The Residents

小簡介
這個樂隊堪稱世界上最古怪的樂隊之一，甚至最初連名字都沒有。The Resident這個名字得來據(jù)說這樣，“對于一個經(jīng)常活躍在你周圍的樂隊極端崇拜，但又不知這幾個人到底是誰，只是知道就住在你附近，所以乾脆叫‘居民’好了”一來二去這個名字就叫開了。
看看這個樂隊在1966年時干了些什么——用電子樂、超級失真、先鋒爵士樂和古典音樂、交響音樂搞實驗音樂？這種創(chuàng)作直到今天也依然是很多人的夢想，可在三十多年前，The Resident就這樣輕易做到了。
這個樂隊自成立之初，就絕對“沒臉見人”(不知道Kiss樂隊是否就是受到了這個樂隊的啟發(fā)，學(xué)了這么一手)，乾脆樂隊成員的名字也改成神話人物的了。還專門委托一個組織替他們出頭露面，神秘的如同上帝。樂隊討厭現(xiàn)場演出，即使迫不得已登臺時也總是打扮得連親媽也識不得——類似木乃伊、各種蔬菜的裝扮有很多，最為著名就是的超大眼球頭罩，高禮帽、夜禮服和一條長尾巴了。他們從不接受任何采訪，神秘到底。一些執(zhí)著的記者和歌迷為一睹真容，絞盡腦汁，甚至闖樂隊錄音棚，甚至乾脆就捏造點(diǎn)樂隊的圖片，吹噓自己是這幾個高人的哥們了事。
看看推薦專輯里那據(jù)傳只售出了五十張的專輯《Meet the Residents》，甲殼蟲的四位帥歌都給改成那德行了，音樂自然不難想象。樂隊第一支單曲“Santa Dog”也只是錄制了三百張，還全部郵寄給Frank Zappa和尼克松總統(tǒng)這樣的大人物了。直到1978年，樂隊為了合約才懶洋洋地正式推出了第一張正式專輯《Third Reich N’Roll》(第三帝國搖滾樂？果然厲害)。樂隊把前衛(wèi)搖滾的實驗特色同扭曲的流行音樂、各種古怪的音樂元素以及怪癖的念頭堆砌在一起，對排行榜金曲進(jìn)行了惡毒的攻擊
朋克時代，樂隊的胡搞才能得到了進(jìn)一步發(fā)揮，后朋克的歷史中也由此增加了一支最讓人找不到北的樂隊。無厘頭的瞎打亂撞在此時也達(dá)到了樂隊歷史的巔峰，徹底沒有了以前還算有根可查的音樂。愉快的在地下世界折騰了幾年后，樂隊開始向更加史詩化的大作發(fā)展，古典音樂此時有成為了主要實驗的對象。80年代中期后開始篡改美國作曲家系列的創(chuàng)作過程…
總有人以為60年代只有The Velvet Underground這樣的先鋒，可比起像The Residents、Captain Beefheart這樣的樂隊，就有些大巫見小巫的味道了。我們是無法清晰地去定義The Residents的風(fēng)格的，先鋒爵士，實驗電子，古典音樂，早期朋克，噪音實驗，無浪潮……各種音樂元素被混雜在一起，卻又隨心所欲地不按任何道理出牌，無序的各種音樂樣式被滑稽可笑地拼貼在一起，加上主唱鼻音濃重、乾癟粗糙的噪音，營造了一個怪誕、荒謬的現(xiàn)代社會即景圖。
2000年樂隊的新專輯Roadworms: The Berlin Sessions，沿襲著樂隊固有的玩鬧風(fēng)格，展現(xiàn)在我們面前。這張在柏林錄音室里錄制的唱片是明顯地帶有歐洲電子風(fēng)格的，而追隨著上一張專輯Wormwood的宗教主題，The Residents一再地將圣經(jīng)故事解構(gòu)，正話反說，有話不好好說，每首歌的結(jié)構(gòu)往往是以宗教式的鍵盤開始，在沒有節(jié)奏的電子方向上游走一段，然后就迫不及待地加入沒有道理的吉它solo、吉它噪音，達(dá)至撕心裂肺的高潮，最后再一步一回頭拖泥帶水地哼哼幾句。而一男一女兩個主唱也是唱得東倒西歪、睡意惺忪，絕對地老沒正勁！這是一張概念化的唱片，光是理解那些晦澀的歌名就夠嗆了，什么得到頭的方法、頭發(fā)的絞刑、神那有魔力的手指頭、把豬在廟宇用帳篷遮蓋、使秋天燃燒……好玩又荒誕。而最后一首8分多鐘的噪音實驗作品Judas Saves. Road更是在高潮處把一段可怕的吉它噪音和歡樂頌結(jié)合得天衣無縫，可謂是出人意表的奇異高潮和結(jié)局，他們每次都是這樣，讓你摸不著頭腦。　
這就是30幾年來不愿以真面目示人的另外一群居民，用他們自成一體的古怪樂理和道理充滿惡意地幽默、充滿刺激地詛咒、充滿機(jī)智地尖刻、充滿戲劇性地疏離、充滿憤世嫉俗地挖苦。反正笑到你眼淚流出來，哭到你忍不住笑出來
Over the course of a recording career spanning several decades, the Residents remained a riddle of Sphinx-like proportions; cloaking their lives and music in a haze of willful obscurity, the bands members never identified themselves by name, always appearing in public in disguise — usually tuxedos, top hats and giant eyeball masks — and refusing to grant media interviews. Drawing inspiration from the likes of fellow innovators including Harry Partch, Sun Ra, and Captain Beefheart, the Residents channelled the breadth of American music into their idiosyncratic, satiric vision, their mercurial blend of electronics, distortion, avant-jazz, classical symphonies and gratingly nasal vocals reinterpreting everyone from John Philip Sousa to James Brown while simultaneously expanding the boundaries of theatrical performance and multimedia interaction.
