Throughout, King has conducted wide-ranging original interviews with Arthur's collaborators, contemporaries, family and friends. The resulting book reveals a true picture of one of the most distinctive artists of the last fifty years.
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ARTHUR RUSSELL
Throughout, King has conducted wide-ranging original interviews with Arthur's collaborators, contemporaries, family and friends. The resulting book reveals a true picture of one of the most distinctive artists of the last fifty years.
Peter Broderick & Ensemble 0
Give It To The Sky: Arthur Russell’s Tower Of Meaning Expanded
Erased Tapes
Ensemble 0 weave in and out of Broderick’s additions. ‘Corky’, a poignant cowboy ballad that Russell never finished, appears, disappears, and reappears three times, the droning exhalations of ‘Tower of Meaning’ making it feel sweeter and sadder. Arriving just after the triumphant halfway mark, the title track is a sublime meditation on mere existence, about staring at some simple rural scene and marcelling at the miracle of being anywhere at all. It is an apt encapsulation of how this entire project feels – a glorious way to hear something that might have seemed familiar as if for the very first time.
Russell was never much for definitive versions, of course. He was constantly rethinking the possibilities of a piece, of wondering what else it could do. ‘Give it to the Sky’ is a powerful affirmation of those principles, using Tower of Meaning’s framework to build outward and upward, to shape something that functions within Russell’s wondrous, paradoxical world. And ‘Give it to the Sky’ is also not intended to be some definitive last word. Broderick and Ensemble 0 speak already of the ways it may shift on stage, of where else it might lead.
TRACK LISTING
A1.Tower Of Meaning I
A2. Tower Of Meaning II
A3. Tower Of Meaning III
A4. Tower Of Meaning IV
A5. Corky I / White Jet Set Smoke Trail I
A6. Consideration
B1. Tower Of Meaning V
B2. Tower Of Meaning VI
B3. Tower Of Meaning VII
B4. Tower Of Meaning VIII
B5. Tower Of Meaning IX / Corky II
C1. Tower Of Meaning X
C2. Give It To The Sky
D1. Tower Of Meaning XI
D2. Tower Of Meaning XII
D3. Corky III
D4. White Jet Smoke Trail II
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- Ltd LP
- £20.99
- Cat Number
- RT0425LP
- Release date
- 23 Jun '23
- Format Info
Black vinyl edition.
Black vinyl edition. -
- CD
- £10.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- RT0425CD
- Release date
- 23 Jun '23
‘Picture of Bunny Rabbit’ features nine previously unreleased performances from this era compiled from completed masters culled from two unique test pressings, including one, dated 9/15/85 by Arthur, provided by his mother and sister. A further four tracks were discovered in his tape archive. The track listing includes an exceptional and dramatic solo recording of “In The Light of a Miracle” and the enigmatic title instrumental “Picture of Bunny Rabbit”, written especially for a friends pet rabbit. The bulk of the material was recorded with engineer Eric Liljestrand at Battery Sound Studios, New York, which was located directly opposite the World Trade Center and at Arthur’s apartment studio in the East Village.
In 1986 Arthur Russell was diagnosed with HIV, that same year he released his career-defining masterpiece ‘World of Echo’, the first and only solo album issued during his lifetime. Arthur had found his voice and a fresh direction with a set of new, transformative material, unlike anything he or anyone else had previously released. His illness ensured that the artistic growth and sense of exploration encapsulated in ‘World of Echo’ would be tragically curtailed. Within six short years Arthur was gone.
Arthur’s final years were filled with a renewed commitment to creativity and unceasing live and recording work. He regularly performed the ‘World of Echo’ material and incorporated several of its compositions in collaborations with choreographers active in New York’s innovative dance community. Arthur worked closely with Diane Madden, Allison Salzinger, Stephanie Woodard and John Bernd, usually playing his cello and effects boxes off stage as the choreographers’ pieces were performed. In 1993 Arthur posthumously received a prestigious Bessie Composer Award for his work in the dance world.
