Eskimo Deconstructed is an album by The Residents, released May 31st 2019 on Cherry Red/New Ralph Too as a special instalment in the group's expansive pREServed reissue campaign.
Eskimo Deconstructed includes a number of extracts from the recording session tapes of their 1979 album Eskimo and features two LPs and a CD full of ambient sounds, loops and fragments produced by the group for that project.
Contents[]
Eskimo Deconstructed features "over seventy loops, chants, musical fragments and sound effects extracted from the original multitrack tapes" from the group's 1979 album Eskimo, to give fans an unprecedented opportunity to “walk around inside a masterpiece, the viewing angles almost infinite”.
It is said to have been created by The Residents when the positive response to their pREServed reissue series and increased interest in their archives led them to take out the multi-track masters of their 1970s albums and "play around with them" (a process which is also thought to have resulted in the pREServed remix of the group's Not Available production reel "X Is For Xtra").[1]
The semi-limited vinyl edition is intended both as a special release in honour of the 40th anniversary of the original album, as well as a kind of extension of their 2018 project I Am A Resident!, allowing and encouraging fans to rebuild and remix the album using the original instrumental elements.
At present there are no plans for a digital release of Eskimo Deconstructed - it has not been ruled out, however The Residents are said to prefer it as a vinyl only release.[2] Other "special interest" pREServed vinyl releases (such as the complete 1-10 (With A Touch of 11) and German Slide Music tapes) are expected to follow based on The Residents' satisfaction with Eskimo Deconstructed.[3][4]
Track listing[]
Disc One[]
Side One[]
- Mysterious Chant #1 (0:46)
- Ga Ga Ga (0:49)
- Neki Neki (0:50)
- Catch 'Em Up (1:37)
- Mysterious Chant #2 (0:52)
- Ooh Wit Aah Stomp (0:59)
- Something Interrupts The Chatter (1:34)
- Hunt Field Recording (1:08)
- Crank (0:57)
- Meat (0:51)
- Mysterious/Indigenous Song (0:38)
- North Western Poem #1 (0:26)
- Residents Poem #1 (1:54)
- Dodgers All The Way! (0:40)
- Break (0:28)
- Commercial Chant (0:26)
- Studio Argument (0:37)
- North Western Poem #2 (0:31)
- Squeeze (0:21)
- Indigenous Chant #1 (1:05)
- Two Amused Hunters Impersonate The Residents (1:03)
- Asked (0:22)
- Driven (0:23)
- An Amused Hunter Impersonates Player (0:40)
- Life (0:43)
- We Don't Know How To Prey (0:54)
Side Two[]
- Eskimo' Theme (1:25)
- Synthesiser Pad #1 (1:59)
- Six Inuit Musicians Impersonate The Residents (1:46)
- Birth Field Recording Extract (1:06)
- Album Finale Version One (3:09)
- Ancient Whale Chant (1:51)
- A Musician Plays Kooa For Us (At Daybreak) (2:24)
- Unknown Indigenous Poem & Synthesiser (1:11)
- Kooa Musician At Daybreak Take 2 (1:05)
- The Residents Rehearse An Old Northwestern Play (1:59)
- Album Finale Version Two (3:21)
Disc Two[]
Side Three[]
- Commercial Rhythm & Pooeye (1:56)
- Rounding Up Hunters (0:29)
- Wounded And Dragged Ashore (0:48)
- Floating Downstream (1:40)
- An Excited Welcome! (0:30)
- Segook And Ooluksak Rehearsal (0:26)
- The Hunt Accelerates Towards A Kill (1:44)
- Possibly Another Birth (1:08)
- A Communal Clapalong (1:01)
- Angakok Sermon (0:40)
- The Residents Greeted One By One (0:56)
- Atseak Orchestra (0:23)
- Grumbling (0:48)
- Bells And Whistles Rhythm (1:33)
- The Sled Chase (2:02)
- Drums And Horns (1:40)
- Sedrak Piece Draws A Crowd (1:31)
- The Lone Lookout (2:25)
Side Four[]
- Train Ride (0:52)
- Creaking In The Wind (1:46)
- Synthesiser Pad #2 And Whistlin' (1:14)
- Water's Edge Ritual And Overdubs (1:47)
- Drone Piece #1 (1:06)
- Tape Speed Play Improv (0:59)
- Twinklz (0:56)
- Dogs (0:48)
- Drone Piece #2 (1:09)
- Whistle While You Walk (0:59)
- Water's Edge Field Recording (0:35)
- Synth Bang (0:17)
- Synth Swell (1:01)
- Bell (0:28)
- Sonar Communications (3:30)
- Low Synth Rises Up (1:10)
- We All Stomp (0:32)
- Somebody's Abstract Piece (2:06)
Disc Three (CD)
- Arctic Field Recording (60:03)
Liner notes[]
In 1979, The Residents issued 'Eskimo', their highly personal account of the music and tradition of the popular Eskimo.
