Ok . MORE Arthur Russell (But This Is Great)

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed
Not all messages are displayed: show all messages (1055 of them)
Great interview (courtesy Danny Wang) with Steven Hall, AR's guitarist friend here.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 21:51 (eighteen years ago) link

I like how Steven Hall says Arthur was incredibly forward, and propositioned him the first time they met.

Confounded (Confounded), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 21:59 (eighteen years ago) link

Funny how AR hung out at the Ninth Circle bar, which Danny Krivit says (in this same issue of Keep On) was owned by his dad! This Steven Hall interview is definitely one of the best re: Russell I've read yet.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 22:19 (eighteen years ago) link

ok, i had to yousend this for someone else so i thought i'd post this link here. for me, this is one of the holy grails of arthur's music. i have listened to this so many times and yet i still hear something new each time. it is from a peter zummo lp called 'zummo with an x' and is a 20 minute russell / zummo collaboration featuring trombone, cello, tabla, arthur murmuring and echo. i think this is possibly thee definition of sublime. it is listed on the sleeve as part 4 of 6 and i live in hope that one day the other 5 parts will see the light of day.

http://s41.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=1SD7B2S78KM280LKKQATNSBQ22

stirmonster (stirmonster), Thursday, 18 August 2005 11:47 (eighteen years ago) link

I found that record at the WFMU record fair in an "art music/downtown" type crate, and still paid some 25 bucks for it. Really beautiful.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 18 August 2005 12:46 (eighteen years ago) link

thank you jd!

mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:13 (eighteen years ago) link

omg thanks twitch this is gorgeous

(so did 24-24 ever get a commercial release or what?)

strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:40 (eighteen years ago) link

nope.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:42 (eighteen years ago) link

seventeen minutes in and LOVING this. sublime is right.

mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:44 (eighteen years ago) link

thx stirmonster!

wow this is great!

i'ven never heard arthur russell before....is it all this cool? sweet....

Doesn't M@tt He1geson Deserve A Cool, Funny Login Name? (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:57 (eighteen years ago) link

wow matt go buy the world of... RIGHT NOW (nb: may contain upwards of 50% disco)

strng hlkngtn, Thursday, 18 August 2005 13:59 (eighteen years ago) link

will do....

i ain't scurred of a lil' disco!

Doesn't M@tt He1geson Deserve A Cool, Funny Login Name? (Matt Helgeson), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:00 (eighteen years ago) link

late last year, dustygroove had boots of 24-24 music, which is about as close as you can get, i reckon.
not sure of the legal situation reissuing it, but i would think Audika could do something about it. i know they are working on the orchestral stuff right now, along with another project.

Beta (abeta), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:16 (eighteen years ago) link

thanks for the track

Dominique (dleone), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:43 (eighteen years ago) link

Stirmonster you roxxx!

Gerard (Gerard), Thursday, 18 August 2005 14:47 (eighteen years ago) link

Cheers Stirmonster! This track is exquisite!

LRJP! (LRJP!), Thursday, 18 August 2005 20:01 (eighteen years ago) link

Merci, twitch!

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:05 (eighteen years ago) link

http://s29.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0AOVSL1BZFZ0C23EQZMN8FTJKV

I hope this works, Due to the beatuy of the track posted above i felt inspired. Here is Felix. Tiger Stripes, on sleeping bag records. One truly odd dance song.

Jacobs (LolVStein), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:20 (eighteen years ago) link

Who peter zummo? Why don't I know this person? I 've almost finished listening to the song and floor is the only word I can think of. I can only think of 'Soon-To-Be Innocent Fun-Let's See' from world of echoe, that compares.

Jacobs (LolVStein), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:27 (eighteen years ago) link

Floored

Jacobs (LolVStein), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:28 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh man this is gorgeous. Thanks Twitch!

RickyT (RickyT), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:31 (eighteen years ago) link

i'm dying to listen to both tracks right now!!!...i'm going into a conference room!!

