The Residents - Duck Stab / Buster & Glen (1978)

Artista: The Residents

Álbum: Duck Stab / Buster & Glen
Año: 1978
Género: Avant-Prog / Experimental
Duración: 34:47
Nacionalidad: EEUU

Lista de Temas:
1. Constantinople
2. Sinister Exaggerator
3. Booker Tease
4. Blue Rosebuds
5. Laughing Song
6. Bach Is Dead
7. Elvis and His Boss
8. Lizard Lady
9. Semolina
10. Birthday Boy
11. Weight Lifting Lulu
12. Krafty Cheese
13. Hello Skinny
14. Electrocutioner

Alineación:
- Snakefinger / guitar
- The Residents / everything else

A alguien en el chat cabezón se le dió por pedir algo de The Residents, y a nuestro Mago Bondadoso se le removieron sus entrañas y algo en resonó en su biografía que lo impulsó a salir en busca de este disco para compartirlo en nuestro espacio, para compartirles uno de los grupos más delirantes y originales de la historia del rock, o quizás debemos decir de la música toda...

The Residents es una de las agrupaciones musicales más importantes de la vanguardia estadounidense. Demasiado únicos para adscribirse a cualquier género musical, sus densas armonías electrónicas y melodías perversamente infantiles son no obstante una influencia para otras agrupaciones (Primus, por ejemplo, o aquí a los Helmut Róbot que también les copiaron eso de usar máscaras). Están, además, entre los primeros y más fuertes referentes del concepto de arte multimedia; la gran mayoría de sus discos son trabajos abiertamente conceptuales, con tramas, personajes y elementos visuales claramente definidos tan relevantes dentro de la obra como lo es el elemento musical. El otro factor por el que muchos les conocen es, paradójicamente, el anonimato que mantienen desde sus inicios, ocultando sus rostros tras una variedad de máscaras, la más famosa de las cuales es la icónica imagen del ojo con sombrero de copa.

Y aquí vamos con el comentario de Alberto, como para entrarle al disco alocado que nos trae...

Inesperados, experimentales, psicodélicos, raros, extravagantes, innovadores, misteriosos, desconocidos, todo esto y mucho más son los míticos The Residents, la primera banda que hasta el día de hoy sigue siendo anónima y sigue en vertiginoso avance su propio mito, mito que ellos mismos se encargaron desde los años 60 a alimentar de todo tipo de suspicacias a su alrededor, nadie sabe a ciencia cierta quienes son, lo que si se sabe es que su extensa obra esta plagada de sonidos estrambóticos, lírica desopilante, sonidos extrañísimos y proyectos que rozan la locura más extrema, si los oligofrénicos se dedicaran a componer música entre vómitos y excrementos, sin duda se mimetizarian con The Residents.
Recuerdo perfectamente la llegada de The Residents a mi vida y el terrible sacudón que provocó a mis neuronas, en su momento me pregunté -¿que mierda es esto?- y eso que ya estaba perfectamente amoldando mis oídos a complejidades tipo Zappa y Varese, Soft Machine, Gong, ELP, Genesis, Floyd etc. etc.,y fue justamente el disco que reseño hoy acá en el blog.cabezon, el que me sacudió las entrañas.
La década del 70 fue sin dudas el esplendor de TR y este disco en particular lo considero una obra de arte con mayúsculas, es una experiencia única, un viaje de ida, si una maquina del tiempo pudiera trasladarte a 1978 y en el cálido espacio de tu living o dormitorio abrieras la funda de un larga duración de vinilo y pusieras en tu tocadiscos esta obra, desde el primer sonido hasta el último te iba a dejar culo al norte, ahora bien... si la misma máquina te volviera a trasladar al siglo XXI y luego de descargar por Mega abrirías este mismo archivo, ibas a quedar de culo al norte también.
The Residents no es para cualquiera, y trazo un paralelo inmediato con toda la obra de Cardiacs, dos bandas que si les pescas el vuelo no te abandonan más, sucede lo mismo con Soft Machine y Zappa, no todo el mundo los entiende pero sabes que hay muchísima gente que los sigue y los disfruta.
TR tiene que haber sido (y se nota muchísimo) una fuerte influencia para Les Claypool, algo asi como Daniel Johnston lo fue para Curt Cobain, y el hilo conductor parece ser el mismo, la demencia.
The Residents siempre se balanceó entre el éxito y el fracaso, y creo que a ellos le da exactamente lo mismo, pues son dos polos opuestos de una misma cosa. Como dato curioso podría mencionar el hecho que cuando alguien en una reunión menciona a TR provoca extrañeza y los que los conocen nunca tienen una opinión formada al respecto.
Hoy hay una generación nueva que busca cosas viejas y extrañas, por eso la persona que pidio a TR por chat debe pertenecer a este grupo. A mí en lo personal me sorprendió sobremanera la mencion de TR pero nada más oportuno que este blog para que suene esta banda impresionante.
Tómense su tiempo para degustar esta obra, y si en arranque de ingenuidad se les da por escuchar más de ellos les aviso que van a encontrarse con discos hechos solo con sonidos guturales, otros solo de efectos, o versionando las marchas de Sousa, y si siguen el rastro van a sorprenderse con obras similares a esta.
Adjunto foto del "Ultimate Box" lanzado a fines del 2012 otra extravagancia de los Residents; un refrigerador con todos sus discos, en formato vinilos y cd, dvds, su famoso ojo con galera y otras yerbas al desopilante precio de u$s 100.000, otra sugerencia particular es escudriñar en sus videos (aporto desde ya algunos links).
El dicho dice: "un boton basta de muestra los demás a la camisa", en el caso de The Residents vas a necesitar toda una mercería.

