SMELL MY PICTURE

Through the years, The Residents have released some really strange and some really great albums, many of which were written with definite concepts, stories and ideas, usually based around original and cutting edge multi-media material. Those familiar with The Residents know that the band has had its ups and downs, and sometimes their downs were so down that they were up.

In the 2000s, the band started taking their odd sarcasm and humor more seriously, and they seen some rather unique albums come from their collective eyeballs. Between 2005 and 2007, a trilogy of albums proved the band wasn't just a bunch of oddballs that really didn't know how to play anything, but could actually create some innovative music, still keep their warped sense of humor, and continue to keep themselves strangely relevant to what was going on at the time. This trilogy of albums was made up of "River of Crime", "Tweedles" and "The Voice of Midnight". The bands sounded like they were trying hard to make impressive music, even if the concepts were still off in some strange places that no other band would dare follow.

The Residents also had a history of releasing everything, and that is why their collection of collections of rarities and "fan albums" is so immense. They were know to release completely useless music, even incidental music that was played during intermissions at their concerts. So, this brings us to this featured collection of outtakes and what-nots from the same period as the trilogy of albums mentioned above, a delightful collection of oddness know collectively as "Smell My Picture", an ugly title with an equally ugly album cover, the upside-down close-up of someone's nostril.

This historical collection contains most of the unused instrumental music that was recorded for these albums. According to the band's website, the title of the album was cleverly inspired by one of the eyeballs when it was said that making a movie with sound was much like smelling photographs instead of looking at them. The term ended up being used by the band when they wanted feedback on different ideas. Wow, The Residents actually had ideas, what a concept!

So, we have another unashamedly useless collection of unwanted musical ideas from The Residents that we don't know what to do with. Surprisingly, the tracks on this mostly instrumental album sound quite finished, especially for The Residents. Who needs those expensive avant-garde bands when you can get discount store style avant-garde music like this priced to clear out of our inventory. The music is weird, but definitely what you would expect from The Residents, except that it is well- created, orchestrated and performed. Listening to this album, you can understand why The Residents are considered avant- prog, if you haven't figured it out already. It's actually quite surprising how interesting and captivating this music is. It's not that cheap Wurlitzer music from their discography of the 80s, but it is all professionally done with actual instruments and electronics.

Is the album essential? Well I wouldn't go that far. But I still enjoy it because even if it comes from a short time span in their history, it is still quite versatile and strangely engaging. I can easily call it a 4 star collection even if it is made up of unwanted ideas. The Residents will capitalize on everything, but, in this case, it is a collection worthy of owning. Just remember, this is still The Residents, and you are going to get some really strange stuff here, but it's all done well, and as a collection, it comes across quite cohesively, not hackneyed like some of these collections can be. 4 stars.

The Residents invite you to smell along with them, and how can you resist? Go ahead! You know you're curious. Have a whiff.