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:38 (eighteen years ago) link

http://www.timlawrence.info/books/russell.php

jed_ (jed), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:48 (eighteen years ago) link

More thanks for both tracks. Was into Arthur Russell and Sleeping Bag records way back in the day and it's great to hear it again.

drewo (drewo), Thursday, 18 August 2005 21:49 (eighteen years ago) link

So is Russell's "disco" stuff generally preferred to his avant cello, cello+vocals, avant-casio-pop, or other incarnations? I came into him via 'Another Thought' of all places, which is generally similar to 'World of Echo' with a few that fall between the Sleeping Bag and 'Calling Out of Context' sounds. 'World of Echo' is easily amongst my top 5 records all time, out of thousands.

I love it all, really, and it's one of the things that amazes me--he could be considered a genius in numerous (seemingly wholly) disparate scenes/genres. Everything he did seems to have been gold--he even makes the otherwise mediocre rock/pop of the Necessaries shimmer when his keys/voice touch in.

I.M. (I.M.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:21 (eighteen years ago) link

i think his straight in disco stuff is inferior to the rest of his work....but there's that overlap between the disco and avante stuff where he pretty much shines.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:29 (eighteen years ago) link

I'm really glad Audika has had so much success. The label owner seems like a great guy--he even forwarded a modest little review I did of 'World of Echo' upon its reissue (which I never dared hope for in years prior) to Arthur's family, and then told me that it had touched them. Bring on the instrumentals cello works!

I.M. (I.M.), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:35 (eighteen years ago) link

I was pretty floored when AR's dad wrote me last year to request an old Melody Maker interview I had found (I posted about it on some thread here). He must read ILM or know someone who does!

(xpost) Susan, what would you could consider his "straight in disco stuff"?

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Huh. I heard the World of Echo and other dreamy dub cello stuff first and thought it was great. Then I heard Kiss Me Again, Is It All Over My Face, and Tell You (Today) and really nothing tops those for me. I still need to hear the 24 24 Music album though.

walter kranz (walterkranz), Thursday, 18 August 2005 22:57 (eighteen years ago) link

Jacobs, thanks for Tiger Stripes! Been wanting to hear it again since I heard it played out at one of Messr. Selzer's parties.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:24 (eighteen years ago) link

i was thinking "pop your funk" "go bang", and somewhat 'is it all over my face" (which is still a pretty great track)... although those first 2 i believe there were other contributors??

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Thursday, 18 August 2005 23:29 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh yeah, Go Bang. I knew I was forgetting one there.

walter kranz (walterkranz), Friday, 19 August 2005 00:11 (eighteen years ago) link

at the risk of repeating myself...but what about the full length version of Kiss Me Again! It just got bootlegged on vinyl, I think, and has appeared on I think at least 2 recent mix CDs, perhaps in response to the fact that it's been so lost, appearing on neither Disco Not Disco or the World of Arthur Russell. It's really drastically different then the 6 minute edit version on Disco Not Disco. They are both wonderful though.

Also, the version of Go Bang most people know is the Francois K mix, which is a bit more sane then the original version of 24-24 Music.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 19 August 2005 03:01 (eighteen years ago) link

How can one find this 24-24 music is it a full LP, has it seen a CD release. And who is Peter Zummo?

Jacobs (LolVStein), Friday, 19 August 2005 03:04 (eighteen years ago) link

it's a full LP and has only been bootlegged on vinyl, far as I know, though maybe there's been bootleg CDs.

Peter Zummo can be read about here:

http://www.scaruffi.com/avant/zummo.html

he was a downtown guy hanging out with a bunch of the minimalist types. Interesting to see that Russell appears on his Experimenting with Household Chemicals LP as well, you gonna post that one as well, stirmonster?

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 19 August 2005 03:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Thank you for the information about Zummo. There seems to be a market for a lot of this sort of music, perhaps a small one, but enough people want this sort of music I am surprized reissues take so long in coming.