Alberto

Sobre el refrigerador de que nos habla Alberto les comento:

A finales del año pasado The Residents celebraron los 40 años de su primer lanzamiento, el sencillo “Santa Dog” de 1972, con The Ultimate Box Set, una colección que cuesta $100,000 dólares y abarca cada uno de los lanzamientos de The Residents (más de 100 artículos en total). Y lo más increíble de todo, es que viene en un refrigerador de 28 pies cúbicos de acero inoxidable.
Pues bien, de acuerdo con NBC Bay Area, la banda ya vendió el primer electrodoméstico de productos enmascarados avant-garde a un extraño hombre que hace llamar Tripmonster (Dexter Ulysses McGillicutty) originario de Bloomington, Indiana. Durante el fin de semana, miembros del equipo de The Residents entregaron el Ultimate Box Set y filmaron el gran acontecimiento el cual aparecerá en el próxima documental de la banda, Theory of Obscurity, sobre los 40 años de historia de The Residents.
“Para The Residents, entregar el Ultimate Box Set fue una experiencia profunda y muy satisfactoria”, dijo Homer Flynn (vicepresidente de Cryptic Corporation Vice) a NBC Bay Area. “La expresión de alegría en el rostro de Tripmonster mientras sostenía la máscara del ojo gigante de la UBS, valió la pena cada minuto de sus 40 años de existencia”.

Radioalterno

The 7 track Duck Stab ep was advertised in the UK music press with the slogan 'Ignorance of your culture is not considered cool' (or words to that effect; it was a long time ago). The music was baffling and brilliant, the lyrics (more or less audible for the first time on a Residents release) nonsensical and vaguely sinister and the anonymity of the band made them even more interesting. Unfortunately the sound quality of the ep was not great, especially after a few plays, and so it was re released as an album with another, unreleased 7 track ep as the B side.
The Duck Stab tracks are as good an introduction as any to the early Residents (pre Mark of the Mole). Skeletal electronics, bizarre studio effects and occasional interjections on guitar and fiddle from Snakefinger conjure up strange, twisted pictures of disturbed loners on society's margins, and the distorted vocals and twisted nursery rhyme lyrics give them a voice. Lines like 'Your lichen covered corpuscles are filthy to my fist' or 'An ether eating eskimo would gag upon your sight' become positively threatening when delivered in an electronically distorted falsetto voice. This is pop music after a genetic experiment went hideously wrong, but it's also highly compelling listening. Buster and Glen (apparently inspired by an astronaut and his dog) continues in the same vein - only 3 of the tracks last longer than 3 minutes on the whole album, yet each song contains enough ideas to fill entire albums in the hands of the less committed. Stand out tracks are Sinister Exaggerator, Blue Rosebuds and Hello Skinny, but almost 30 years on none of this has dated and could just as easily have been recorded last week.
The Residents have gone further out (Eskimo) and more accessible (Commercial Album) but this is probably the best introduction to their unique output outside of compilations. Buy it, lose friends and disturb people. Nothing will ever seem quite the same again.

