THE RESIDENTS - THE CLASSIC 1980s ALBUMS REMASTERED FROM THE ORIGINAL TAPES, PLUS PREVIOUSLY UNKNOWN SONGS, DEMOS, REMIXES, LIVE RECORDINGS, NON-ALBUM TRACKS AND LATER EVOLUTIONS (Cherry Red) (2025)

With 13 previously unreleased tracks this will be an essential purchase for Residents fans and the curious. As the press release says this groundbreaking group has been “charting a unique path through the musical landscape for a slightly ridiculous fifty-three years from far-out, experimental recordings to highly conceptual, innovative multi-platform projects.” These idiosyncratic interpretations from “The American Composers” series (The 10 minutes plus version of lead off track ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, while retaining the spirit of the classic Gershwin melody is a classic example, bringing a sinister eeriness into the mix - who would have thought it? They even make ‘I Got Rhythm’ feel downbeat and anticlimactic; ‘Summertime’ is similarly lachrymose). The unreleased material includes three from Sun Ra originally intended for the aborted volume 3 of the series along with a hitherto unheard Residents original ‘Burning with Desire’. By contract to somewhat mangled tunes from the Great American Songbook there are no less than four versions of James Brown’s ‘Man’s World’ including a live at the Fillmore and a fifteen minute ‘JB@45’. There is some Hank Williams (Three ‘Jambalayas’), two versions of ‘Jailhouse Rock’  alongside some Residents originals. Intriguing and futuristic the music of The Residents perplexes and amazes in equal measure.

P.S. The Residents will be touring with their “Eskimo” album as the centrepiece later in 2025.