This release is the latest in a series in partnership with Audika Records, the exclusive label and home for the Arthur Russell archive and estate, who since 2004 have compiled and published the exceptionally varied, long sought-after music of Arthur Russell, and who in the process have helped the beloved, late artist find the broader audience he always believed he would reach. A new generation of listeners and critics has come to appreciate Russell as a visionary and an influence upon a broad range of today’s most compelling musical artists.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Some premium unearthed material here from the late, great Arthur Russell. Having come from the World Of Echo sessions, you know that there's some superb material here, including nine previously unreleased performances including some salvaged from tape provided by his mother and sister.TRACK LISTING
Side A:
Fuzzbuster 10
Not Checking Up
Telling No One
Fuzzbuster 06
The Boy With A Smile
Side B:
Fuzzbuster 09
Very Reason
Picture Of Bunny Rabbit
In The Light Of A Miracle
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- 2xLP
- £25.99
- Cat Number
- RTRADLP481
- Release date
- 9 Dec '22
Compiled from over eight hours of material, ‘Love Is Overtaking Me’ reaches back further to Russell’s first compositions from the early `70s and spans forward to his very last recordings, made at home in 1991. Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear contributed mixing, restoration and editing to the album, whose tracks were selected by Audika’s Steve Knutson, Ernie Brooks and Russell’s companion, Tom Lee. Several songs feature prominently in Matt Wolf’s film ‘Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell’.
Extensive ‘Love Is Overtaking Me’ liner notes by Tom Lee provide an intimate perspective on Russell’s diverse catalogue, which spanned an extraordinary diversity of styles and won the love of artistic communities that would seem utterly disparate, from Philip Glass, John Cage and Allen Ginsberg to rock bands like The Talking Heads and The Modern Lovers; the pre-Studio 54 disco-party scene of Nicky Siano’s Gallery and David Mancuso’s Loft; and DJ-producers like Francois Kevorkian and Larry Levan, among others.
TRACK LISTING
Side A
Close My Eyes
Goodbye Old Paint
Maybe She
Oh Fernanda Why
Time Away
Nobody Wants A Lonely Heart
Side B
I Couldn't Say It To Your Face
This Time Dad You're Wrong
What It's Like
Eli
Hey! How Does Everybody Know
Side C
I Forget And I Can't Tell (Ballad Of The Lights Pt. 1)
Habit Of You
Janine
Big Moon
Your Motion Says
The Letter
Side D
Don't Forget About Me
Love Is Overtaking Me
Planted A Thought
Love Comes Back
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- LP
- £20.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- RT0371LP
- Release date
- 9 Dec '22
Russell fans know something of the Corn sound from Audika’s debut release, ‘Calling Out of Context’ (2004), which included four songs from these sessions: ‘The Deer In The Forest Part 1,’ ‘The Platform on the Ocean,’ ‘Calling Out Of Context,’ and ‘I Like You!’
This new collection includes rhythmic alternate versions of ‘Lucky Cloud,’ ‘Keeping Up,’ ‘See My Brother, He’s Jumping Out (Let’s Go Swimming #2),’ ‘This Is How We Walk on the Moon,’ and ‘Hiding Your Present From You,’ along with ‘Corn,’ ‘Corn (Continued),’ ‘They and Their Friends,’ and the closing instrumental ‘Ocean Movie,’ one of the most beautiful and curious Russell tracks ever to see the light of day.
TRACK LISTING
Lucky Cloud
Corn
Keeping Up
See My Brother, He's Jumping Out (Let's Go Swimming #2)
This Is How We Walk On The Moon
Corn (Continued)
Hiding Your Present From You
They And Their Friends
Ocean Movie
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- 2xLP
- £23.99
- Cat Number
- RTRADLP161
- Release date
- 13 May '22
Calling Out Of Context features 12 previously unreleased tracks of Buddhist Bubblegum Disco Electro Pop including the anthemic "That's Us/Wild Combination", "The Platform On The Ocean", “Make 1, 2” and "Arm Around You", all recorded during Arthur's prime years 1985-90. Collaborators include Mustafa Ahmed, Walter Gibbons, Steven Hall, Jennifer Warnes, and Peter Zummo.
