Live At The Snakey Wake
Live At The Snakey Wake is a live mini-album by The Residents, recorded on August 24th, 1987 and released 23 years later on September 10th, 2010. It was recorded at the musical wake for Philip Lithman, known to Residents fans as The Snakey Wake.
Background
On July 1st, 1987, Philip 'Snakefinger' Lithman was found dead in his hotel room while touring in Austria. Shortly afterward, his body was returned to his birthplace of London, where he was buried.
The loss of this close friend immediately sent The Residents into an understandable period of mourning, which the group externalised through a sixteen-minute suite titled 'Lament,' composed entirely using cutting edge 'midi' software, which allowed for music to be written digitally and played back with a variety of sounds.
Since the funeral occurred in London, The Residents decided to organize a wake for Lithman's friends living in the US, dubbed The Snakey Wake, after Lithman's love for speaking in half rhyme.
The Cryptic Corporation organized the wake almost like a mini-festival, featuring three live performances by close friends and collaborators of Lithman. Penelope Houston,[1] whose first album was produced by Lithman, opened the show, with The Residents following, and N. Senada ending, his first public appearance in 15 years, and his last.
The Residents appeared in all black netted clothing, each with black umbrellas opened up as they entered. They began their set with a 6-minute rendition of Hank Williams' Six More Miles, followed by the Lament suite. The Residents' set was followed by a remix of Snakefinger and Senada's Cantaten to der Dyin Prunen, concluded with a surprise set by Senada. Live recordings were made by Philip Perkins; this was his last credited work with The Residents, who he had been working with largely in secrecy for eight years.
The appearance of Senada seemingly links the performance to Residents Uinc's 1971-1972 'party' concerts, which were similarly held for small groups of friends, and were considered private events. With Lithman often as a centrepiece of said performances,
In 1988, The Residents released a studio recording of Lament as a CD single, through their newly formed UWEB fan club. The use of MIDI in its composition and live performance later inspired the group's Cube-E world tour.
Release
For two decades after the release of the single, The Cryptic Corporation teased the live recording on two seperate rarities compilations, 'Liver Music' (1990) and 'Kettles of Fish on the Outskirts of Town' (2003) which both featured snippets of audio from the show.
The full 29 minute recording was released on September 10th, 2010, through the digital Robot Selling Device webstore, which was seen as a cost-efficient way to release The Residents' more niche works. The artwork is a promotional photo from The 13th Anniversary Tour, taken between1985-7, with Lithman standing between two Residents. The use of 13th Anniversary imagery is significant, in that said tour was the final project The Residents worked on with Lithman.
The release is also the first and only time the lengthy 'Lament' or 'Snakey Wake' suite was divided into more than one track.
Legacy
In June of 2015, Klanggalerie released The Snakey Wake as a full-length album, combining both the 1988 studio 'single' version and the live EP. This release is notable for featuring the only recording credited to N. Senada as lead artist. Two years later, Secret Records re-released the EP as the second side of their Snakey Wake LP, minus the Senada set.
On Discogs, the release has a 4.38 / 5 rating,
Track listing
- Snakey Wake 1 (5:43) [Six More Miles]
- Snakey Wake 2 (7:30) [Lamet]
- Snakey Wake 3 (2:53) [Exotica]
- Snakey Wake 4 (3:45) [Primal]
- Snakey Wake 5 (2:14) [Depart]
- N. Senada Set (6:41)
- Eloise (1:50)
- Sandman (1:34)
- Kamakazi Lady (3:16)
Liner Notes
Snakefinger died July 1st, 1987, while on tour. In August, The Residents, as well as other San Francisco friends, joined in a celebration of his life and music called The Snakey Wake.
The group had not performed live without Snakefinger as a musical companion since 1983. The only way they saw to do so was to perform with the computer. They quickly developed a stylized sound to use for the short performance which is featured here.
They felt uncertain about the performance enough that they have previously only released a studio version of that night. This is a recording of the actual live event. It is their first use of a computer for music and opened the door for Cube-E live and a world of recordings. It launched their new career with Ryko and the release of God In Three Persons in 1988.
In many ways, this recording is the dividing line between the old Residents and the new Residents. This event forced the group to rethink their direction and plans. Joining the tribute at the end of The Residents section was a brief appearance by The Mysterious N. Senada, also included in this recording.
Credits
[From 2015 CD]
- Snakey Wake by The Residents with guests C. Lemaitre, S. McLennon
- Live Recordings by Philip Perkins
Release History
| Year | Label | Format | Region | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Robot Selling Device | File | US | |
| 2015 | Klanggalerie | CD | Europe | As part of 'The Snakey Wake' |