Chris Gleeson

Disturbing. That's the one word that describes The Residents. This record is saturated in madness. Nasal vocals, off key guitars, dissonant electronic toys, and surreal yet disturbing lyrics. This is Dada rock if I have ever seen it. The whole thing feels like some little kid brutally killing a toad and laughing at it. It's some scary crap, but it's addictive also. You'll want more of this insanity inducing madness, and you'll enjoy it. I think the reason the members of this band are hidden is because they don't want people to realize who exactly is behind the music because they would labelled as lunatics.
This is probably the easiest Residents record to get into, but that's not really saying much. It's the most melodic but the melodies are twisted. Everything is dissonant and discomforting. The style and glory of the Residents is best represented here, but they would still reach greater heights. Highly recommended to fans of 'weird rock' (Zappa, Beefheart, etc.).

Michael Crown

When I first heard "Blue Rosebuds" on a local Sarajevo radio station in early 1980s, I was like "what the hell is this?" The most unusual "pop" song I ever heard until that time! Only recently however I listened to the entire LP (originally issued as an extended edition of "Duck Stab" EP) and I can say this is probably the most accessible RESIDENTS of the 1970s. More than that, it is loaded with wonderful, bittersweet, deranged songs sounding like mutants of pop music. "Constantinople", "Blue Rosebuds", "Laughing Song", "Bach Is Dead", "Elvis and His Boss", "Semolina", "Birthday Boy", "Krafty Cheese", "Hello Skinny" are all essential RESIDENTS' minimalist masterpieces. If you never heard this band of lunatics before, this is the place to start. But, caution: before entering the Residents territory, you should leave behind all your pre-conceptions about what the music (including progressive rock) really is!

Sead S. Fetahagic

The term body language often refers to a sexual attraction, however, in the case of THE RESIDENTS; there's no such things - unless you have a fetish for mutilated farm animals. Here, body language is not body talk - it's a body shouting: Press STOP!
But the other side of your body (body, not mind, because your mind had been eaten so far) is refusing to do it, because you're both shocked and amazed. Yes, that's the music of THE RESIDENTS.
There's a common misconception about the identity of the bandmembers; people think they're staying in anonymity because of some artistic reasons. No. They just forgot their Christian names, the names of their parents, what planet are they from, or the number of their limbs. You have a full right to question their sanity.
Beyond all that dementia, there are really intelligent stories going on; crazy dynamics, arrangements, hypnotic repetitive sounds, bursts of chaotic hiss, some great, rhythmical, 8-syllables-in-a-verse lyrics and those crazy, dissonant intervals that fit in the overall (gory) picture so nicely.
I'm often wondering how on Earth they produced all that sounds. Overdriven sounds, bent out of shape, that could possibly be keyboards, guitars or bended saws. Toy trumpets, stringy things in the background, cheapo electric organs, analog synths (used in a great and unconventional way), tuned percussions. Add to the plethora of the instruments a plethora of dynamic range and different song parts - and you have really beautiful yet insane collage. This is certainly worth your time. Their music should be heard, at least once in a lifetime.

Moris Mateljan

"Your heart is like a silken sponge that calls saliva love."
If music can truly be characterized as deranged, then this is an album that is deranged. The liner notes claim that the album contains "modern day nursery rhymes". If so, this album is for the Addams Family children. Lyrically twisted, and musically off the charts, this album will frighten children, and confuse adults.
It's one of my favorite Residents albums.
The songs, on the surface, sound simplistic. But listen deeply and you will hear microtonal chords and scales, and some of the weirdest sounding instruments anywhere. The best songs? If I had to choose, they would be Constantinople (yes, that song), Sinister Exaggerator (quoted above) and Hello Skinny. But don't get me wrong, the entire album, from start to finish, is great.
My copy, the ESD 1987 release, has the EP "Goosebumps" as a bonus. This is "a re- recording of Mother Goose with the original sinister overtones left intact". It makes the album even better.

