HANK WILLIAMS:
Hey Good Lookin'
Six More Miles (to the Graveyard)
Kaw-Liga
Ramblin' Man
Jambalaya
SOUSASIDE:
Nobles of the Mystic Shrine
The Stars & Stripes Forever
The Thunderer
The Liberty Bell
Semper Fidelis
The Washington Post
STARS & HANK FOREVER!
Album
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SOUSASIDE:
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Two years after they began it, the Residents returned to the American Composers series with Stars & Hank Forever, treatments of the musics of Hank Williams and John Philip Sousa. The Williams side filters the songs through varions non-country genres—Chinese music, dance, goth. "Sousaside" evokes the soundscape of a parade, with marching bands coming one after another, each playing a Sousa march. Bands approach in a stereo's left channel, linger in the center, and fade out in the right as the next band approaches in the left.
"The Thunderer" is mistitled as "El Capitan" on some vinyl pressings.
Critics unanimously disliked half of the album, but could not agree on which. Many again ignored the Residents' tear-down-the-myth approach to these composers, attacking the band for "disrespecting" the artists' legacies.
Two stories circulate about the next planned installment of the series. There was talk of an album called The Trouble with Harrys, an exposition of Harry Partch and Harry Nilsson, but no music has surfaced from this rumored project. Tapes have appeared of the Residents' re-workings of Barry White and Sun Ra compositions, but anecdotal details of that work remain sketchy at best. In any case, the Residents apparently decided that the series was no longer useful, and that the new compact disc technology challenged their ideas about sequencing. The American Composer series was thereby discontinued.
RATING: 8
Now this is impressive. Yes, it is true that most of the imagination is in the Hank Williams half, but man! That side would be enough even if Sousaside were COMPLETELY lame (which it isn't by a longshot). Of course the most prominent track is "Kaw-Liga," done as sinister dance music with pretty vibes and a "Billie Jean" sample. And it's awesome, but not to the exclusion of the rest. The reinvention of "Six More Miles" by mock Chinese orchestra (don't tell me it doesn't sound like one) is genius. The psychedelic "Hey Good Lookin'" is arresting, as is the twisted carnival music in "Ramblin' Man," but the trophy has to go to "Jambalaya": it's even better than "Kaw-Liga." The Residents make it goth, crawling and nightmarish; the only truly evil music they've ever made, and creepier than the whole Bauhaus catalogue.
After the wallop of the first half, it's easy for the second to disappoint. Don't let it. Just think of it as different, and incredibly appropriate/ It's more or less as Sousa intended, but not in the awestruck way of side 2 on George & James: they DO go straight to these musical ideas. It's just that the musical idea in question happens to be "march." The soundscaping in the stereo is really clever (and sounds FANTASTIC in headphones), and the street parade ambience works wonders. The music, however, is a different animal of a march: John Philip Sousa on bad acid. The reworkings of "Stars & Stripes Forever" and "The Thunderer (i.e., "El Capitan")," among others, are wonderfully monstrous, but "The Liberty Bell," aka the Monty Python theme, is stunning. It's unrecognizable, because the Residents throw out the melody and play the harmony. Amazing! Oh—we should also note that this was Snakefinger's last Residents album before he died, and he does his usual miracles (especially on "Semper Fidelis.") Cool banjo on "The Washington Post," too.
The whole thing's great! Yes! Stars and Hank FOREVER!
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