Smell My Picture

The Residents' 'Smell My Picture' is a compilation album, focusing on outtakes recorded between 2005 and 2007.
== History ==
This album was released in 2008 by Ralph America in a limited quantity of 1,000 as part of The Residents' eL Ralpho Archive series, which contained exclusively archival releases. This CD features unreleased material from 'The River Of Crime,' 'Tweedles,' & 'The Voice of Midnight' sessions.
As with Animal Lover Instrumental before it, Smell My Picture was foreshadowed in the Best Left Unspoken trilogy, with three of the compilation's tracks earlier appearing throughout the first two volumes of the trilogy. 'In An Ugly Mood' & 'Rubber Robber' first appeared on volume one, and 'Sour Smell' first appeared on volume two.
Although most songs are completely un-used outtakes, the track 'Calling All Aliens' is actually an early version of 'The Tower' from The Voice of Midnight and contains identical elements.
==Release==
When the album was released, a minor controversy arose surrounding it. Since the album mainly contained unreleased music, fans at the time began referring to the CD as The Residents' newest studio album. At the time, The Residents were in the middle of promoting The Bunny Boy, their actual newest studio album. To avoid confusing an outtakes collection with a fully formed and structured album, Ralph America began discouraging fans from referring to the compilation as The Residents' newest album.<the residents blog> In perhaps the ultimate form of The Theory of Obscurity, The Residents themselves had not even heard the compilation at the time of these statements. Following this, Ralph America, they presented the compilation to The Residents, who were impressed with the selections, but they noted that the 2005-2007 dating was incorrect, as some material predated 2005.<the residents blog>
'Smell My Picture' was re-released in 2014 as a set of two digital albums, Re:Smell My Picture Volume 1 (Pardon Me, I'm Taking a Shit)' and Re:Smell My Picture Volume 2 (Twilight Zone).' On the digital re-releases, The Cryptic Corporation included the odd-numbered tracks onto volume 1 and the even-numbered tracks onto volume 2. Additionally, in volume 2, The Rubber Robber and Smell My Picture are swapped, with the title track concluding the set instead of The Rubber Robber, which is now the penultimate version of the track. 
As of 2023, all versions of the album are out of print.
== Reception ==
===Contemporary===
In a positive review, freelance music reviewer Mark Prindle found that despite being "comprised entirely of instrumental outtakes", Smell My Picture features "an astonishing amount of musical innovation -- and some great tunes", while noting that "not every selection is a must-hear".Mark Prindle, "Smell My Picture", Mark's Record Reviews, September 12th 2008
== Track Listing ==
# Pardon Me (2:30)
# Twilight Zone (3:02)
# Jam On Sunday Afternoon (4:40)
# Dream 3 (1:48)
# Piano Doodle (1:21)
# Lazy Morning (1:36)
#* Alternative version of "Campus Stroll," 2007 
# Pass The Peanuts (1:29)
# Moose (1:33)
# In An Ugly Mood (1:41)
#* From the Tweedles Sessions, 2005-2006
# Calling All Aliens (5:38)
#* Demo of 'The Tower' from The Voice of Midnight, 2007
# Radio Drama (2:25)
# Brasilia (1:57)
# Bourbon Street (4:05)
# Sour Smell (4:50)
#* From The River of Crime sessions, 2006
# Dream 4 (3:02)
# Smell My Picture (5:19)
# Guitar Picnic (4:40)
# The Rubber Robber (4:12)
#* From the Tweedles Sessions, 2005-2006
=== Digital Versions ===
Re:Smell My Picture Volume 1: Pardon Me, I'm Taking a Shit
# Pardon Me (2:30)
# Jam On Sunday Afternoon (4:40)
# Piano Doodle (1:21)
# Pass The Peanuts (1:29)
# In An Ugly Mood (1:41)
# Radio Drama (2:25)
# Bourbon Street (4:05)
# Dream 4 (3:02)
# Guitar Picnic (4:40)
Re:Smell My Picture Volume 2: The Twilight Zone
# Twilight Zone (3:02)
# Dream 3 (1:48)
# Lazy Morning (1:36)
# Moose (1:33)
# Calling All Aliens (5:38)
# Brasilia (1:57)
# Sour Smell (4:50)
# The Rubber Robber (4:12)
# Smell My Picture (5:19)
== Liner notes ==
The years of 2005 to 2007 were fruitful for The Residents. Despite the fact that the trend in selling music had taken a drastic turn to the concept of downloading songs instead of buying albums, the group charged onward. In fact, The Residents responded to this download concept as any self-absorbed artist would - by flying mightily and its face.
The group decided what was really needed was a change in the perception of what defines an "album." They elected to impose an overlying narrative and turn the album into some kind of audio movie. They have successfully done things similar to this before, notably Eskimo.
The first project was called River of Crime. It featured five short stories, all narrated in the past tense. River of Crime presented tales of one man's brushes with crime, five times over the years, stretching from childhood to young adulthood.
The second album was Tweedles, a first-person tale of a young man who was too handsome and charismatic for his own good. Tweedles wasn't actually a story, but more a series of vignettes, giving brief insights into the life of a person who has never known rejection but he still feels the sting of loss in a most unexpected way.
The third album of this trilogy was The Voice of Midnight. Forgoing all voiceover narrative, The Voice of Midnight stepped into new territory by letting the characters tell the story of a young man obsessed with the imaginary character of The Sandman. Based on the short story written in 1817 by ETA Hoffmann, The Voice of Midnight was a complex tale of madness, perhaps The Residents' greatest achievement to date.
A great deal of music was written for these projects, more than would ever make it onto the final releases. The CD, Smell My Picture, collects much of the leftover music that was written during this period.
The term "smell my picture" came from a description by one of The Residents of the process of making The Voice of Midnight. He suggested that making a movie with sound was very much like smelling photographs instead of looking at them. From that point on, when anyone had recordings he wished others to hear, he would say, "smell my picture." The phrase caught on and is now widely used by the group when seeking idea feedback.
== Credits ==
* Written & Performed by The Residents
* Published by Pale Pachyderm Publishing (BMI)
* (P) 2008, The Cryptic Corporation
== See also ==
* Lost In A Vacant Lot
* Beautiful Eyes
* Morning Music
==External links and references==
Category:Compilations
Category:The River of Crime
Category:Tweedles!
Category:The Voice of Midnight
Category:2007
Category:2008