The Residents, Fingerprince (side A)

The divisions between sides on 1977's Fingerprince is in some ways clearly delineated.  The liner notes describe the short tracks on side A as songs, and side B as a continuous ballet.  The ballet is in fact broken into movements, which are somewhat song-like.  They remind me at times of Raymond Scott and gamelan music.  The songs on side A do have vocals and what seem like lyrics, and they're also propulsive.  While the structures do sometimes use repetition, the results still don't end up seeming much like other songs.  In both its songs and ballet, Fingerprince emphasizes the act of creation perhaps more than the music itself.  The sounds exist inside of structures, but their very existence as strangely recorded sounds seems like their most important quality.  They're often primitive and far removed from the source, even when it is clearly a vocal, and this approach is more important than the music comprising the sounds.  An excellent mastering job helps bring a bit of cleanliness and clarity to the weird textures.  The cover design manages to be both primitive and iconic at the same time—it fits the music nicely.