THE TUNES OF TWO CITIES
Album
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Serenade for
Missy |
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Nothing's been said about the group's internal problems when making Tunes, but obviously relations hadn't deteriorated too much to continue with the Mole trilogy. Part two of the trilogy, Tunes presented the music of the primitive, dark, hard-working Moles and the sophisticated, elegant, hedonistic Chubs. The track sequence alternates the two cultures in order to (as the liner notes say) "make its point by...the globe-wrenching power of 'difference.'"
Three more tracks were recorded for The Tunes of Two Cities, but were left off due to time constraints. "Anvil Forest," "Scent of Mint," and "Open Up" have since been released on several compilations; currently, they are in print as part of the Residue Deux CD.
This album (and its predecessor) inspired the Residents to take the project on the road as an elaborate live performance, "The Mole Show." It would very nearly be their undoing.
RATING: 7
You might notice that The Tunes of Two Cities is the first Residents album to rate less than an 8. I might have graded it higher if that album's music and the album's concept worked together at all.
I totally love the music here. The songs are fantastic. The "Chub" songs do beautiful, compelling things with harmony and arrangements (especially "Mousetrap" and "Smack Your Lips (Clap Your Teeth)," which is a rewrite of "In the Mood"). The "Mole" songs can be samey, but have great percussion and really scary, ambient electronic textures. Sometimes they even jump out of their own mold and surprise you, as in the suddenly upbeat "Secret Seed."
The rub? the songs, in pairs of Chub song followed by Mole song (or vice versa), have no distinction between the pairs. Oh, sure, you couldn't get more distinct than the Chub vs. Mole contrast, but why pair them up six times? You'd think they'd give it some structure somehow; maybe, for example, "Happy Chub song, happy Mole song. Patriotic Chub song, patriotic Mole song." If the distinction isn't that complex, why not just release a single with a Chub song on one side and a Mole on the other? And, if the distinction isn't that complex, are we really interested in such one-dimensional societies?
In a nutshell, if the Residents' music by itself is what interests you, you'll probably like Tunes a lot. If you're more taken by their intellectual ideas, it might disappoint you. I try to weigh them both, and as such I would really give this a 6. I just happen to like the individual songs enough to boost them to 7. Maybe the Mole Show CD, which I haven't heard yet at this writing, will put this music in a better perspective....