The Residents Celebrate 50th Anniversary with Visual History Book

In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of the legendary experimental music and art collective The Residents, their first fully authorized visual history book, The Residents: A Sight for Sore Eyes, Vol. 1, has been announced. Published by Melodic Virtue, the book contains rare and unseen photos, artwork, and other ephemera. Aaron Tanner has been given unprecedented access to The Cryptic Corporation’s archives to create a limited edition coffee table book covering everything from their beginnings in San Mateo up to The Mole Show.

Constantly defying classification while remaining completely anonymous, The Residents have been regarded as icons in the world of experimental music for 50 years. In addition to their groundbreaking work in the areas of trance, world fusion, electronica, punk, industrial, and lounge music, the group has also been credited with being among the originators of performance art and the music video, with their videos included in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art.

There is no true story of The Residents. You should know that right off. The secrets of The Residents will never be revealed by anyone but The Residents themselves, and so far they aren’t saying much. This report offers some insight into The Residents and their work, but their favorite breakfast cereals will remain a mystery. Part of what The Residents are about is their camouflage, and any understanding of them must take into account both their organized sounds and their organized silence. The best this report can do is note the various statements and point out the gaps. Our knowledge is still incomplete. Anything is possible.

The book features an introduction by Les Claypool (Primus) and exclusive quotes from Danny Elfman, Paul Reubens, John Linnell (They Might Be Giants), “Weird Al” Yankovic, Andy Partridge (XTC), Penn Jillette, Eric Drew Feldman (Captain Beefheart’s Magic Band), Paul Leary (Butthole Surfers), Aaron Freeman (Ween), James McNew (Yo La Tengo), Zach Hill (Death Grips), Eric André, David J (Bauhaus), Cedric Bixler-Zavala (The Mars Volta), Josh Freese (The Vandals), Rob Crow (Pinback), Dan Deacon, Don Preston (The Mothers of Invention), Alexander Hacke (Einstürzende Neubauten), JG Thirlwell, Blaine L. Reininger (Tuxedomoon), Sam Coomes (Quasi), David Janssen and Brian Poole (Renaldo and the Loaf), and many more!