, gets a brand spanking new transferred, restoration, and mastered by Scott Colburn- and he’s once again done a splendid job- bringing out and balancing the layers of synths. pianos, hornwork and many layers of dramatic-to-wacky vocals.
 
Much like an opera, musical or classical suite the original album Not Available was split into four parts, and an epilogue- each of the part lasts between nine and six minutes, and each part revisits musical themes. The albums story is a very puzzling, and unsurprisingly downright odd -and I won’t attempt to try & tell/ untangle here- as trying to figure out what it's all about is a big part of the whole things lopsided charm. Sonically the album is fairly sophisticated & off-kilter grand compared with the projects previously early albums- with use of horn work, pianos, synths /electronics, and layers of both male and female voices telling the album's story, and edging it with wavering harmonising. Also where many early Resident albums where deliberately  crude, angular, and ugly- there is an attempt at creating a more soothing/ at times almost choral ambient feel here- though of course one never gets fully relaxed/ mellowed out- as the awkward/ out-of-tune elements are still present- if I try to sum the whole album in a few words I’d say it's a musical on very strange psychedelics.
 
This new reissue presents on the first CD of this two-disc set the albums original five tracks, these are added to by a selection of four live renditions of album tracks- these are interesting enough- but really the most fascinating thing about this reissue- is the second CD- as it’s all unreleased material,  which are early sonic sketches/ jams of work that would appear on the finished album.
 
The second disc sessions is entitled X Is For Xtra(A Conclusion) and apparently largely comes from the year 1974, which of course runs in line with the story that Not Available was recorded just after their debut Meet The Residents. How true this date is I’m unsure- but you can certainly hear more connection with what we have in these sessions & their early work, as it retains the cruder/ angular feel of their first three albums Meet The Residents, The Third Reich ‘n’ Roll, and Fingerprince. The material on this disc is broken up into twenty tracks- with a total runtime of sixty-four minutes.
Through-out the tracks you can clearly make of melodies/ themes that would appear on the finished album- though it’s presented in a very loose/ sonic sketch manner. I also detect a few stray sounds/ sonic elements that would appear on their second and third albums- though nothing too defined/ clear. Also there are elements that didn’t appear on either Not Available or any other Rez album- these are very much nod towards the album's vibe/feel- we get some wonderful cascading harp moments, standalone blends of unwell electronica & hornwork, wavering & building church organ-like off-centre-ness, and  blends of simmering space-bound synth and wiery-unwell guitar work. The session is topped off with an untitled/ hidden track- this is seemingly around ten minutes of silence which is followed by a tight wavering pump organ-like rendition of one of the Not Available's key melody lines- it’s a nicely earthy-yet-urgent end to this disc. Just like the other never released material that’s appeared on past Preserved reissue- this is most fascinating and worthy- giving a great insight into how the collective worked/ developed material, as well as offering up some juicy titbits of unreleased/ never used elements too.
 
As with the other in releases in this series - we get a great 16-page inlay booklet- this starts off with a new three-page write-up about the album from Jim Knipfel. Next, we get a three-page write-up about the bonus material. The booklet is topped off with rare artwork- including bizarre cast photos for the album's characters- and studio logs, etc.
 
In conclusion, Cherry Red and MVD Audio have another wholly fascinating & ultimate reissue of this classic Residents album from the 1970’s- which will please both long term fans and those new to the project.