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Land of Mystery is a compilation album that collects music by The Residents released through their defunct fan club UWEB. The selection was compiled by Uncle Willie.
History[]
The Residents have always embraced and endorsed fan clubs, and no one is more notable than UWEB, run by the enigmatic Uncle Willie between 1988 - 1992. What makes UWEB so notable is it's exclusive releases sold only to fans. These releases were the result of Uncle Willie being allowed access to The Residents' large audio archive, from which he selected material for release, that he thought would be most interesting for fans to hear. This compilation represents the best of those UWEB releases, with informative liner notes from Willie himself.
All material on the album had been released previously, but certain tracks are represented in exclusivly edited forms. 'Lament' from the Snakey Wake single, is here edited down from 20:09 to 5:51, and the 19 minute 'Buckaroo Blues' suite from the album of the same name, is represented as two tracks lasting 4:13 and 2:05. Dear Brother and Pictures Of Life's Other Side are all also shortened, if only slightly. The 20 second instrumental jams which were present on Daydream B-Liver are cut here. Also cut are the first two parts of the The History Of Digital Music suite which are edited down to last roughly two minutes. The third part, which is only 55 seconds long, remains unchanged.
in true UWEB style, The Residents' name is not mentioned prominently on the release.
Contents[]
The material spans The Residents' then early to mid career, from 1971 - 1992. The earliest piece is The Residents' and Snakefinger's cover of 'King Kong', recorded in late 1971. Then is 'Fire', and 'Santa Dog 78' featured in the UWHOGTTR suite, recorded in 1972 and 1978 respectively.
After that is a slew of material recorded in 1985, Daydream In Space, from the rejected Sun Ra / Barry White album, and the History of Digital Music suite, which was done in September for a Junior High Music Class. Recorded next were three Stars & Hank Forever outtakes 'Dear Brother', 'Pictures Of Life's Other Side', & 'I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry'. Next is a live version of Diskomo, from January of 1987, and 'Six More Miles To The Graveyard' recorded in August of that same year. The following year, 1988, they recorded four songs featured here, 'God In 3 Person's Over', 'Bury Me Not', 'Buckaroo Blues Theme', and 'Santa Dog '88'
The two songs from 1990 are both from Cube-E 'Mr Skull's NYE song' and 'Teddy Bear', and from 1992 Santa Dog 92 is represented.
Track listing[]
All Songs Written by The Residents except where noted
- Six More Miles To The Graveyard (Williams) (5:51)
- Mr Skull's New Year's Eve Song (6:28)
- Excerpt Buckaroo Blues (Bury Me Not) (4:13)
- Daydream In Space (Residents/Ra/White) (8:23)
- Excerpt UWHOGTTR (Santa Dogs) (3:24)
- Dear Brother (Williams) (3:26)
- Daydream Believer (Monkees) (2:56)
- King Kong (Ft. Snakefinger) (Zappa) (4:03)
- Pictures Of Life's Other Side (Williams) (2:49)
- The History Of Digital Music 1: Music Box (Punch Card System) (1:55)
- The History Of Digital Music 2: Macintosh Computer (Pre MIDI) (1:48)
- The History Of Digital Music 3: Early MIDI (0:56)
- Teddy Bear (3:47)
- I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry (Williams) (3:10)
- Discomo (3:15)
- God In 3 Person's Over (9:57)
- Excerpt Buckaroo Blues (Theme) (2:05)
Liner notes[]
UWEB: Land of Mystery[]
When asked to compile tracks from the UWEB series of releases for a new CD, I was initially surprised that everyone didn't already own copies of the original CD's. I suppose it was an indicator of my advancing age to make that assumption. Of course there were people who didn't have the UWEB collection. That was a long time ago.
UWEB was founded in 1988 to serve as an organization of people who enjoyed The Residents' art so much that they wanted more insight into the working of the group. Until 1993, newsletters, CD's and even a book, "Uncle Willie's Highly Opinionated Guide to The Residents" found its way into the hands of Buddies.
I took a unique perspective on this eyeball group. Since I did not encounter them until after my real world retirement, I was less amused by the trappings of disguises and misinformation that seemed to dazzle the younger and more impressionable crowd. While I respected their privacy, my focus fell more toward the actual work, a perspective which originally brought me closer to The Residents, but ultimately made my job as interpreter to the Buddies impossible. You see, they became my friends and the depth and importance of that relationship overwhelmed my objectivity. Even their work moved into the back seat.
When I closed UWEB in '93, tired and uncomfortable in my role, the group employed me to continue the organization of their messy tapes to which they had given me access. I finished that job within a year and returned to my previous quiet life.
Ten years later I find myself listening to the UWEB tracks I sweated over so many years ago. I listened with mixed emotions. My sympathies always align with the Residents in their quest for a unified sound. Unfortunately, this collection offers no such satisfaction and stands only as a thoughtful assortment of odd and unrelated musical fragments.
At least I can be assured that the old Buddies will pat me on the back. They will not find versions of "Man's World" or "Kaw-liga" among my selections. A sure sign that, after all, Uncle Willie still loves his Buddies.
Credits[]
- Layout: Dren
- Cover Illustration: Rex Ray
- Liner Notes: Uncle Willie
Cover Art Gallery[]
External links and references[]
- Land of Mystery at RZWeb (archived via archive.org)
- Land of Mystery at Discogs