The Residents
Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses
[Cryptic/Ryko]
Rating: 9.7
The Residents have been fucking shit up for 25 years and so, in
retrospect, Ryko saw fit to issue this fantastic compilation.
Trying to explain the Residents' music is a tricky task, but if it
weren't for them, you probably would not enjoy the work of today's
innovators who dare to go the full monty with their imagination. Weird
noises, characters, sound pastiches, whiny voices, daring samples, and
bastardized covers make up their universe.
Cramming two and a half decades of history onto two CDs is a tall order, and a novel
approach was taken in condensing six of their albums into sonic
"concentrates" that run about ten minutes or so. It works better than I
thought it would, although only hearing half a minute or so of "Homeage
Conversation" from Fingerprince was a bit of a tease. But on the
concentrate for Eskimo, it works wonders, leaving the listener stranded
for two minutes somewhere north of Juneau.
Best of all are the rare singles available on CD, including their
Hank Williams covers "Jambalaya" and "Kawliga." The latter is resigned to
grooving on a loop from Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean" that will stick
in your head for days.
Trust me: If you crave something different, look no further than Huddled
Masses. But don't come crying to me if it melts your brain.
-Jason Josephes