The Residents' Blog was a news blog maintained by Big Brother of The Cryptic Corporation beginning in August 2003 (originally titled The Residents' Official News Blog and Website Wrapper, then The Residents' Official News BOG and later Official News Blog).
The BOG became the Cryptics' (and thus, The Residents') main outlet for communication with their fans until the website's redesign early in this month. At this point (at least according to the website's header after the redesign) the blog was simply called The Residents Blog.
This page collects posts made to this news blog in February 2010, as archived on archive.org, transcribed to this wiki by a Mysterious Spanish Lady.
Blog entries[]
Talking Light will not be uploaded daily[]
Feb/03/10 06:04 PM
- Daily Talking Light shows being on RSD was a noble experiment, but it was much more complicated than I expected. All shows will be recorded and the uploads will happen as bandwidth is available. Some after the tour. All shows will still be recorded.
Rome venue change[]
Feb/18/10 11:50 AM
- The venue for the Rome Talking Light show on May 13 has changed. It is now at Teatro San Raffaele.
Webster Hall[]
Feb/19/10 08:16 AM
Quite Possibly the Strangest Band in Rock and Roll[]
Feb/20/10 07:40 AM
- Quite Possibly the Strangest Band in Rock and Roll
- By JON LONGHI
- An old man stumbles around a dingy psychedelic living room in a fever dream.
- To either side of him sit strange creatures hunched over their electronic equipment, spidery plastic dreadlocks hanging over big black goggles covering their dim leather faces.
- Behind them flicker discs of light and dark shifting purple shapes. The air fills with the sound of creepy drum machines and circus freak show keyboards.
- A guitar erupts like the scream of a tortured animal. The melody is ugly yet somehow beautiful: a sure sign. This is a Residents show.
- No one knows who The Residents are. No one has ever seen their faces.
- For forty years they have only performed in elaborate, grotesque costumes like giant eyeball heads in dancing tuxedos.
- We don't know exactly how many people are, or have been, in the band. We don't even know their genders.
- But one thing is certain, no other band makes music like theirs.
- The Residents may well be the strangest band in rock and roll. Their history has been one of unrelenting freakishness.
- From their clashing horn sections to Snakefinger's twisty guitar, their albums stand mutated and unique.
- Bowie may have claimed to be from outer space, but it wasn't till I heard songs like “Easter Woman” and “Constantinople” that I realized aliens had actually landed on earth and started making rock and roll.
- Songs like “Blue Rosebuds” can co-mingle lush soundscapes of tranquility and horror all in one five-minute piece of music.
- They have a long list of classic albums such as “The Third Reich And Roll” and “The Commercial Album” which is composed of forty sixty-second songs.
- People like Les Claypool may have covered their songs but no one can sound anything remotely like the art brut majesty of the actual band.
- The three piece ensemble that performed at the regal Rio Theatre in Santa Cruz on Saturday night was the most melodic and musical incarnation of the band that I have heard so far.
- While a guitarist and keyboardist with a laptop wove lovely collages of otherworldly sound, the lead singer had a different voice and character for every song.
- Dressed as a decrepit old man, he sang harrowing stories in a voice that could go from a gurgle to a shriek to a growl.
- After starting with a song from “Demons Dance Alone,” they went thorough a semi-retrospective of their entire career.
- It was hard to tell because many of their songs were presented in versions so radically different from the originals that they'd be halfway through a tune before you recognized even a familiar one.
- This complete reinvention of their songbook was one of the show's strong suits.
- Sometimes two or three songs were mashed together into one huge psychedelic suite that was staggering in its intensity.
- Songs could launch from places of celestial calm to pure avant-garde excess in a matter of seconds.
- They did a masterful “Gingerbread Man” and a chillingly haunted version of “Six More Miles to the Graveyard.” The orchestral “Semolina” was a particular standout.
- The music was dense and complex, and almost every song took you to a trippy lysergic place of ultimate unease.
- But these fearful emotions were fed to you with a lush sonic poetry that was, at times, breathtaking.
- Few things in life have moved me as much as The Residents' music. They sing about the dark places with melodies beautiful and strange.
Talking Light Essay[]
Feb/20/10 10:13 AM
- Big Brother rambles on and on about Talking Light in his latest visit to The Last Word. It can be found here.
- http://residents.com/historical/page287/page354/page354.html
Goatie supplies story info[]
Feb/20/10 03:22 PM
- Want to know what story appears in which show? Goatie has done the footwork for you and supplies the necessary data. Find it by clicking on the TALKING LIGHT SHOW INFO over on the right side ---->
- Or click here.
Header images[]
See also[]
External links and references[]
- The Residents Blog, archived February 12th 2010 by archive.org
- The Residents Blog, archived March 13th 2010 by archive.org