The record was instantly hailed a masterpiece everywhere that mattered.
Fast forwards forty years, and the album's multitrack tapes emerge from the depths of the band's archive. Intrigued and vaguely aware of the project's imminent 40th anniversary, The Residents begin to consider presenting the 'Eskimo' tapes in a fresh way to commemorate the occasion, rather than go down that tired old deluxe 2CD set route.
(Although compelled by Alimony, Child Support Payments and property taxes, they do also decide to do that, and you can find the result in your local record store)
Before long, an idea emerges. Rather than remix and regurgitate 'Eskimo' themselves, The Residents will dig deep into the raw ingredients of the album, and present you with everything you need to re-work and re-construct 'Eskimo' for yourself. That's four sides of familiar rhythms, chants, musical fragments and other performances hand-extracted from the tapes by the eyeballs themselves, forty years after they first laid them down.
The Residents hope you'll add something of your own creative thing in the re-imagining process. Perhaps even produce a new score for the 'Eskimo' film...
Inside this set you will find Two LPS containing the chants, atmospheres, sound effects, rhythms and musical passages which make up the original album.
Plus: A CD containing genuine arctic storm and atmospheric field recordings The Residents harvested back in the late 70s
So plug in your turntables and dig out your emulator, sample, loop, remix and re-evaluate. Upload and download, share and discuss, revere or ridicule.
The Residents invite you to re-experience and re-examine their work in microscopic detail, sure, it's a classic, and this is undoubtedly sacrilege, but consider it a chance to screw with their music just like they've been screwing with everybody else's for almost fifty years now.
You hold in your hands an invitation, of sorts. A chance to wander around inside a masterpiece, the viewing angles almost infinite.
This isn't a 'making of', it's something far, far heavier than that. Perhaps it might be considered the next instalment of 'I Am A Resident'... if you like.
Credits[]
- Performed, Recorded, Produced & De-Constructed By The Residents
- Assisted By: RA
- Mastered For Disc By: Scott Colburn
- Design & Layout By Paul Bevior
- With: Poor No Grafix
- (P) & (C): 2019 The Cryptic Corporation, Cherry Red Records & MVD Entertainment
See also[]
External links and references[]
- ↑ "...as I understand it they were so pleased with how the pREServed stuff was received that they've dug out the multitracks of the 70s albums and begun playing around with those. That's how both Eskimo DeConstructed and X Is For Xtra came about, I think." - Richard Anderson, Ralph Records Facebook group, October 6th 2020
- ↑ "This is tricky - I think they quite like it being vinyl only, but let's see.." - Richard Anderson, Ralph Records Facebook group, July 24th 2019
- ↑ "You didn't hear it from me, but I did just find out that the Eskimo Deconstructed LPs are selling really quickly. There are plenty to go around, including into record stores for May 31st, but you might want to get an order in sooner rather than later if you *definitely* want a copy. I know there are plans afoot for some mail order only obscure vinyl too, but The Residents were slightly unsure what the demand would be, so this all bodes well..." - Richard Anderson, The Residents Facebook group, March 19th 2019
- ↑ "I think the enthusiasm for the pREServed stuff and their archives has captured their imagination. They put a lot of energy into 'Eskimo Deconstructed' and it was really well received, so it got them thinking." - Richard Anderson, Ralph Records Facebook group, September 7th 2019