Mole Suite

Mole Suite is a sixteen-minute suite by The Residents, consisting of a selection of mostly instrumental sketches which are thought to date from the late 1980s and early 1990s, when The Residents decided to revisit the themes of their unfinished six-part Mole Trilogy series for reasons which have never been explained in detail.
It was released digitally via the group's Robot Selling Device on September 1st 2011. It has not been reissued to date, however the suite's closing piece "Marching To The We" was featured separately on the pREServed six-disc box set Mole Box in 2019.
== History ==
=== Recording ===
Mole Suite is a highly mysterious release in terms of Residents mythology. It is a 16 minute suite of material by The Residents speculated to have been recorded between the late 1980s, or early 1990s, heavily, but not entirely, based on musical references to the Mark of the Mole album. A minute long excerpt from the suite, dubbed "Tired Old Man," has been referred to as being "from the Part Three of the Mole Trilogy sessions." Another part of the suite, the final five minutes, has been dubbed "Marching to The We." 
=== Release ===
The first release of material from Mole Suite was on the 2006 rarities album Best Left Unspoken, featuring the aforementioned "Tired Old Man" excerpt, as well as the declaration that it was from Part Three of the Mole Trilogy.
On June 29th, 2008, "Marching to the Beach," an excerpt of the last 5 minutes of Mole Suite, was released as a free digital download on Residents.com. This title is a reference to the fact that it was the final release in the Summer Tunes series of free downloads.
Two pieces included in the suite had been released previously; the instrumental "Tired Old Man" had been featured on the compilation Best Left Unspoken... Volume One in 2006, and "Marching To The We" had been released on The Residents' official blog in June 2008 as part of the Summer Tunes series of free MP3s (under the joke title "Marching To The Beach"). 
The full suite was eventually sold as a digital download on September 1st, 2011 through The Residents' RSD website. 'Big Brother,' (actually a pseudonym for Hardy Fox) named the track Mole Suite, because "I don't know what else to call it." Big Brother also states that he didn't know when it was recorded, but speculated that it was from the late 1980s or early 1990s. 
=== Artwork ===
The cover is taken from the Mole Show backdrop, depicting The Moles' migration.
=== Legacy ===
Mole Suite has never been re-released in its entirety and has not been officially available since the closure of RSD in 2013. In 2019, the final five minutes, re-dubbed "Marching To The We," was featured on the Mole Box CD box-set, collecting all material related to the Mole Trilogy, on its sixth disc, which the liner notes states features material which "may or may not" originate from the sessions for the third instalment in the trilogy. 
== Track listing ==
# Mole Suite (16:29)
#*Happy Home instrumental variation (0:50)
#*Instrumental (0:50)
#*Voices of the Air instrumental variation (0:54)
#*Back To Normality? instrumental variation (0:34)
#*Tired Old Man (0:52)
#*Rumors instrumental variation (2:26)
#*The Observer instrumental variation (2:39)
#*Migration (March To The Sea) (2:08)
#*Marching To The We (5:25)
== Release notes ==
:"Just one of those oddities. Mole Suite, named by me because I don't know what else to call it... Age unknown, but probably late Eighties, early Nineties."
Big Brother, Mole Suite release notes, 2011
== See also ==
* Part Three of The Mole Trilogy
*Best Left Unspoken... Volume One
*Summer Tunes
* The Mole Trilogy
* Robot Selling Device
* Mole Box
== External links and references ==
* Mole Suite at Discogs
Category:EPs and singles
Category:Robot Selling Device
Category:The Mole Trilogy
Category:Part Three of The Mole Trilogy
Category:1994
Category:2011