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dot.com is a compilation album by The Residents, collecting previously unreleased material spanning the group's entire career, with four newly recorded tracks. It was released in a limited edition by Ralph America in August 2000.

Twelve of the album's thirteen tracks had been individually released for free online through Ralph America's official website between June 1999 and May 2000. One of the tracks, "I Hear Ya Got Religion", is the group's earliest known recording, dating from 1969. Otherwise, the compilation primarily focuses around material recorded in the 1990s.

The album was reissued by Austrian label Klanggalerie in 2017, in an updated edition including four further tracks from the group's Radio Thoreau remix project, and an exclusive version of "The Dark Man".

History

The album collects twelve tracks released digitally through Ralph America's official website as monthly free MP3 downloads between June 1999 and May 2000. Some of these tracks had apparently been pointed out to The Cryptic Corporation by former UWEB fan club leader Uncle Willie.

These tracks primarily consisted of previously unreleased recordings from the 1990s, with some exceptions being "Nineteen-Ninety-Nine", "Ninth Rain", "Santa Dog For Gamelan Orchestra" and "Fire '99 / Santa Dog 2nd Millennium", all of which were recorded by The Residents specifically for this project.

Carla Fabrizio and Paul Miller (both members of Gamelan Sekar Jaya) assisted The Residents during the sessions, particularly on "Santa Dog for Gamelan Orchestra". At this point, Carla was becoming a core collaborator with The Residents, being one of only a few figures to share a writing credit with The Residents.

"I Hear Ya Got Religion" (here issued for the first time in a shortened edit) which was recorded by The Pre-Residents in 1969. The earliest released recording by the group at the time of its release, it predates The Residents themselves. The version included on dot.com is a shortened edit; the full six-and-a-half minute recording was later issued on the digital compilation ERA B474 in 2012.

"The Sour Song" is an instrumental demo dating from the Our Finest Flowers sessions in 1992. From the same period is the "Eskimo Opera", a demo for a proposed "opera" adaptation of the 1979 album Eskimo which was briefly intended to be the group's live follow-up to Cube-E, but which never materialized.

"Hunters" was recorded in 1993 for the soundtrack to the documentary TV series of the same name, but was excluded from the 1994 soundtrack album. "Wanda" was recorded live in Prague in 1995, and does not feature The Residents, but rather Wayne Doba and the Freak Show Band.

"Conceiving Ada Titles" and "I Murdered Mommy" are two instrumental tracks; the former composed for the film of the same name (which ultimately did not include The Residents' score), and the latter for The Residents' abandoned CD-ROM game of the same name. The complete I Murdered Mommy! soundtrack was later released as a limited edition CD in 2004.

"Paint It Black", a cover of The Rolling Stones' song, was recorded live at the Adobe Disfigured Night performance in 1997. "Walter Westinghouse" was recorded during the group's residency at The Fillmore in October the following year; this track is an outlier, in that Ralph America did not release it as part of the original download series.

Release

Ralph America released dot.com in August 2000 in a limited edition of 1,200 copies,[1] which quickly sold out.

The images seen in the browser on the album art had previously been published on the Ralph America website as the three top winners (chosen by The Residents) of Ralph America's "Halloween collage" contest.

Klanggalerie reissue

In 2017, Austrian independent label Klanggalerie released an updated version of the album. This edition included five additional tracks, dating between 2002 and 2014, which had previously been released as digital singles through the group's Radio Thoreau project.

"My Window" is a live recording originating from The Residents' Bunny Boy tour in 2008. "The Weatherman" (from the 2002 album Demons Dance Alone), "There's Blood (On The Bunny)" (from The Bunny Boy) and "Marie" (recorded in 1989) all feature overdubs recorded by The Residents' producer and co-composer Charles Bobuck in 2013 and 2014.

"The Dark Man", exclusive to this edition, was originally released on The Bunny Boy but includes overdubs recorded in 2017.

Track listing

All tracks composed by The Residents except where noted

Original release (2000)

  1. The Sour Song (2:44)
  2. Nineteen-Ninety-Nine (Residents/Prince) (4:46)
  3. Ninth Rain (3:14)
  4. Wanda (4:54)
  5. Conceiving Ada Titles (3:46)
  6. Paint It Black (Residents/Jagger/Richards) (2:59)
  7. Hunters (1:24)
  8. Eskimo Opera (5:26)
  9. Walter Westinghouse (Live At The Fillmore '98) (6:24)
  10. I Murdered Mommy (4:11)
  11. I Hear Ya Got Religion (2:47)
  12. Santa Dog (Gamelan) (Residents/Fabrizio) (5:16)
  13. Fire '99 / Santa Dog 2nd Millennium (9:52)
    1. Fire '99
    2. Santa Dog 2nd Millennium
    3. Aircraft Damage

Klanggalerie edition (2017)

  1. The Sour Song (2:45)
  2. 1999 (Nelson) (4:47)
  3. Ninth Rain (3:14)
  4. Marie (Pomus/Shuman) (2:48)
  5. Wanda (4:54)
  6. Conceiving Ada Titles (3:46)
  7. There's Blood (On The Bunny) (3:58)
  8. Paint It Black (Jagger-Richards) (2:59)
  9. My Window (4:02)
  10. Hunters (1:25)
  11. Eskimo Opera (5:27)
  12. Walter Westinghouse (6:24)
  13. The Weatherman (3:06)
  14. I Murdered Mommy (4:11)
  15. I Hear Ya Got Religion (2:47)
  16. Santa Dog For Gamelan Orchestra (Residents/Fabrizio) (5:14)
  17. The Dark Man (3:39)
  18. Fire '99 / Santa Dog 2nd Millenium (9:55)

Liner notes

Original release (2000)

The image presented in the browser windows were created by some RalphAmerica regulars for our Halloween Collage contest. They were published on the web as the 3 top winners (picked by The Residents) and we liked them so much we put them here to. Thanks to Uncle Willie for pointing out some hidden gems, and to Steinberg, WAVES, and Shur Brothers for their support.

Credits

See also

  1. ↑ "Newsflash!" on Ralph America's official website, August 2000 (archived via archive.org)
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