30 years have passed since Arthur Russell left us, in relative obscurity, from AIDS complications in 1992. Yet his work—as composer, songwriter and dance music innovator—is better known now than ever before. Since Audika Records and Arthur’s partner Tom Lee began excavating and curating Arthur’s vast archive beginning in 2003, critics worldwide have hailed Russell as a visionary. Countless younger artists cite him as an influence. There has been an internationally acclaimed documentary film (Matt Wolf’s Wild Combination) and biography (Tim Lawrence’s Hold onto Your Dreams), a critical study (Matt Marble’s Buddhist Bubblegum) along with various tribute albums, concerts and events. In 2016 Arthur Russell’s archive was acquired by The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center as part of their American Music Collection.
If Arthur Russell isn’t quite the pop star he imagined he would be, he is at least widely considered one of the most significant figures in late 20th century American music.
The majority of the material selected for “Calling Out Of Context” comes from two sources. The first was a completed album which dates from 1985, entitled “Corn” of which three very different test pressings remain (complied and reissued in 2015). The second source was material earmarked for Rough Trade recorded between 1986 -1990.
Both “Make 1,2” and “Hop On Down” (originally titled “Hop On Down To Petland”) are two songs that Arthur wrote specifically with the plan of releasing as singles. Sadly, Arthur was faced with an unsympathetic market which viewed his material as uncommercial or too eccentric. In the case of the abandoned Rough Trade recordings, Arthur had become ill due to complications from HIV. He simply could not let go of his material. Nonetheless, he worked and reworked songs into an infinite labyrinth of possibilities, working incessantly with confidence and optimism until the last years of his life.
As a cellist, songwriter, composer, and disco visionary Arthur Russell consistently blurred the lines of our expectations of what pop music could be. Contrary by nature, Arthur’s spontaneous reaction to and altered perception of his environment produced music that remains challenging and contemporary. Arthur’s open hearted attitude to music was far ahead of its time, and now that time is ours.
TRACK LISTING
The Deer In The Forest Part 1
The Platform On The Ocean
You And Me Both
Calling Out Of Context
Arm Around You
That's Us/Wild Combination
Make 1,2
Hop On Down
Get Around You
I Like You!
You Can Make Me Feel Bad
Calling All Kids
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- 2xLP
- £23.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- RT0307LP
- Release date
- 13 May '22
Before Disco, and before the transcendent echoes, Arthur studied to be a composer.
His journey began in 1972, running away from his home in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
Heading west to Northern California, Arthur studied Indian classical composition at the Ali Akbar Khan College of Music followed by western orchestral music at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, before ending two years later in New York at the Manhattan School of Music.
Traversing the popular and the serious, Arthur composed “Instrumentals” in 1974, inspired by the photography of his Buddhist teacher, Yuko Nonomura, as Arthur described, “I was awakened, or re-awakened to the bright-sound and magical qualities of the bubblegum and easy-listening currents in American popular music”.
Initially intended to be performed in one 48 hour cycle, “Instrumentals” was in fact only performed a handful of times as a work in progress.
The legendary performances captured live in New York at The Kitchen (1975 and 1978) and Franklin St. Arts Center (1977) feature the cream of that eras downtown new music scene including Ernie Brooks, Rhys Chatham, Julius Eastman, Jon Gibson, Peter Gordon, Garrett List, Andy Paley, Bill Ruyle, Dave Van Tieghem, and Peter Zummo.
Pitchfork lauded “Instrumentals” Vol. 1 as a masterpiece and one of Arthur’s “greatest achievements”. Americana touching on Copeland, Ives, and maybe even Brian Wilson. “Instrumentals” Vol. 2 is a moving, deeply pastoral work performed by the CETA Orchestra and conducted by Julius Eastman. Also included are two of Arthur’s most elusive compositions, Reach One, and Sketch For “Face Of Helen”. Recorded live in 1975 at Phill Niblock’s Experimental Intermedia Foundation, Reach One is a minimal, hypnotic ambient soundscape written and performed for two Fender Rhodes pianos. Sketch For “Face Of Helen” was inspired by Arthur’s work with friend and composer Arnold Dreyblatt, recorded with an electronic tone generator, keyboard and ambient recordings of a rumbling tugboat from the Hudson River.
