Author Topic: PROJECT OF THE WEEK (20th of October): TALKING LIGHT  (Read 483 times)

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moleshow

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PROJECT OF THE WEEK (20th of October): TALKING LIGHT
« on: October 20, 2017, 03:17:31 pm »
THE MIRROR PEOPLE!

yes, that's right, the time has come! Talking Light is here. DISCUSS AMONGST YOURSELVES. this one goes until the 1st of November, at which point another thing will be the PoTW.

i'm quite excited about this one!
« Last Edit: November 15, 2017, 09:35:59 pm by Meisekimiu »
"All our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive."

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moleshow

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Re: PROJECT OF THE WEEK (20th of October): TALKING LIGHT
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2017, 11:12:28 am »
did i say 1st of novemeber? because i meant... whenever i feel so inclined to change it. anyways.

i think my top tracks for TL are He Also Serves, Lillie, The Sleepwalker and Demons Dance Alone. the fluidity of the setlist is... fun, i guess, but i wish some of those were on TL Bimbo's. ah well.

what really stands out to me about the start of the RCB Trilogy is the ghost stories. they are, without a doubt, my favorite part. they all radiate tension and hesitance. i think they're particularly visually compelling. the hazy, dreamlike visuals of The Unseen Sister stands out in particular. some of the effects used are distinctly a product of the technological capabilities of the time (thinking of the visual roughness of Milton), but it also can work to their benefit (i'm fond of how it works out in Perchance to Dream).

their drive to tell stories is clearly stronger than ever with this project, and it would seem to me that Bunny Boy played a large part in that. the idea of having a narrator connected to (but not necessarily easily viewed as) The Residents seems to have a heightened appeal. so that's something. it's an acknowledgement of how they are perceived and then subverting that perception by assuming identities. perhaps not identities of real people, but identities of a "Residents cover band"- that is still, apparently, The Residents. it's mental gymnastics, and it can make a lot of people frustrated or even angry. somehow, that feels intentional. clutching to ideas of who and what they are serves no purpose. though they may assume the shape of a container they construct, they are not the container. they are the amorphous liquid that slips in and out of it with ease.

i like the stage setup and the costuming a lot. it's both familiar and foreign. sure, it's a living room, but it's a Residents living room. the way they interact with the space is fun too. the handheld projector is so neato, and i love how they display funny lights on the circular disks in the back during songs. really wild stuff. the idea feels both well developed and full of potential- potential that allowed for everything that was to come (and is still coming!) i like that Randy's mask changed a few times before we got our current look. because, like, Yeesh. that face at the start of the tour was sort of... jaundiced and not great. but now he looks fantastic, with his liver spots and all.

i could go on about the stories, and i will.

Night Train to Nowhere has always fascinated me. something about Singing Rz reading all of the stories is compelling to me. Florence and Milton are, quite honestly, better on it than on Randy's Ghost Stories. this is not to say that the latter is bad, no. but i prefer the former. Ghost Snake's visuals on the DVD are so fun, and the hot dog mask.

the hot dog mask.

i sort of wish there was the video for Phantom Fingers on there, because i think that one is special. as he describes his unique ability, the clapping in the background is both ironic and delightful. you can hear the satisfied, knowing smirk in his voice. i also like the way he says "stomach".

Perchance to Dream is interesting to me, since it's an evolution of the Howard story from the Adobe show. sort of a deep cut, that one. but that one feels like it's Molly's by default. i don't think it would be the same if anyone else were to tell it, because it would be different. because it wouldn't be the same. ahem. it has this sweet undertone of understandable delusion to it. so sweet, and coming from a place of such hurt, that it feels cruel to think "well, no, you can't sleep 24 hours a day because that's a coma." logic takes a back seat to emotion there, and it would be cruel to point it out.

Milton is, like, Actually Creepy. hearing the descriptions of it Milton burning alive in the garage spoken with a tone that implies the presence of a lie is unsettling. the details of his singing, the hints of something much larger going on behind his death... whough. it's a lot. and the ending of "I can't kill him again! He's- he's already dead." yee-goddamn-haw.

the truly spooky one is The Talking Light, obviously. there is a deep tragedy to the ring having been in the baby's hand's the whole time. the desperation and exhaustion of the child's mother almost sends chills down my spine. the whole thing is wild and a lot of fun. and super duper creepy-spooky-scary. perhaps Spooktacular.

ok, i think that's it.
"All our lives we love illusion, neatly caught between confusion and the need to know we are alive."

Meisekimiu

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Re: PROJECT OF THE WEEK (20th of October): TALKING LIGHT
« Reply #2 on: November 07, 2017, 08:44:32 pm »
Ah, the Talking Light. I've mentioned before that the Talking Light version of The Old Woman is quite fantastic. In terms of other "covers", I particularly like the versions of Death in Barstow, Bury Me Not, and Die Stay Go. I should note that I'm only familiar with the setlist from the Bimbo's performance. I haven't even gotten a hold of Randy's Ghost Stories so clearly I'm not even qualified to talk about Talking Light! ...Just kidding, of course I'm still going to talk about it.

Anyway... Talking Light is definitely interesting. As I said before in the Shadowland thread, Talking Light is the most interesting part of the whole "Randy, Chuck, and Bob" trilogy, which makes sense if it really is done all in reverse. Beginnings are endings for all but a few, and The Residents are no exception. But it doesn't quite feel like an ending to a trilogy, it still feels like a beginning. There is that definite "early installment weirdness" regarding Randy's character before his blog appeared and In My Room/Randyland really solidified his character. But I guess that's really to be expected.

The ghost stories are all great. And spooky! My favorite from what I've heard is Perchance to Dream, but I have to admit I'm biased towards anything dream-related at all. I think The Unseen Sister is my favorite musically, and I'll listen to the instrumental version from Chuck's Ghost Music often. It is missing some Bob guitar in the beginning that is present during the Bimbo DVD performance, though!

I really like the stage design and overall vibe of this show. It is simply superb. The living room is generally inviting and all, but I find that it helps you get sucked into the show's narrative besides making you feel all cozy and stuff. While shows like the Mole Show and Cube-E were big and theatrical, this one's stage design felt less grand and more like... a high school play. Which isn't a bad thing, in this case! It sort of mirrors (heh... mirrors) the whole facade of The Residents' "cover band". It helped draw me in to the overarching narrative of the show. It overall stands out to me because it's such a unique stage design compared to The Residents' other live shows. I don't even think this paragraph made sense.

The Talking Light is quite confusing to me. I think there's some sort of commentary on TV and/or commercialism buried somewhere in this concept? That's what the Residents.com Historical seems to suggest, and even the Bimbo's DVD has an obsession with the television. I think that the "Talking Light" is not just the spooky spirit mentioned in the titular song, but can also be interpreted as a reference to the television itself. A TV is in a way a talking light.  But of course The Residents are pretty complicated so I'm not sure exactly what they're trying to say about this theme... or if that really was their intention at all. And if so, how do the ghost stories and the mirror people and even Randy, Chuck, and Bob fit into this theme? I have no idea. I suppose maybe one day I'll think about this hard enough to come up with a better answer, but for now, I'm still clueless.
レジデンツはほとんど日本人だけど、誰も知らない。
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