Jacobs (LolVStein), Friday, 19 August 2005 03:56 (eighteen years ago) link

I didn't really "get" the whole arthur russell thing until a few months ago, when I was walking home late one night and listening to the optimo psyche-out mix, and the version of "kiss me again" that dan's referring to came on. it was a revelatory moment.

spruce bruce (haitch), Friday, 19 August 2005 04:09 (eighteen years ago) link

Speaking of, what do y'all think of Polmo Polpo's cover of Kiss Me Again?

http://www.discogs.com/release/397676

gnippiks, Friday, 19 August 2005 04:26 (eighteen years ago) link

"Tiger Stripes" is...wow!! thk U very much. afraid to listen to zummo track or polp's cover yet. tiger stripes made me think again (sorry) about those talking heads guitars. what is up with that? -i want to know finally. is there a common denom. to both a.r. and byrne's sound...someone else? someone preceding them i don't know about? or is one stealing from the other? not sure why i care...maybe b/c it fits so well with what ar was doing and i REALLY like his stuff but barely have liked t.h.'s stuff. ---- except a few tracks which feature these bouncy keyboard sounding guitars.

Susan Douglas (Susan Douglas), Friday, 19 August 2005 05:10 (eighteen years ago) link

the bside to tiger stripes i can't hold you is great too...will dig out and post

mullygrubbr (bulbs), Friday, 19 August 2005 05:39 (eighteen years ago) link

I only have the A side for tiger stripes, I would love to have the flip side. About the Talking Heads, I believe Arthur Russell was on the verge of joinning the band at one point, and David Byrne Did play guitar on Arthur's muisc. Exactly which song I've forgotten. For years I have felt like I should like talking head, and have listened repeatedly to most of their albums with no luck. I just can't seem to like their music. I admire David's promotion of different gobal music, and have like his brazilian classic comp. If someone could explain their music to me maybe....

Jacobs (LolVStein), Friday, 19 August 2005 06:18 (eighteen years ago) link

You get it or you don't, simple as that. Why worry if you can't get into it? Having said that, Byrne's on fire on "Kiss Me Again".

willem (willem), Friday, 19 August 2005 06:25 (eighteen years ago) link

thanks twitch, that's *amazing*.

toby (tsg20), Friday, 19 August 2005 06:25 (eighteen years ago) link

the freak out guitar on 'kiss me again' is as willem points, out david byrne on fire!

dan, i've only got 'experimenting with household chemicals' on cd which means i have no idea where it is. must have a look for it. talking of cds, your cd just arrived in the post! can't wait to check it out.

here's one more. it's arthur performing on peter gordon's 1986, 'innocent' lp.

http://s38.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=23AQAHOZ6SXFK07JU6VEBFE49I

stirmonster (stirmonster), Friday, 19 August 2005 08:18 (eighteen years ago) link

Zummo with an X appears to be still available on vinyl.

http://www.frogpeak.org/fpartists/fpzummo.html

jed_ (jed), Friday, 19 August 2005 09:54 (eighteen years ago) link

Dan, where is the boot of "Kiss Me Again" floating around at? i picked up the "go bang" one.
Steve Audika told me that the freak-out at the end of that longer "Kiss Me" jam is David Byrne and Henry Flynt! which i almost still don't believe, mostly as i don't hear Flynt.
Susan, i love AR but still don't dig T-Heads, so no worries. i do think the roots of that guitar sound are in highlife and ju-ju, the music of King Sunny Ade.

b8a, Friday, 19 August 2005 11:43 (eighteen years ago) link

I am surprized reissues take so long in coming

It's HARD!

I can't remember where I saw the boot, maybe flexx.be? Henry Flynt? That's crazy, didn't know that.

I like the Talking Heads and Russell fans should check out I Zimbra and David Byrne's vocal appearance on Robert Fripp's disco song Under Heavy Manners.

