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Postcards From Patmos is the thirty-third studio album by The Residents, the soundtrack to their internet video series The Bunny Boy.

The album was initially made available through The Residents' short-lived vanity label Santa Dog Records, but was also sold online through Ralph America, and later, through CreateSpace. The CreateSpace version included credits saying that the album was performed by The Residents and "contrapted" by Charles Bobuck (a pseudonym used by Hardy Fox from 2010 to 2017).

History[]

Recording[]

In 2007, after completing The Voice of Midnight, The Residents received a series of videos from a former acquaintance. The videos featured their friend begging The Residents for assistance in finding his brother, who had gone missing.

The Residents decided they would help by making his plight the subject of their next multi-media project, The Bunny Boy. The group adapted these videos into a 44 part YouTube video series, with Postcards From Patmos acting as the soundtrack. At the same time, the group were working on their 32nd album, which would be largely standalone songs filled with cryptic references to the series.

The title, 'Postcards From Patmos,' refers to a series of postcards Bunny (The protagonist of The Bunny Boy) has from a vacation in Patmos, Greece, which proves integral to the story's plot.

Release[]

The first episode of the web series was published on September 1st, 2008. One month later, on October 3rd, The Residents embarked on a world tour inspired by the web show, with songs from The Bunny Boy performed interspliced with clips from the series and live monologues from Bunny.

Two thousand copies of Postcards from Patmos were quietly made available at the merch stand throughout this tour. These were manufactured and available online through Ralph America, but the release label is Santa Dog Records.

The CD is presented in a gatefold double-CD digipak with a slot for a booklet, although, uniquely, the album does not contain a second disc or a booklet. As is stated on the release, the second slot is for The Bunny Boy.

The album quickly went out of print and was only made available again briefly through CreateSpace.Com on August 21st, 2012. In July of 2018, CreateSpace was merged with Kindle Direct Publishing, removing the ability to manufacture CDs through the organization.[1] In June of 2022, the album was put onto streaming services in Europe, and is available the purchase digitally on the iTunes store in those regions.

Track Listing[]

  1. The Winged Serpent Repents to the Father (7:10)
  2. Soulless Flies Visit The Graves of Ancestors (5:09)
  3. Cold Metal Strikes A Soldier's Bible (3:00)
  4. Stained Hands Pass The Silverware (4:44)
  5. I Wish The Remote Could Control Me (4:23)
  6. Fabrics Drape The Unseen God (5:41)
  7. There Is Power In The Chord (3:20)
  8. Silk From Spiders (6:49)
  9. Green Feathers and the Blood of Circumcision (4:59)
  10. Knees Bent, Toes Painted Orange (11:13)

Liner Notes[]

The Residents entered the world of electronic synthesis in the 1970s during a time of legendary exploration and growth.

When pioneers like Robert Moog and Don Bulcha were creating analog synthesizers that were finally affordable for the masses, The Residents eagerly became one of the earliest groups to embrace the new technology.

While recording The Bunny Boy album, The Residents employed an arsenal of digital synthesis equipment. However, when the time came to score the Internet series, the mood of the series seemed to call for the older analog synthesis that they had not used in decades. Enthusiastically unwrapping their older instruments, the group soon discovered that, other than the occasional and humorous oscillator drift, the instruments all worked perfectly. Of course, being out of tune was not considered a problem.

To supplement their own collection, The Residents turned to old friends who had also kept some of their original analog units. Then, combining their new analog experiments with organic location recordings from their collection, the group quickly assembled these soundscapes to support the darkly humorous images found in The Bunny Boy videos.

The Residents had come full circle, and again experienced the pains and joys of broken patch cables and dirty pots.

Credits[]

Additional Credits (2012 Re-Issue)

See also[]

External links and references[]

Mtrlabel-transparent-sml The Residents studio albums

Ralph Records (1972 - 1987)
Meet The Residents (1974) · The Third Reich 'n Roll (1976) · Fingerprince (1977) · Duck Stab!/Buster & Glen (1978)
Not Available (1978) · Eskimo (1979) · Commercial Album (1980) · Mark of the Mole (1981)
The Tunes of Two Cities (1982) · George & James (1984) · The Big Bubble (1985) · Stars & Hank Forever! (1986)

Ryko and Enigma (1988 - 1989)
God In Three Persons (1988) · The King & Eye (1989)

East Side Digital (1990 - 2002)
Freak Show (1990) · Our Finest Flowers (1992) · Gingerbread Man (1994) · Have A Bad Day (1996)
Wormwood (1998) · Demons Dance Alone (2002)

Mute Records (2004 - 2007)
Animal Lover (2005) · Tweedles! (2006) · The Voice of Midnight (2007)

MVD Audio (2008 - 2015)
The Bunny Boy (2008) · Lonely Teenager (2011) · Mush-Room (2013)

MVD Audio and Cherry Red (2016 - present)
The Ghost of Hope (2017) · Intruders (2018) · Metal, Meat & Bone (2020)

Fan club / off-label albums
Buckaroo Blues (1989) · The 12 Days of Brumalia (2004) · Night of the Hunters (2007)
Hades (2009) · Dollar General (2010) · Night Train To Nowhere! (2012)

Soundtrack albums
Whatever Happened To Vileness Fats? (1984) · The Census Taker (1985) · Hunters (1995) · Icky Flix (2001)
I Murdered Mommy! (2004) · Postcards From Patmos (2008) · Strange Culture/Haeckel's Tale (2010)
Chuck's Ghost Music (2011) · Theory of Obscurity Soundtrack (2014) · Sculpt (2016) · Music to Eat Bricks By (2019) · Triple Trouble (2022)

Collaborative albums
Title In Limbo with Renaldo & The Loaf (1983) · I Am A Resident! with You? (2018)

Live in the studio
Assorted Secrets (1984) · Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions (2000) · Talking Light Live In Rehearsal, Santa Cruz, California (2010)
Mole Dance 82 (2021) · Duck Stab! Alive! (2021)

Related articles
The Residents discography (W.E.I.R.D., 1979) · Ralph Records discography

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