Talk:The River of Crime!

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Notes From Ralph

CORDLESS RECORDINGS TO RELEASE THE RESIDENTS’

GROUNDBREAKING RIVER OF CRIME SUBSCRIPTION CD-R PACKAGE

New York, May 16th, 2006 – Cordless Recordings artists The Residents, the legendary multi-media art-punk terrorists, announced today they will "release" a new set of recordings, entitled River Of Crime, on June 13th, 2006. This multimedia series of recordings will be available exclusively at Virgin Megastore locations, cordless.com and at New York City’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). The Residents are widely regarded as pioneers of music-based electronic and digital media and have also established a reputation for creating innovative product packaging. River of Crime combines both attributes to produce a groundbreaking new experience.

River Of Crime begins with five bi-weekly episodes (referred to as "Crimecasts"), that are inspired by the "True Crime" radio broadcasts of yore, but infused with a thoroughly modern twist. The episodes will be available through a limited-edition digital subscription, unlocked by the purchase of a unique package of blank CD-R discs, produced by RecordPressing.com and designed by The Residents. New Crimecasts (five in total) will be added every other week, between June 13th and August 8th, 2006.

Using the unique code included in the CD-R package, consumers will be directed to the riverofcrime.com web site and instructed to download that week's “Crimecast.” Each episode comes complete with an original Residents-composed musical score and a variety of digital “extras,” such as ringtones and mobile wallpaper, as well as materials that can be burned onto the blank CD-Rs, including alternate versions of the River of Crime artwork, Crimecast scripts, elements of the instrumental soundtrack and much more. As with anything created by The Residents, expect the unexpected!

Cordless Recordings President Jason Fiber said, "Our aim is to create a multi-media consumer experience that stays true to the Cordless eLabel ideal by matching digital downloads with physical product. We carefully selected each element of this project to touch on brick-and-mortar retail, digital distribution, mobile technology and CD burning."

Virgin Megastores Product Manager Stephanie Ford commented, "We are very excited to be part of this unique release from one of the most original artists known in music today, The Residents. The nature of this release aligns Virgin with the forward-thinking team at Cordless Recordings in a partnership, challenging the industry to find the best way for the physical and the digital worlds of music to work together. This release also fits in with Virgin Megastore's commitment to support independent music."

RecordPressing.com President, Oliver Goss, said "We are proud to partner with Cordless Recordings, as they are on the cutting edge of the independent music scene and work with some of the most unique artists in the business today."

- Big Brother, The River of Crime press release, 2006

This 2-CDR set was released as blank media, to be burned as eventual hard copies and packaging for the River Of Crime tracks, that were distributed via the internet, in a subscription series, each “CrimeCast” episode being released every two weeks, over a 10-week period. These subscription downloads also included exclusive material, including scripts, icons and CRT wallpaper, as well as unrelated bonus tracks.

THE RESIDENTS’ RIVER OF CRIME is a character driven podcast series of 5 shows, based on the time honored concept of TRUE CRIME. Rooted in 1940’s style radio drama, THE RIVER OF CRIME not only updates the original form with modern production values, but also heavily leans on a distinctive soundtrack as one of its primary dramatic devices. A modern day DRAGNET, the series follows the reminisces of its unseen narrator as he discloses a lifelong obsession with wickedness and vice. But, as opposed to the ironic and terse Joe Friday, a classic crime solver, THE RIVER OF CRIME’S narrator is a crime collector.

After an early fascination with the electric chair, the series’ protagonist soon finds himself completely absorbed by the idea of crime and criminals, and each episode unfolds as a personal recollection, a memory of some unlawful event that has affected his life. Within the series these events are recreated as drama, interviews and narration, interrupted and supported by a strong musical score.

Not unlike a butterfly or stamp collector, the narrator initially feels a controlled distance from his subjects, gleaning tidbits of information from every possible source, while filling countless notebooks with newspaper clippings, thoughts and personal observations - life is an endless collection of the odd and unlawful. For him crime has become the artform of the sociopath, a curious combination of creativity and antisocial behavior ...and he is its curator.

But then one day, everything changes and, unexpectedly, a crime comes to him ...then another ...and another. At first he’s charmed by this turn of events, and while he continues to pursue his own unlawful interests, one crime after another seemingly falls into his lap. But, as the frequency of these events grows more rapid, so does their danger, as well as their proximity to the storyteller, whose touch with reality appears more fleeting with each close encounter.

Adrift in a sinking ship, he’s lost on THE RIVER OF CRIME.

- Big Brother, The Residents' Historical, 2011

Cosmichobo1 _(Admin) (talk) 16:20, February 18 2023