''Not Available'' is the fourth studio album by American

art rock Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an art ...

group

the Residents The Residents are an American art collective and art rock band best known for their avant-garde music and multimedia works. Since their first official release, ''Meet the Residents'' (1974), they have released over 60 albums, numerous music vi ...

, recorded in 1974. The album was allegedly meant to only be released once its creators completely forgot about its existence (adhering to their "Theory of Obscurity," in which an artist's purest work is created without an audience) - however, due to ongoing delays in the release of ''

Eskimo Eskimo () is an exonym used to refer to two closely related Indigenous peoples: the Inuit (including the Alaska Native Iñupiat, the Greenlandic Inuit, and the Canadian Inuit) and the Yupik (or Yuit) of eastern Siberia and Alaska. A related thi ...

'', ''Not Available'' was released to supply the demand for new Residents material, given their unexpected critical and commercial success following the release of the ''

Duck Stab Duck is the common name for numerous species of waterfowl in the family Anatidae. Ducks are generally smaller and shorter-necked than swans and geese, which are members of the same family. Divided among several subfamilies, they are a form ...

'' EP.

History

It is said that the lyrics and themes of ''Not Available'' arose from personal tensions within the group, and that the project began as a private

psychodrama Psychodrama is an action method, often used as a psychotherapy, in which clients use spontaneous dramatization, role playing, and dramatic self-presentation to investigate and gain insight into their lives. Developed by Jacob L. Moreno and ...

before being adapted into a possible operetta. While the project never took off theatrically, it was still molded into a sort of concept album, taking use of assorted musical ideas, some of them recorded for the group's unfinished film project, ''

Vileness Fats ''Vileness Fats'' is an unfinished musical film project by avant-garde art collective The Residents, filmed primarily between 1972 and 1976. The Residents shot over fourteen hours of film and videotape for the project, but were not even two-thir ...

.'' It is unknown if further overdubs were added onto the album predating its release in 1978, or if the music was released as is. It is possible that the album was shelved not to fulfill the "Theory of Obscurity," but because it was simply too personally revealing.

Music

The music on ''Not Available'' is fairly different from any other music the Residents have recorded in the time period it was supposedly conceived in, both in compositional skill and audio quality. Fans have theorized that the music could have been recorded at a later period. The album is split into four parts and an epilogue, with the Residents' characteristic use of drum machines, classical percussion, cartoonish vocals, grand piano and horns, as well as notably the use of string synthesizers.The lyrics and plot of ''Not Available'' are told in a densely surrealistic manner, notably making use of a

Greek chorus A Greek chorus, or simply chorus ( grc-gre, χορός, chorós), in the context of ancient Greek tragedy, comedy, satyr plays, and modern works inspired by them, is a homogeneous, non-individualised group of performers, who comment with a collect ...

and a particular piano composition that is presented as a theme for one of the album's characters - the full recording was released in 2010 as "Available Piece." A 2011 reissue of the album extended its duration by approximately seven minutes, allegedly its original length. A mix of the album's multitrack tapes (originally titled ''X is for Xtra'') was released in 2019 on a deluxe edition of the album.

Track listing

1987 CD bonus tracks

Tracks 6-11 taken from '' Title in Limbo'', a 1983 album made in collaboration with

Renaldo and the Loaf Renaldo and the Loaf are an English musical duo formed in 1977 consisting of David "Ted the Loaf" Janssen and Brian "Renaldo Malpractice" Poole. The two released six full-length albums, one live album, and three self-produced demos. Sound Ren ...

2011 extended edition

2018 pREServed edition

After 10 minutes of silence following track 19, an unlisted track plays lasting 4:46.

References

External links

Not Available on Prog Archives

{{Authority control The Residents albums Rock operas 1978 albums Concept albums Ralph Records albums