DAYDREAM B-LIVER

This is a collection of oddities from various Residents projects, some songs were left off of other albums or were abandoned. Quite a variety of stuff here, and even though it follows the minimalism of The Residents, it is quite entertaining probably because it does come from a variety of projects so you never really know what to expect next. Here is a track by track analysis, something I don't like to do, but hey, this is The Residents.

Track 1 is a bunch of weird spaced out snippets from various projects that kind of work together in a warped kind of way. You get some pieces of songs from the abandoned Sun Ra tribute which was part of the "American Composers" series and a tip of the top hat to Barry White. Mostly instrumental and minimalistic.

Track 2 is a strange instrumental which comes from the "Baby King" stories on the Elvis tribute "The King and Eye".

Track 3 through 5 is called a suite though it is 3 distinct and separate Hank Williams songs done in 3/4 time. They are lost tracks from the "Stars and Hank" album. "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" sounds like the calliope version that you would hear on that nightmare merry-go-round that you have all dreamt about.....Please tell me I'm not the only one....

Track 6 is from a live radio broadcast (The Residents live on the radio????.....Tell me it isn't so)

Track 7 is .... well it's hard to explain but fans of The Residents might understand. From a live show before The Residents actually existed, but fans will recognize the voices. Audience participation chanting, free form jazz noise and more noise and nonsense. But there is some twisted sense to it all believe it or not.

Speaking of Frank Zappa, Track 8 is "King Kong". Yes FZ's King Kong covered by The Residents. Sounds like the melody is done on a sitar played by Alvin and the Chipmunks. It's actually Snakefinger doing the fancy fingerpicking. This is from a 1971 live show...I believe.

Track 9 is a short outtake from the "Freak Show" sessions.

"From the Plains to Mexico"...Track 10....is the original version of the same song from Cube-E. The vocals are in the cowboy trash accent. Somewhat darker than the official version.

"Wistful Break" is part of a rehearsal for a German TV show.

"Burning Love" is the Elvis cover but comes from the same rehearsal session as the previous track, not the same as "The King and Eye" version. More upbeat than the official version. But not very well recorded.

"Daydream Believer" is a cover of the famous Monkees song. This was recorded especially for this album. Very funny cover that strips all the sunniness off of the Monkees version. Actually, there is some sunniness here in the tacky keyboard hooks, but its sunniness that will burn you. Warning: Get out the sun block!

There is something definitely enticing about The Residents recordings and any outtakes and rarities are essential to the fans. But anyone else is most likely just going to sit there and say "WTF????" As much as this appeals to my warped sense of humor and my attraction to weird things, I can only give it 2 stars because of the inconsistent quality of the recordings. Anyway, maybe this review will entice someone to check out some of the gems that The Residents do have that are more readily available......but tread carefully!