Eskimo (DVD)

***Eskimo*** is a DVD by The Residents, featuring a 5.1 surround sound remix of their 1979 album of the same name set to still images depicting the stories told by the tracks.

The *Eskimo* DVD was released in 2002 by Euro Ralph, with a release by Euro Ralph and MVD following in 2003.

## History

The group had wanted to create a visual adaptation of *Eskimo* for a long time. Shortly after its original release, they began developing a live version of the album, which would have been their first tour ever, but it did not end up coming to fruition. Then, in the 1990s, The Residents began revived their plans for a show based on the album, this time as an opera. They even comissioned a number of set designs from Ron Davis, but the project was also cancelled early in development.

At the dawn of the new millenium, the band started developing new projects that made use of DVD technology. So *Eskimo* was chosen for a DVD release. Not only would every song be given a visual treatment, using a slideshow of photographs of inuits, the album would receive a 5.1 surround sound remix, serving as soundtrack to what's happening on screen. The slideshow and soundtrack were accompanied by on-screen text from the album's original liner notes, narrating each of the *Eskimo* stories being depicted.

### Additional content

The *Eskimo* DVD also features excerpts from the 1922 silent pseudo-documentary film *Nanook of the North*, a study of the Inuit people of Canada's northern Quebec region. The *Nanook* excerpts are presented with selections from the soundtrack to the 1994 Discovery Channel series *Hunters: The World of Predators and Prey*.

Also included is a music video for "Diskomo 2000*"*, and *The Esquimaux Village*, a silent documentary short from 1901 (less than a minute in duration), which is presented unmodified. Finally, there is "An Inuit Legend", a short video consisting of still images, which tells an abbreviated version of the legend of Sedna, the goddess of the sea in Innuit mithology.

Inside the DVD packaging was included a booklet with all the stories, as well as press articles about the internal dispute between The Residents and The Cryptic Corporation during the development of *Eskiom* back in the late 1970's, and also reviews of the album,

## Contents

***Eskimo***

1. The Walrus Hunt
2. Birth
3. Arctic Hysteria
4. The Angry Angakok
5. A Spirit Steals a Child
6. The Festival of Death

**Excerpts from *Nanook***

* Building An Igloo
* Crossing An Ice Field
* Hunting Seal
* Preparing For Sleep

**Diskomo**

* Diskomo 2000

**Easter eggs**

* The Esquimaux Village
* An Inuit Legend

## Liner notes

When The Residents first released *Eskimo* in 1979, it was well known that the inspiration for the album originated with actual innuit field recordings made by the group's mentor, The Mysterious N. Senada. What has not been known until this time, is that Mr. Senada was also an amateur photographer, and, along with the tapes of Eskimo chanting, dogs howling, and wind, were two undeveloped rolls of film.

With a great sense of anticipation, The Residents processed this film and viewed the pictures while listening to Mr. Senada's tapes. While the images did provide a fascinating, if somewhat obscure, frame of reference for the recordings, the group ultimately decided that the photos, like the tapes, worked best as inspiration for their romantic re-creation of Eskimo life.

It was almost twenty-five years before the photos were seen again. At that time, The Residents were discussing the idea of remixing *Eskimo* as a 5.1 Surround Audio DVD. But, as usual, the group was not satisfied with the obvious idea of remixing the original tapes. The Residents had always envisioned *Eskimo* as a visual as well as musical work, and until the visual component was realized, the project would remain unfinished. Finally, two decades after its original release, the DVD medium seemed to offer the perfect opportunity to rethink the project; but, with neither the time or the budget to mount a full production, how could *Eskimo* stories possibly be illustrated?

At that point, as it often happens with The Residents, two seemingly unrelated things came together to form a new idea: the box of N. Senada's photographs and the Internet. Long forgotten memories of the photos stimulated The Residents to start searching the Internet for similar material, and they were amazed by what they found. In various websites like the Library of Congress and The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Photo Library, they were able to find images that perfectly complimented their vision of Arctic life. Feverishly they went to work.

Finally, by processing these photos, along with a few of Mr. Senada's originals, and synchronizing them to the remixed music, The Residents were able to realize the version of *Eskimo* that they originally visualized in 1979.

## See also

* *Eskimo*
* Eskimo Live
* *Hunters: The World of Predators and Prey*
* *Diskomo 2000*
* *Eskimo Deconstructed*

## External links and references

* Eskimo DVD at The Residents Historical
* Eskimo DVD at Discogs
* Eskimo DVD at IMDb
* The Esquimaux Village at Library of Congress

**Side A:**
"The Walrus Hunt" · "Birth" · "Arctic Hysteria" · "The Angry Angakok"
**Side B:**
"A Spirit Steals A Child" · "The Festival Of Death"
**Personnel**
The Residents · Snakefinger · Chris Cutler · Don Preston
**Related works**
"Kenya" · "Middle East Dance" · "Scottish Rhapsody" · "The Sleeper" · Collectors' Box series · *Subterranean Modern* ("The Replacement") · *Diskomo/Goosebump* · Eskimo Live ("Eskimo Opera Proposal") · *Assorted Secrets* · *Diskomo 2000* · ***Eskimo DVD*** · *Eskimo Deconstructed* · "Eskimo - Renaldo & The Loaf Re-Construction"
**Related articles**
Ralph Records · The Cryptic Corporation · Grove St. studio · Poor No Graphics ·  Dinosaur Productions · N. Senada · Polar Eskimo (Angakok) ·  *Not Available* · *Chewing Hides The Sound* · *Eskimo De/Re-constructed*‏‏‎

**Compositions**
Pollex Christi (1936-1937) · Cantaten und Symphonen mit Eine Poem (1969?) · Cantaten und Symphonen for der Saxophonen und Violinen with P.C. Lithman (1971?) · Cantaten to der Dyin Prunen with P.C. Lithman (1971?)
**Music theory**
Theory of Phonetic Organization {*Meet The Residents*) · Theory of Obscurity (*Not Available*)
**Work with The Residents**
*The W\*\*\*\*\* B\*\*\* Album* (1971) · A Live Radio Broadcast (1971) · *B.S.* (1971) · *1-10 (With A Touch of 11)* (1972) · *Vileness Fats* (1972-1976) · *Eskimo* (1979) · *Pollex Christi* (1997)
**Live appearances**
Philip Lithman and N. Senada live appearances (ca. 1971) · The Boarding House performance with Residents, Uninc. (1971) · Philip's Wedding with Residents, Uninc. (1971) · Chris' Party with Residents, Uninc. (1972) · Oh Mummy! Oh Daddy! with The Residents (1976) · Snakey Wake performance (1987)
**Related articles** Max Steinway · Hardy Fox · Philip "Snakefinger" Lithman · The Delta Nudes · Residents, Uninc. · "Eloise" · "Kamakazi Lady" · Andrew Hook · *O for Obscurity, Or, The Story of N.*