Dan Selzer (Dan Selzer), Friday, 19 August 2005 11:46 (eighteen years ago) link

About that guitar sound -- the ju-ju and highlife connections are possible but to me it sounds like a downtown-y (i.e. raw and angular a la Arto Lindsay, et.al) style of disco rhythm guitar playing. Am I stating the obvious? This kind of playing has just always sounded New York to me.

Jay Vee (Manon_70), Friday, 19 August 2005 14:30 (eighteen years ago) link

yo black dice

Outsider Enter Port City (sexyDancer), Friday, 19 August 2005 14:31 (eighteen years ago) link

here's one more. it's arthur performing on peter gordon's 1986, 'innocent' lp.

Wow, thanks for "That Hat" Stirmonster! Another blast from my past (*sigh* - my in-storage vinyl collection awaits a larger NYC apartment for accomodation). I don't know if Peter Gordon/Love of Life Orchestra has previously been discussed in another thread, but folks who like AR and the Downtown scene would probably dig LOLO. And (drummer) David Van Tiegham's recordings from that time as well.

drewo (drewo), Friday, 19 August 2005 16:36 (eighteen years ago) link

where is the reissue dammit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAroos8vQ3I

out-of-print LaserDisc edition (sleeve), Saturday, 22 July 2023 00:56 (eight months ago) link

thanks---passing it along---(cough cough)---yeah

dow, Saturday, 22 July 2023 02:36 (eight months ago) link

My most wanted unavailable track

I am using your worlds, Saturday, 22 July 2023 07:04 (eight months ago) link

four months pass...

Anthology Editions Announces
Travels Over Feeling: Arthur Russell, A Life By Richard King,
Out April 16, 2024

Featuring Previously-Unseen Handwritten Letters, Scores,
Lyrics, and More Archival Rarities

“The kind of genre-busting artist who defined downtown New York City in the 1970s and ’80s.”
— The New York Times

“More relevant now than ever.” — The Washington Post

“A kind of deity.” — The New Yorker

Today, Anthology Editions announces Travels Over Feeling: Arthur Russell, A Life — a landmark publication celebrating the life and work of the beloved late American musician and composer Arthur Russell — written by critically acclaimed writer Richard King, to be released April 16, 2024. Travels Over Feeling paints a portrait of Arthur Russell unlike anything that has come before, revealing a true picture of one of the most distinctive and influential artists of the last 50 years. Travels Over Feeling will be published in the United Kingdom by Faber on April 18.

The book combines largely unseen visual materials—handwritten scores, lyrics, photos, letters, and drawings—pulled from Russell’s archives at the New York Public Library as well as the personal collections of close confidants with new texts by King and extensive original interviews with Arthur’s collaborators, contemporaries, family, and friends. “Uncovering the riches of Arthur’s archives was as immersive and intimate an experience as listening to his music. I have endeavored to produce a book that provides the reader with a similar sense of discovery and wonder,” says King.

Russell’s eclectic music was often marked by adventurous production choices and his unique voice, defying classification. Pitchfork has said, “his distinctive music has the rare resilience to keep growing, connecting to more and more people because of its extraordinarily contemporary, even timeless, quality.” From his pioneering compositions as part of the Downtown NYC avant-garde scene (alongside the likes of Philip Glass, David Byrne, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, and Allen Ginsberg) to his genre-expanding disco productions, from his new wave and art pop to his posthumously released folk songs, Russell crafted enduring and foundationally influential work until his premature death in 1992 from AIDS-related illnesses.


