siLLy puPPy PIKE 197 - 10 DAYS TIL HALLOWEEN: RESIDUE is the 96th album released by BUCKETHEAD in 2015 and the 22nd installment in the countdown to HALLOWEEN. Yet another dark ambient spooky soundtrack that sees BUCKETHEAD performing all sounds. This one clocks in slightly under the 30 minute mark at 28:58 and has 8 tracks all titled “Residue.”

This is another detached and spaced out emotionless trip into the void as was the last PIKE. It begins in a similar manner with random noises fluttering about as a device is being hit with radioactive particles cursing through the vastness of space and the device translates them into sound. What also comes to mind after a while is the random sounds in an engine room of an advanced space ship that utilizes clean magnetic and solar energy for its inner workings. This is definitely a spacey trip indeed. At times there is a weird noise that simulates a cat’s meow but most of this is as avant-garde as the strangest workings of Stockhausen or John Cage.

There isn’t a lot one can say about this stuff. It is just strange and must be experienced directly. No vicarious reports can prepare the listener for anything so far outside of their reality. Once again BUCKETHEAD delivers a thoroughly frightful experience that goes well beyond the traditional HALLOWEEN experience and into the deepest recesses of the unconscious to conjure up the most atavistic responses to a seemingly random parade of sounds.