POLLEX CHRISTI (1997)

The possibly mythical N.Senada may be gone but not forgotten, does this album mark an anniversary of some kind? I observe that Snakey died 10 years before this so was Philip Lithman N.S. himself?

Anyway, here The Residents purport to interpret Senada's 1936 piece The Big Toe (or Thumb) Of Christ. It is said that the composer would build a piece by appropriating the works of others, though he would leave holes in the "blueprint" for others to fill. Thus our heroes recreate a work that steals heavily from classical music, filling in the gaps with television theme tunes such as Popeye The Sailor Man and The Theme From Star Trek. The finished result sounds as good as the idea, an impressive musical college, the highlight of which, for me, is their rendition of Carmina Burana by Orff. Pollex Christi came out just before I got into all this internet stuff and I knew not of its existence until it was too late. I think it must have come out in a limited edition of about 50 or something, I know it fetches a shocking price in auctions these days.