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Icky Flix - The Residents
East Side Digital // Unrated // February 23, 2001
List Price: $24.98 [Buy now and save at Amazon]
"Icky Flix" is the sort of DVD that defies reviewing. Anyone unfamiliar with the Residents, the band featured on the disc, more than likely would intensely dislike the music. Those who know and love the Residents, who are currently traveling the country on a tour centered around "Icky Flix", probably have had the disc for months. Whenever a new form of media is introduced, two things are sure to instantly follow -- porn and the Residents. The Residents were among the first to embrace sampling, they pioneered the use of CD/CD-ROM hybrids, and they made music videos before MTV was a glimmer in the eyes of John Lack and Bob Pittman (the video-starved MTV actually aired the Residents' work before the format caught on). Considering all of that, it's kind of surprising that the Residents took so long to release their first DVD, but "Icky Flix", a compilation of virtually every appearance the Residents have ever made on film and featuring newly recorded music with the DVD in mind, was well-worth the wait.
Four new videos are among the seventeen featured on "Icky Flix":
Video: Given the variety of sources used for these videos, the earliest dating back a full quarter-century, it's not exceptionally surprising that the quality is all over the map. The older videos show their age and budget, but the newer videos look spectacular, most notably the extremely detailed "Just For You". The older videos will probably never look better than they do here.
Audio: All seventeen videos on "Icky Flix" can be viewed with stereo surround mixes true to the original releases. The real treat, though, are the newly recorded 5.0 tracks for each video. These additional tracks were recorded with 6-channel sound in mind and make full use of each speaker. Some tracks are fairly faithful to the originals, while others are almost different songs entirely. The vastly altered "Constantinople", lacking Snakefinger's distinctive electric guitar in place of tribal grunts, springs to mind as one example. The quality of the new recordings is phenomenal and worth listening to even with the visuals off.
Supplements: Aside from a discography and credits, the real supplements, the "Smelly Tongues Secret Cinema", are all hidden. I stumbled across four fairly easily -- a live performance of "Wormwood", the Residents in Cube-E garb, dancing with Conway Twitty, a Pee-Wee's Playhouse sleepover segment with some Rez hoedown music, and an extremely brief segment of an MTV short. I'll keep an eye out (he says, chuckling as if he were clever) for more and update this review accordingly. The liner notes included with the disc are detailed and put the videos in context, though I wish the entry for "Songs For Swinging Larvae" didn't use one of the film's last images. No review of "Icky Flix" would be complete without mentioning the stunning menus, easily among the most attractive and easily navigable I've seen. Offhand, only "Ghostbusters" gives "Icky Flix" a run for its money, and considering the vastly differing budgets involved, the menu system here deserves to be lavished with oodles of praise.
Conclusion: "Icky Flix" will only appeal to a very limited number of people, but this is the best example of the nearly unlimited potential DVD presents for musicians. I'd go so far as to say that "Icky Flix" is the most exceptional music-related DVD on the market today. Highly recommended.
Four new videos are among the seventeen featured on "Icky Flix":
- The Third Reich 'N' Roll (1976)
- Constantinople (2000)
- One Minute Movies (1980)
- Kick A Picnic (2000)
- Songs For Swinging Larvae (1981)
- He Also Serves (2000)
- This Is A Man's, Man's, Man's World (1984)
- Harry The Head (1991)
- The Gingerbread Man (Concentrate; 2000)
- Jelly Jack The Boneless Boy (1993)
- Just For You (1997)
- Stars And Stripes Forever (1997)
- Where Is She? (1992)
- Burn Baby Burn (2000)
- Hello Skinny (1980)
- Bad Day On The Midway (Concentrate; 1996-2000)
- Vileness Fats (Concentrate; 1972-2000)
Video: Given the variety of sources used for these videos, the earliest dating back a full quarter-century, it's not exceptionally surprising that the quality is all over the map. The older videos show their age and budget, but the newer videos look spectacular, most notably the extremely detailed "Just For You". The older videos will probably never look better than they do here.
Audio: All seventeen videos on "Icky Flix" can be viewed with stereo surround mixes true to the original releases. The real treat, though, are the newly recorded 5.0 tracks for each video. These additional tracks were recorded with 6-channel sound in mind and make full use of each speaker. Some tracks are fairly faithful to the originals, while others are almost different songs entirely. The vastly altered "Constantinople", lacking Snakefinger's distinctive electric guitar in place of tribal grunts, springs to mind as one example. The quality of the new recordings is phenomenal and worth listening to even with the visuals off.
Supplements: Aside from a discography and credits, the real supplements, the "Smelly Tongues Secret Cinema", are all hidden. I stumbled across four fairly easily -- a live performance of "Wormwood", the Residents in Cube-E garb, dancing with Conway Twitty, a Pee-Wee's Playhouse sleepover segment with some Rez hoedown music, and an extremely brief segment of an MTV short. I'll keep an eye out (he says, chuckling as if he were clever) for more and update this review accordingly. The liner notes included with the disc are detailed and put the videos in context, though I wish the entry for "Songs For Swinging Larvae" didn't use one of the film's last images. No review of "Icky Flix" would be complete without mentioning the stunning menus, easily among the most attractive and easily navigable I've seen. Offhand, only "Ghostbusters" gives "Icky Flix" a run for its money, and considering the vastly differing budgets involved, the menu system here deserves to be lavished with oodles of praise.
Conclusion: "Icky Flix" will only appeal to a very limited number of people, but this is the best example of the nearly unlimited potential DVD presents for musicians. I'd go so far as to say that "Icky Flix" is the most exceptional music-related DVD on the market today. Highly recommended.
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