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Chuck's Ghost Music

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Chuck's Ghost Music is a soundtrack album by The Residents, later credited to Charles Bobuck. It released digitally on January 28th, 2011 through The Residents' Robot Selling Device webpage. The album features an abridged instrumental score to the group's video project, Randy's Ghost Stories, based on songs written for the Talking Light live tour.

The album's first physical release was on a USB thumb drive sold exclusively on the Talking Light tour. It was reissued in 2012 as an on-demand CD-R via The Cryptic Corporation and Klanggalerie have released a remastered CD on February 20th 2021.

History

Chuck's Ghost Music is one of a string of releases related to The Residents' Talking Light tour; acting as a soundtrack album for the Randy's Ghost Stories video project. The album contains music written and performed mainly by Charles Bobuck, the group's long-time composer and keyboardist.

It directly preceded the introduction of Bobuck's solo "contraptions" - an outlet for extra-residential recordings which he could not pursue fully with the group. The first of these "contraptions" was the 2012 album GOD-O. However, Bobuck had recorded similar projects as early as 1997's Pollex Christi EP, credited to The Residents.[1]

The album was released on January 28th, 2011, through the group's now-defunct Robot Selling Device MP3 store, and was credited to "The Residents' Talking Light." This came 2 days after The Residents' Lonely Teenager studio album was announced. That same year, the album was released on a USB thumb drive with a lanyard sold exclusively on the Talking Light tour. Chuck's Ghost Music was the second album of newly recorded studio material by The Residents to be released exclusively as a digital download, with the first being Hades.

Release

On December 26th, 2012, a full year after the album's release, it was re-issued as CD-R sold through the group's CreateSpace account. A common myth is that this re-release was credited to Charles Bobuck. In fact, the full credit and title as listed on the artwork remains, 'The Residents' Talking Light Presents Chuck's Ghost Music'. The confusion comes from the credit found on the back sleeve and in the gatefold, which describes the album as 'A Charles Bobuck Contraption;' a credit which Bobuck's first solo album, GOD-O, also featured.

Chuck's Ghost Music was later issued on CD on February 20th 2021 via Klanggalerie; this version is titled 'Bobuck - Chuck's Ghost Music' and does not reference The Residents anywhere on its packaging. This reissue was remastered and features cover art created by Hardy Fox.

Reception

Contemporary

Independent music reviewer Mark Prindle (in one of the last Residents reviews he wrote for his website prior to his retirement later in 2011)[2] panned Chuck's Ghost Music, awarding it a 1/10 (his lowest ever rating of a Residents release). In a largely sarcastic review, Prindle described the album as a "collection of boring ambient soundscapes" and joking that, although it may "revolve entirely around ambient bells, gongs, chimes, drones and tribal drums... when I turn it on, all I can hear are cash registers going 'Ch-ching!' and the Residents depositing another million in their Swiss bank account."[3]

Track listing

  1. Florence (9:18)
  2. Ghost Snake (8:28)
  3. Perchance to Dream (8:37)
  4. Milton (1:53)
  5. Pudding in Disguise (2:10)
  6. Sleepwalker (6:41)
  7. Unseen Sister (5:28)
  8. Talking Light (8:31)

Credits

2012 CD-r re-issue

2023 CD re-issue

[Uncredited]

See also

Buy Or Die!

  1. ↑ "Projects" at Hacienda Bridge
  2. ↑ The "What's New?" Page at Mark's Record Reviews, archived June 13th 2011 via archive.org
  3. ↑ Mark Prindle, "Chuck's Ghost Music", Mark's Record Reviews, March 4th 2011
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