Liver Music

AMG Review of Liver Music

Ted Mills
All Music Guide

The fourth release on the Residents fan club's own label, this is a collection of "live" tracks from 1972-1990. Some were completely digital and not technically live, hence the title ("live-er" than most). There's much here for the fan: two especially rare excerpts from live shows in 1972 and 1976, concerts that fans have read about for years but never thought they'd hear (it turns out the Residents are obsessional archivists after all, despite their "theory of obscurity"). As expected they are purely chaotic. There are two demonstrations of early computer music performed for a junior high class, using an early Macintosh computer and an even earlier punch-card machine (surprisingly pleasant). There are several outtakes from the 13th anniversary show that didn't make it onto any of the albums, an overture to their Cube-E show called "Ober," and a live version of "Diskomo" that once appeared on a flexi-disc only. Incredibly rare, but worth finding. The CD was followed up by Daydream B-Liver.