Scott

The Residents... If you were ever weird, well then you weren't. That simple. The Residents are at least 500 times weirder than you. Their music is such a distorted nightmare... but strangely it's a nightmare you'll enjoy very much if you have a stomach for it. The Residents are one of the toughest bands to get into, it took months over months for me to finally understand what they were trying to do, a listen here a listen there and then it just all slammed into place. Therefore my first review of one of my truly favourite bands of all time will be a review of their most accessible and fun albums: The two combined EPs which are Duck Stab and Buster and Glen.
Who are the Residents? How the hell should I know? They are your weirdest acid trip more or less. They sound like they've been listening to R&B records through a record player which had heroin injected to it. Add a bunch of synths and electronic experimentations, creepy Louisiana accents (the band's home state), and you're a step closer to understand who the Residents are: a bunch of boys who were probably rather socially awkward and had rather creative and manic minds. No bands ever truly managed to do what the Residents did, but the number of artists influenced by the Residents is countless. Their advancements in electronic music, their strange vocal delivery, their oddball image, showed people what weirdness truly is.
On this record you have some of the more fun and accessible material as I said. The songs are around 2-3/3:30 minutes, and all have something similar to a melody to enjoy. They're all at least great, some better than others. Some definite highlights are: The forever addictive "Constantinople", the eerie and frightening "Blue Rosebuds", the violin filled "Laughing Song", the short and sweet "Bach Is Dead", The bluesy "Sinister Exaggerator", The hilarious "Birthday Boy", the strangely beautiful "The Electrocutioner". But honestly there's nothing really bad in this album at all and almost everything is quite the masterpiece, except for a few songs which are great and still very enjoyable ("Semolina" for example). It's all to be listened to.
The Residents are master producers and composers. The production isn't out of this world, but it really only adds to the Residents fun. The lo-fi is adds a special sort of intimate feature to the Residents, most of the times at least (the Residents discography is big and there aren't missing any less than spectacular releases, but the amount of great albums is staggering). Also the late great Snakefinger does some very cool guitar parts. Strange and creepy bluesy riffs sometimes pop up and add to the party. The songs aren't technically complex, but the use of synths and guitars and percussion are so enjoyable and intricate that it's always a joy to listen to their stuff again and again, and such is the case with this album.
Anyone wanting to start with the Residents should start here, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise!

Ori

Music with a severe case of dementia.
"Duck Stab/Buster & Glen" is one of The Residents albums that I looked forward to hearing after listening to a heap of others that alternate from plain ridiculous to ingenious. This one is hailed as one of their best so it was one I had to indulge in. it opens with 'Constantinople' with that nasal twang on all earlier albums "here I come Constantinople". Okay, it is not too bad, next is creepy weirdness in 'Sinister Exaggerator' and it is perhaps only for true addicts of this band being so oddball. Snakefinger's guitar work is always great though.
'Booker Tease' is a short stab reminding me of "Commercial Album"'s content. I like the guitar and rhythm that is actually a more commercial sound but the brass are unmistakeable as a Residents style of jazz. 'Blue Rosebuds' is more like Residents with a bubbling synth and deep bass, and the vocals are the same style as on "Commercial Album" that I have grown used to.
'Laughing Song' is wonderfully delirious, lots of laughter and nasal singing, and a nice little comical touch on the synths. 'Bach Is Dead' is whimsical with staccato brass and a synth sounding like a chicken clucking and the chant "Bach is dead" is chilling. Sounds like anything you are likely to hear from "Commercial Album".
'Elvis and His Boss' has an Elvis blues feel but with odd out of tune synths. The voice mimics Elvis similar to material on "Third Reich and Roll".
'Lizard Lady' has a classic disturbing Residents sound with weird verses sung nasally and echoed by atonal synth lines. Don't try and make sense of the lyrics as its pointless. 'Semolina' has quirky vocals multilayered and off kilter to the tuneless synths, a maddening low point on the album. Must admit the seagulls and waves enhance the sound.
'Birthday Boy' is funny but warped not to be played at birthdays. It sounds like a birthday at an asylum. I love the oddball music in particular but thankfully these songs are short before they wear thin.
'Weight Lifting Lulu' is great with its cool swinging surfie guitar sound, and layered whispered vocals. The atmosphere is incredibly unnerving, a trademark Residents vibe. 'Krafty Cheese' is more demented tuneless stuff, with a droning bass, and deep resonance in the vocals. The eyeballs revel in this type of sound.
'Hello Skinny' is one that I had heard elsewhere so it had a nice familiar sound. The pragonist is so skinny he can be sucked into an eye dropper. The melody is endearing and quite catchy and I love those vocals reminding me of much of "Commercial Album".
'Electrocutioner' ends the album with some really creepy music and as the song builds up there is the musical definition of an electrocution.
Not an album to be played at funerals.