It was commonly accepted that the four-member group emigrated to San Francisco, California from Shreveport, Louisiana at some point in the early 70s. According to longtime group spokesman Jay Clem — one member of the so-called Cryptic Corporation, the bands representative body — they received their name when Warner Bros. mailed back their anonymous demo tape, addressed simply for the attention of residents. Finding no takers for their oddball sounds, the Residents founded their own label, Ralph Records, for the purposes of issuing their 1972 debut Santa Dog, released in a pressing of 300 copies which were mailed out to luminaries from Frank Zappa to President Richard Nixon. Their debut full-length, 1974s Meet the Residents, reportedly sold fewer than 50 copies before the group was threatened with a lawsuit from Capitol Records over its cover, a twisted, dada-esque parody of the art to Meet the Beatles.
The follow-up, 1974s neo-classical excursion Not Available, was recorded with the intention of its music remaining unissued; locked in cold storage upon its completion, only a 1978 contractual obligation resulted in its eventual release. 1976s Third Reich N Roll was the next official offering, a collection of pop oldies covers presented in a controversial jacket portraying Adolf Hitler clutching an enormous carrot. After a 1976 concert in Berkeley, California which cloaked the Residents behind an opaque screen, wrapped up like mummies — the most famous of only three live performances mounted during their first decade of existence — they issued an abrasive 1977 cover of the Rolling Stones Satisfaction, which became an underground hit on both sides of the Atlantic at the peak of the punk movement. As the decade drew to a close, the group released a flurry of recordings, further building upon their growing cult following; among them were 1977s Duck Stab/Buster & Glen, 1979s Eskimo (purportedly a collection of native Arctic chants) and 1980s Commercial Album, a compilation of 40 one-minute pop songs that aired on San Francisco radio only because the Residents played them during the advertising time they bought.
In 1981 the Residents embarked upon their Mole Trilogy, a prog rock collection of albums — 1981s The Mark of the Mole, 1982s The Tunes of Two Cities and 1985s The Big Bubble — recounting an epic battle between a pair of tribes named the Moles and the Chubs; a lavish, multimedia tour, The Mole Show, followed. In the interim, the group also mounted another ambitious project, the American Composer series, although only two of the projected titles — 1984s George and James (a reinterpretation of songs by George Gershwin and James Brown) and 1986s Stars and Hank Forever (celebrating John Philip Sousa and Hank Williams) — ever appeared. Instead, in the wake of financial and corporate difficulties which resulted in the creation of a New Ralph label, the Residents issued the one-off God in Three Persons (a talking blues outing), and 1989s The King and Eye (a reinterpretation of Elvis Presley standards).
After losing control of the Ralph label as well as their back catalog, the Residents regained the rights to their music in 1990 and began reissuing long-out-of-print material as well as the new Freak Show, a meditation on circus sideshows and carnival dementia. Four years later, Freak Show was reissued as a CD-ROM, marking the groups first leap into the new digital interactive technology; Have a Bad Day followed in 1996, and included the soundtrack to the CD-ROM game Bad Day on the Midway. In 1997, the band celebrated their silver anniversary with the release of the career-spanning overview Our Tired, Our Poor, Our Huddled Masses. Wormwood: Curious Stories From the Bible followed the next year, with Roadworms (songs from Wormwood as performed in the stage show) being issued in mid-2000. They followed that up with the awesome Icky Flix DVD, an incredibly detailed collection of their videos that featured both old and new soundtracks, 5.1 Digital Stereo Surround sound, countless hidden videos and in-depth histories of each individual track. That was followed by another one of their rare tours, which saw them incorporate the DVD into their live act and bring out guest singer Molly Harvey for some truly creative duets. The Petting Zoo retrospective followed in the spring of 2002, acting as a budget sampler for new fans and giving old fans something to tide them over while several high concept projects neared completion. The first was Demons Dance Alone, a complicated pop album that hearkened back to the catchier material from Duck Stab and The Commercial Album. That was followed in 2002 by a live retrospective called Kettles of Fish on the Outskirts of Town that contained 3 cds and a DVD, and a further look at their past via remasters and remixes put out by EuroRalph (including a remix of their previously unreleased and notorious Warner Brothers Demo). A DVD of the Demons Dance Alone tour came out in 2004 and another new project, Animal Lover was released in 2005.