TRACK LISTING
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 1
"Instrumentals" Volume 2
"Instrumentals" Volume 2
"Instrumentals" Volume 2
"Instrumentals" Volume 2
"Instrumentals" Volume 2
Sketch For The Face Of Helen
Reach One
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- 2xLP
- £23.99
- Cat Number
- RTRADLP208
- Release date
- 26 Nov '21
Often listed in the various 'most important albums you'll ever hear' type of fair; its innovative and maverick approach to the whole production process (even famously recording the album on a full moon) would go on to inspire countless future generations of creatives; especially across lo-fi and DIY scenes. His mix of classical training, frankly punk attitude and love of experimentation forged a sound that was unequivocally his own; a rare and epochal force of nature that will never be copied again.
If you don't own a copy of this album, I urge you to reconsider! It's a must-have for any serious music lover. Copies always fly out too, so take advantage now as when its out of press it always commands big bucks.
TRACK LISTING
Tone Bone Kone 0:57
Soon-To-Be Innocent Fun / Let's See 9:19
Answers Me 2:04
Being It 5:23
Place I Know / Kid Like You 3:20
She's The Star / I Take This Time 4:46
Tree House 2:09
See-Through 2:08
Hiding Your Present From You 4:06
Wax The Van 2:05
All-Boy All-Girl 3:34
Lucky Cloud 2:46
Tower Of Meaning / Rabbit's Ear / Home Away From Home 4:20
Let's Go Swimming
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- 2xLP
- £23.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- RT0264LP
- Release date
- 26 Nov '21
-
- CD
- £9.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- RT0264CD
- Release date
- 14 Jan '22
TRACK LISTING
Side 1
1. Wonder Boy
2. I Never Get Lonesome
3. Everybody Everybody
4. You Did It Yourself
5. Come To Life
6. Iowa Dream
7. Words Of Love
8. I Still Love You
9. You Are My Love
10. Barefoot In New York
11. Just Regular People
12. I Wish I Had A Brother
13. I Felt
14. The Dogs Outside Are Barking
15. Sharper Eyes
16. Follow You
17. List Of Boys
18. I Kissed The Girl From Outer Space
19. In Love With You For The Last Time
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- CD
- £12.99
Usually ships within: 2-5 days - Cat Number
- SJRCD83
- Release date
- 6 Jul '18
This album brings together some of Russell’s best-loved and most accessible works including his wide-ranging music, both solo and in groups, including Dinosaur L (the essential ‘Go Bang’), Loose Joints (the equally classic ‘Is It All Over My Face’) as well as rarities such as the 7” only ‘Pop Your Funk’, Indian Ocean’s ‘Schoolbell / Treehouse’, Lola’s ‘Wax The Van’ and more.
Arthur Russell’s music effortlessly crossed musical boundaries making it timeless. His dance music credentials are faultless and this collection features mixes from Larry Levan, Françcois Kevorkian and Walter Gibbons. Similarly, his songwriting, musicality and performance skills are equally cherished, as composer Philip Glass wrote, “this was a guy who could sit down with a cello and sing with it in a way that no one on earth has ever done before or will do again.”
When Soul Jazz Records’ ‘The World Of Arthur Russell’ first came out in 2003, Russell’s music had slipped into near obscurity. Nearly 15 years later there are over a dozen releases of his music, reissues of his original albums and more. ‘The World Of Arthur Russell’ is the classic first collection of his work available once more.
TRACK LISTING
Dinosaur L - Go Bang (Francois Kevorkian Mix)
Lola - Wax The Van
Loose Joints - Is It All Over My Face (Larry Levan Mix)
Arthur Russell - Keeping Up
Arthur Russell - In The Light Of The Miracle
Arthur Russell - A Little Lost
Loose Joints - Pop Your Funk
Arthur Russell - Let's Go Swimming (Walter Gibbons Mix)
Dinosaur L - In The Cornbelt (Larry Levan Mix)
Arthur Russell - Treehouse
Indian Ocean - Schoolbell/Treehouse (Walter Gibbons Mix)