Rest Aria
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"Rest Aria" (working title "Russian Love Song") is an instrumental composition by The Residents from their debut album Meet The Residents, released April 1st 1974 on Ralph Records.
The title "Rest Aria" is likely a play on the phrase "rest area", a place for vehicles to stop on long journeys. An aria is a song from an opera written for only one singer.
In 2020, "Rest Aria" was selected as one of The Residents' favorite songs in their catalog via a Spotify playlist.
History
Russian Love Song
The earliest known version of "Rest Aria" was recorded by Residents, Uninc. in 1972 under the working title "Russian Love Song". Seemingly performed on a pump organ, this piece of music was likely considered for the score to the group's feature film Vileness Fats, then just beginning production.
The 1972 recording was unknown to the public until 2019, when it was included as an unlisted bonus track on the 2019 two disc pREServed edition of The Residents' second album Not Available (where it appears after ten minutes of silence on the second disc). A representative of Cherry Red Records indicated that the piece was the earliest known recording related to the Not Available project.
Rest Aria
"Rest Aria" was recorded in May 1973. It first appeared as an excerpt in the Meet The Residents Sampler flexidisc single. This single version curiously features a brief horn section removed from the final version.
Legacy
The song was remixed by a third party and used without permission on an advert for Levi's in the early 2000s.
As part of an abandoned 40th Anniversary remake of Meet The Residents, lead composer and keyboardist Charles Bobuck produced a sketch of the song that heavily samples the original. Sessions for that project were compiled into the Clank Clank Clank EP.
A cover of the song by Couvercle was featured on the bonus disc included with the CD edition of the 2018 tribute/collaborative album I Am A Resident!.
"Rest Aria" has been performed live only once, at The Residents' 50th Anniversary secret show on January 14th, 2023, by concert pianist Sarah Cahill and students of the San Francisco Conservatory.
List of releases
- Meet The Residents Sampler (1974)[1]
- Meet The Residents (1974)[2]
- Meet The Residents Stereo (1977)[3]
- Please Do Not Steal It! (1979)[4]
- Twenty-Five Years Of Eyeball Excellence (1998)[4]
- The Sycamore Street Studio (1974-77 Embracing Obscurity) (2014) [5]
- Clank Clank Clank (2017)[6]
- I Am A Resident! (2018)[7]
- Not Available pREServed edition (2019) - unlisted, "Russian Love Song" [8]
List of versions
See also
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Meet The Residents (1974) Side A |
