Demons Dance Alone

To say that Demons Dance Alone is the Residents' most "accessbile" or "mainstream" recording to date would be both true and misleading. Let me attempt to tell you why....
The Residents have spent the last 30 years "amusing the muses and confusing the masses" with music that ranges from absurd hallucination to the essence of poignancy. They have written music for Pee Wee's Playhouse and the Discovery Channel, as well as created two award winning games (Freak Show and Bad Day on the Midway). All this and more, while the actual members of the band have remained anonymous. Even guest artists have sometimes recorded their contributions separately from the band itself. And speaking of guest artists, The Residents have been joined by guitar wizards Fred Frith and Snakefinger, performers Penn and Teller, and many other very talented folks over the years.

But still, for many people, The Residents' music has been a lesson in ongoing obscurity and has not been viewed as "radio friendly". Demons Dance Alone (DDA) might just be the first recording from the band to offer a marginally mainstream audience a way to approach and appreciate The Residents, while long-time fans of The Residents should still not be disappointed.

DDA is broken into three sections: "Loss", "Denial" and "Three Metaphors". With all the material having been written post-9/11/01, DDA's overall feel is one of sadness, and yet the songs do not wallow in despair so much as they explore the ways neediness and despair manifests without judging it. The result is a recording that feels more personal than anything else I've ever heard from The Residents.
m834(Amazon)

DVD

Part 1

Part 2 Loss

3 Denial Pt 1

3 Denial Pt 2

Join Part 3 with HJ SPLIT.

Part 4

Part 5

Easter Egg:
L'Oeil Du Cyclone TanX Wilbur.

Filmed throughout the U.S.A., Oct-Nov 2002.
Audio recorded live 15th November 2002 at
Warsaw Ballroom, Brooklyn, N.Y.

Limited edition (1050 copies) 8" hardback book-style box set containing the Demons Dance Alone DVD and a 16-page glossy, colour 'photo album'.


Demons Dance Alone
Numbered limited edition of 3000 copies.

CD 1 is the regular Demons Dance Alone CD
CD 2 is a bonus disc of early versions of some of the tracks on disc 1 plus some unreleased material that never made it on to the finished version.


The CD booklet contains the section "The Residents Have Left The Building", which at first might be taken to indicate that none of the original members are still in the band. It does state that "a few" of those involved are "the flesh and blood residue of our mythical heroes, maintaining appearances for mostly sentimental reasons. But can any of these shadowy sidemen truthfully call themselves THE RESIDENTS? No more than you or I, but if no one claims to be a RESIDENT, doesn't that mean everyone is a potential RESIDENT?"

Bootlegs:


Barcelona 23-09-03

Vienna 25-09-03

London 03-10-03


Belgrade


Dusseldorf 03-11-03


Chicago HOB 2002