Arthur Russell

[snailed]

Well, after a thorough search of the archives, it seems we do not have a dedicated thread on Arthur Russell. If there is, please point me to it. I'm of course late to the game on this, and I didn't like World of Echo for a few years - but that was my only exposure. After hearing where that fit in the context of his other music, it clicked for me. (And after some well-timed recommendations from folks in SLSK - thanks.)

First- where is the Flying Hearts material available? I believe it's been of print for quite some time. Anyone have mp3s? The stuff in the documentary didn't sound amazing or anything, but I'm curious to hear it.

What do you all think of Wild Combination (the recent documentary)? I definitely liked it for what it was, but probably the best thing on there was the footage of the Niblock-shot performance available on the World of Echo DVD. As a regular music doc, it's quite good though with footage of Ginsberg talking about Arthur, Philip Glass, etc.

[jon abbey]

huh, I could have sworn I started a AR thread here at some point, maybe it got lost in the move.

[snailed]

Yeah, I searched for it because I remembered it too. Weird.

edit: here's the disco thread, which seems to have the most russell talk for a thread that hasn't been munched by the board: http://ihatemusic.noquam.com/viewtopic. ... ur+russell - the rest seems scattered about.

[mudd]

munch munch munch.

there's still a bunch of arthur russell stuff in print that i haven't had a chance to hear, so i can't help you with any stuff that hasn't even been reissued (yet?). it's been hard to keep up, and i can't really imagine there's that much more sweet water in the well. have to admit i was surprised by 'love is overtaking me', i fully expected to be disappointed and indeed on a first listen didn't think much of it. but after a relisten or two, there's still some fine music there.

haven't seen the documentary, either.

m

[snailed]

i've been into calling out of context lately. it's way cheesy, but there's some great songs on there. i can see a lot of people hating it. but yeah, on all these reissues there seem to be at least a few gems, though i haven't gotten into love is overtaking me yet.

the documentary is on dvd now - available here - the extras seem pretty cool too, but i've only seen the film.

[bedouin]

Zummo with an X (with Russell on cello)

[joe]

i've been into calling out of context lately. it's way cheesy

that's part of why it's awesome. calling out of context is my favorite of his, though I've had a similar relationship with his "newest" as mudd had

[snailed]

i've been into calling out of context lately. it's way cheesy

that's part of why it's awesome. calling out of context is my favorite of his, though I've had a similar relationship with his "newest" as mudd had

oh yeah, for sure. it took me a little while to get it, but now it's definitely one of my faves. i listened to the "new" one today and enjoyed it very much. to answer my earlier question, according to Audika's press release, there are a few Flying Hearts tracks on there. however, it fails to mention which ones. maybe the liners say.

edit: according to the dusted review, only one track is credited to the flying hearts: "what it's like"

[jon abbey]

hoping this one makes it to the US soon (it's on CD also):

http://www.boomkat.com/item.cfm?id=164828

[sound.out.light]

i've got the soul jazz compilation



this was my introduction and i haven't explored further. is this pretty thorough in it's coverage of his career? i still don't know quite what to think of him. the music is just unlike anything i've ever heard before. i haven't decided what i think of his voice (i'm assuming it's him..on tracks like Keeping Up) His tone is so strange, he sings like he's deaf or something. whatever i end up thinking in the end, at the moment I am intrigued to say the least.

[jelle]

Yeah, it sure is a great collection but it's mainly focusing on the disco stuff (though it lacks some of his greatest floorfillers like kiss me again and tell you today).

It's indeed him singing on 'Keeping Up'.

[snailed]

i don't think the world of... is a really good place to start; it does focus a little too much on the disco stuff. he didn't really click for me until i heard the breadth of his work in an album context. i think maybe another thought is a good place to start as far as getting a nice sampling if you're gonna get just one, but i'd try and at least hear each album to see if one jumps out at you. the only one i flat out don't like is first thought, best thought. it could just be the performances, which are fairly cheap sounding... but i think i like his "composer" mode the least. i'd like to see some of those pieces re-recorded regardless.

[jon abbey]

well, the best place to start is the unreissued Kiss Me Again 12 inch, which I can upload yet again if people want, but in terms of CDs, I would start with the Soul Jazz one, but that's because I like his disco side the best (by far, actually). World of Echo is also great, with those two you have a reasonably good sense of him, I think.

[jkudler]

world of echo is seriously amazing - definitely one of my favorite albums of all time. not disco-ish at all, only very restrained and distant drum machines for the most part. mostly gorgeous cello and voice, awash in delay. the accompanying dvd (maybe not in more recent pressings?) is really lovely too.

"another thought" is a good intro too - i believe it was assembled posthumously, and it covers a wide range of his abilities. a few duds, but a lot of great stuff. i snagged it for probably $5, but apparently its stock has gone WAY up:
http://product.half.ebay.com/Another-Th ... 3QQtgZinfo
http://product.half.ebay.com/Another-Th ... 0QQtgZinfo

"love is overtaking me" took me a bit to get into also, as it's really different than other things (he has a completely different singing voice - more post richman and lou reed - than on later work), and it's got some 70's and 80's-damaged production, but i eventually got really into it, songs stuck in my head and everything.

i liked the documentary, too. didn't blow me away, but it has some really nice footage and interesting talking heads. the interviews with his parents were really touching, too. i thought i might pick up the dvd for the extras, at some point.

-j.

[jon abbey]

digging 'The Sleeping Bag Sessions'! good to see making fun of Ronald Reagan is (relatively) timeless...

[scumtron]

Have to agree with Jon. The Sleeping Bag Sessions is great, probably my favorite collection of his disco stuff, the most dancefloor-friendly as a whole as well. I'd love a "Kiss Me Again" vinyl reissue, but that's probably still a ways off.

On a related note, Polmo Polpo's cover of "Kiss Me Again" (entitled "Kiss Me Again and Again") is quite excellent.

[jon abbey]

On a related note, Polmo Polpo's cover of "Kiss Me Again" (entitled "Kiss Me Again and Again") is quite excellent.

I didn't like this at all, but I'm notoriously cranky, and that track is pretty sacred IMO. if you're going to take a crack at it, you'd better do a damn good job.

[tristan]

I'd love a "Kiss Me Again" vinyl reissue, but that's probably still a ways off.

I think there's an unofficial 12" reissue from a couple years ago with the original 13 minute full version on the A-side and some unrelated (I think) other things on the B-side, as opposed to Kiss Me Again (Version). Not sure how available it is, but I think I remember seeing it on the Discogs.com marketplace. Perhaps not for the 'purist' but if you'd just like it on vinyl, probably worth checking out.