more info:
https://anthology.net/book/arthur-russell-travels-over-feeling/

Faber will host a very special event at The Barbican in London on May 25, 2024 celebrating the life and work of Arthur Russell and the publication of Travels Over Feeling: Arthur Russell, A Life. Speakers Corner Quartet (bassist Peter Bennie, drummer Kwake Bass, flutist Biscuit, and violinist Raven Bush) will join forces with cellist and ambient pop artist Lucinda Chua. The evening will also feature a few special guests, yet to be announced. Tickets will go on sale on November 24 here.
(sorry, just now got this far in my gmail)
https://www.barbican.org.uk/search?search=Arthur+Russell
Richard King is the author of Original Rockers (shortlisted for the Gordon Burn Prize and a Rough Trade and Times Book of the Year), How Soon Is Now? (Sunday Times Music Book of the Year), The Lark Ascending (a Rough Trade and Evening Standard Book of the Year, shortlisted for the Penderyn Prize) and, most recently, Brittle with Relics: A History of Wales, 1962–97, all published by Faber & Faber. He is the current Royal Literary Fund Fellow at Cardiff University School of Journalism, Media & Culture. More information is available at richardhywelking.com.

For more information, contact:
Yuri Kwon, Jaycee Rockhold | Pitch Perfect PR – yuri at pitchperfectpr.com, jaycee at pitchperfectpr.com

dow, Friday, 1 December 2023 02:32 (four months ago) link

three months pass...

Haha, what the hell is this?! https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arthur-Russell-Cello-Disco-Biography-ebook/dp/B0CVV2YMZQ

Goodoh, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 10:38 (three weeks ago) link

it certainly is, I found this a few weeks back, I fucking hate people like this, stinking up Amazon even further just to make pennies.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transgressive-Echoes-Unraveled-Throbbing-Biography-ebook/dp/B0CNWFRMNR/ref=sr_1_3

Maresn3st, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 11:49 (three weeks ago) link

these books are crazy - Print length ‏ : ‎ 26 pages - but i'm guessing it is the tip of a very large iceberg coming our way.

stirmonster, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 13:04 (three weeks ago) link

another great reason to never use amazon. join me

budo jeru, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 14:08 (three weeks ago) link

we need to flood these pages with one star reviews

Paul Ponzi, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 14:12 (three weeks ago) link

this is all garbage obv, but that TG cover photo is hilarious.

dan selzer, Tuesday, 26 March 2024 14:37 (three weeks ago) link

If anyone wants this to listen to on-the-go I can Dropbox it. They stopped the download facility on it.

― Kat Slater Slag meme. (jed_), Thursday, October 26, 2017 6:08 PM (six years ago) bookmarkflaglink

could someone please YSI the 2017 RA podcast? Many thanks!

Deflatormouse, Thursday, 28 March 2024 00:47 (two weeks ago) link

Here 'tis - https://we.tl/t-E11IknSSZt

Maresn3st, Thursday, 28 March 2024 00:55 (two weeks ago) link

thanks you rule ♥️

Deflatormouse, Thursday, 28 March 2024 00:59 (two weeks ago) link

Something new is coming…

https://x.com/audikarecords/status/1773721038540730775?s=61&t=OIvYKs_vXneO_K6s2BAzdA

I am using your worlds, Friday, 29 March 2024 17:00 (two weeks ago) link

two weeks pass...

Thanks, also Maresn3st thanks for the podcast!

re the xpost new bio and Barbican, Kitty Empire's got good commentary here, mostly on Arthur and the book, hope to see sep thing on Barbican in May:

A secret hero of the dancefloor, the avant garde producer and musician Arthur Russell occupies a strange and silvery slot in the annals of music. He was a low-key cult figure in his lifetime, but one who has been increasingly celebrated. His prodigious output and his refusal to have that work pinned down has, in the decades since his death from Aids-related illness in 1992, birthed a small cottage industry of admiration and exegesis: compilations, reissues, covers albums, biographies and even a film. The Barbican in London has given over a night in May to celebrate Russell’s often confounding, genre-spanning work – and the publication of this latest account.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/apr/15/travels-over-feeling-arthur-russell-a-life-richard-king-review-barbican-exhibition-london

dow, Monday, 15 April 2024 20:42 (yesterday) link


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.