Scott Tuffnell

This album is actually a combination of two E.P.s of the same names. However, only "Duck Stab!" had been previously released alone where "Buster & Glen" was not yet released. The studio decided to release them together, one per record side. The track order was also changed for "Duck Stab!" The band wanted them released separate, but the two E.P.s actually work together well, and since each track is not over 4 minutes, the crazy off the wall sound of The Residents doesn't wear itself out on this album.
So, the people that seem to like this album (like myself) tend to like it for it's strange eclectic sound. Throughout this album, pretty much everything is distorted in one way or another. This works well with the scary, yet zany lyrics. Vocal harmonies, instruments, melodies are off just enough so that you know things are not quite right. If these songs were standard, this would almost be a pop album, but with everything off kilter and over processed, what you get is a bunch of art-pop....experimentation with pop music. With earlier Residents sound (which this album is), you not only get the usual sparse electronic sound, but you get odd guitar licks and hooks from Snakefinger. The weirdness is what makes this album so attractive to those people that tend to like this album, and when you listen to it, there is that certain something about it.
For those wanting to dive into The Residents massive discography, this is a good place to start. The "Duck Stab!" portion of this is actually the better part with the "Buster & Glen" portion not being quite as interesting, but still has it's share of surprises like the warped singing of "Happy Birthday" and the hello dolly sound of "Hello Skinny". Most editions also have the "Goosebumps" suite which is a B side to "Diskomo" which jacks the value of the 2nd side back up to the 1st side. The 3 songs that make up the suite are hilarious takes on nursery rhymes that crack me up everytime I hear them. These are not nursery rhymes to share with your kids though unless you want them to grow up to be strange.
The combination of these two E.P.s along with the added B-side makes this collection (or album if you prefer) well worth while especially for beginners to The Residents sound. I guarantee you if you don't like this, then it's probably best to not look any further in their catalogue. But if it does appeal to you in that weird way that it appeals to lovers of avant-prog music, then you have a lot of work to do listening to their discography. Even though there are a lot of bombs in the discography, there are a lot of gems too. It's worth checking out. In the meantime, this gets 4.5 stars, but I'll round it up to 5 because the "Duck Stab!" side and the Goosebumps suite are priceless.

TCat

After first hearing 'Duck Stab' in 1995 it changed everything I listened to afterwards.
Trying to describe it is a very difficult thing. It's extremely creepy, but curiously tuneful at the same time. I think it's the vocals that do it. They're quite frankly maniacal. This is one of the most "off the wall" albums you could wish to hear. In fact any one of the Residents first 7 albums up to 1980 are just plain over the rainbow crazy.
There's guitars that sound all queer and high pitched, drum machines with no high pitches whatsoever, repetitive bass, some seriously damaged keyboards that sound one octave out continuously and loads of deranged almost cartoonish vocals that belong on a Warner Brothers animation.
Most importantly of all I can almost certainly confirm the identity of the never seen before lead singer... He is the weird guy playing guitar on 'Moisture' in the 'One Minute Movies' (from the 'Commercial Album' 1980) easily accesible on YouTube for the curious. He's the same guy interviewed by Penn and Teller in a wobbly 80's video documentary where he pretends to be the bands manager. The bodily actions and the voice are identical.
So if this review has served no other purpose, at least you can get to see the guy's face with no eyeball on his head! I'm just surprised no one else has mentioned this.

Lewis Graham

A great album full of rythm, weird, dark or funny lyrics and incredible use of sound effects. It begins with one of the most catchy Resident song: Constantinople (wich is in fact a strange samba). It's a bit a satyre of some kinds of songs (like ballads, samba, blues or rock and roll). The effects and different sounds used for the album are amazing. The Residents were always experementing sounds wich gives them a distinctive style and a distinctive ambience to their music. Really worths his five stars because it is so incredible. Pretty proggy too even though more experimental. Surely the Residents are not popular with everyone but if you don't know the Residents, I think it's a good place to start with.
Have a good time listening to this album.

The_Jester

Los dejo, con ustedes, a The Residents para que les lime un poco el coco, en el que creo que es uno de sus mejores discos... espero que lo disfruten. Música infame para un día de miércoles. Esto es música demencial que sirve para cambiar estructuras mentales, y por lo tanto música revolucionaria como la mejor música R.I.O.