It has been tough to keep up with the volume of discs that The Residents have released around their The Bunny Boy and Talking Light projects. Ozark came out in July but I finally had some time over the holiday to catch up on some discs that slipped through the cracks.

Ozark's 25 tracks run 70 minutes and long-time Residents fans are likely to already have the majority of these tracks. The disc contains 11 country-scorched instrumental tracks from 2010's download-only Ozan project (where the download information was made available on dog tags and a backstage pass sold on the Talking Light tour), 10 tracks from the ltd. edition CD Arkansas (which was sold through Ralph's web store) along with four previously unheard tracks.





Below is the press release for Ozark along with a breakdown of the tracks from Arkansas:

When The Residents went to Arkansas to complete the shooting of their 2009 internet series, The Bunny Boy, they found themselves holed up in a motel for longer than they had expected. Rain and lots of it hit the area around Hope, Arkansas where they were cooped up in a motel near the airport. The final scenes of the series were planned to take place on a chicken farm in Patmos, Arkansas but due to flooding they actually had to film in nearby Ozan, Arkansas. The Residents were quick to realize the area was rich in music.

It was not surprising that the group would be influenced by some of this remarkable music. The Residents added a number of new tunes to their repertoire while in Arkansas. They had already released a CD called Arkansas, though it was not of the material they wrote there. None of that music materialized until later when they created a special download project called Ozan.

This new CD combines the, now out of print, Arkansas CD with the tunes from Ozan into one collection, Ozark. The Ozark mountains run through Arkansas and their beauty was an inspiration to the group, but in this instance it also proved a convenient way to press the two titles into one… Ozan and Arkansas became Ozark. To round out the project, The Residents added 4 additional songs from that era which had not previously been released.

This 25 track, 70 minute album mops up the cutting room floor after The Bunny Boy projects had been completed.

50/50 vocal and instrumental tracks

Tracks from Arkansas:
1. "Nobody is Listening"
This piece was not included on the album, but it opened the touring show, The Bunny Boy.

2. "The Bunny Boy"
An alternative arrangement of the song from the album, The Bunny Boy.

3. "Sad Saint John"
Written for The Bunny Boy album, but eliminated from the final album.

4. "The Butcher Shop"
An alternative arrangement of the song from the album, The Bunny Boy.

5. "Memories for Sale"
Written for The Bunny Boy album, but eliminated from the final album.

6. "Two Clown Paintings"
Written for The Bunny Boy album, but eliminated from the final album.

7. "The Black Behind"
An alternative arrangement of the song from the album, The Bunny Boy.

8. "My Brother's Skin"
Written for The Bunny Boy album, but eliminated from the final album.

9. "Save the World"
An instrumental version of a song that was performed live on the European leg of The Bunny Boy tour.

10. "Circe"
Written for The Bunny Boy album, but eliminated from the final album.

Ozark is available as a $11.99 CD on-demand (CDR) through The Residents' web store (or $999.99 through Amazon.com). The Residents just started taking some of their CDR's out of print so you probably don't have 'forever' to pick this one up.

Links:
The Residents