Article by Crawford Philleo and Ryan Hall

Do you hate reading music criticism? Are all those empty references—artists you’ve never heard of, but are somehow informing the way your favorite up-and-comers are fitting into the bigger picture—causing you headaches? Wish you had a better grasp on what the bigger picture might even look like? We do too... and we’re the critics for crying out loud! Music itself is just too big for any one person to tackle alone, so we’ve decided to team up, wrangle these folks in and spend some serious time with each of them to help you (and us) sift through the monumental task of understanding the history of pop music with more fervor, gusto, and confidence than ever before. There are so many brilliant figures in the spectrum of popular music throughout the art form’s monumental discourse that seem glossed over, name-dropped here and there, but overall rarely dug into, studied or analyzed. So we welcome you to Inyourspeakers' newest feature, Name-Drop Directory.

It is a place where we’ll look at influential artists who deserve further listening. We’ll recap a brief biography of the artists, take a look at the myriad ways in which their music has come to shape what has been going on more recently in the current climate, and we'll also hand-pick some choice cuts from their discography that deserve special attention. We’ve done the hard work for you, now you get the easy part—listening to these amazing artists’ work and rediscovering your current musical tastes by way of a better understanding of where they actually come from. You’ll be name-dropping in no time. This month’s auteur is the prolific, multi-genre-dabbling, cellist extraordinaire: Arthur Russell.

History and Influence

Is it cliché to say that Arthur Russell’s influence on our musical landscape is as diverse as his musical output? Probably, but it simply can’t be avoided. As a musician, Russell embodied a chameleon-like ability to both appropriate and incorporate a formal training on his instrument into the broader musical lexicon of dance music, crafting unrelentingly driving disco numbers constructed from the ground up using classical sensibilities of composition and structure, mixed with the fuck-all looseness and spontaneity that go hand-in-hand with the genre itself. Russell could deftly embed and hide his musical past and art-class pedigree behind his oeuvre of dance anthems for the disco-crazed proletariat. Does listening to the highly experimental World of Echo necessitate your delving into a collection of dance singles like The Sleeping Bag Sessions? This is a question we will be examining as we dig deep into Arthur Russell's career.

Arthur Russell was born in May of 1951 in the town of Oskaloosa, Iowa. Plagued with facial acne at a young age that would stay with him for the rest of his life, Russell picked up the cello in orchestra as an awkward grade-schooler and refined his skills throughout his early educational career before moving to San Francisco to pursue his interest in music. He studied North Indian styles as well as classical composition at both Ali Akbar College of Music and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music where much of the background informing his work to come was cultivated. He also met the great poet Allen Ginsburg during this time, a friendship that lasted the rest of his life and was highly influential to the lyrics of his songs. Later, Russell moved on to New York to study at the Manhattan School of Music where he began his work in electronic music while immersing himself in the vibrant local music and arts scene. He met and made friends with Ernie Brooks of the proto-punk band The Modern Lovers (with whom he would later form The Flying Hearts; a more traditional-style rock band that recorded many songs which later resurfaced on the excellent Love Is Overtaking Me collection—see below). His relationships with Phillip Glass and Rhys Chatham, among others in the progressive classical world, also began here, and helped him to foster a name for himself within the artistic community.

Taking up the job of musical director at an underground art space called The Kitchen, Russell frequently challenged visitors to think about styles of music in new ways, inviting The Modern Lovers and Talking Heads to perform there, as well as performing some of his disco songs, which was a departure from the venue’s previous championing of contemporary classical composers. The aim was to push listeners to consider these new styles and minimalistic approaches to composition as rightfully placed within the context of “serious” music, a venture that was at least influential if not entirely successful while in practice. During the 70s, Russell became a regular in the New York disco scene and began to compose tracks of his own with the help of singers such as Lola Black while also co-creating the Sleeping Bag Records label and producing modest hits within the underground dance community. Russell continued to create music and perform for live audiences until his death in 1992, which was a result of complications with AIDS, a condition he lived with following the release of his final studio album World of Echo. Russell left behind over 1,000 tapes, the majority of which never released, and 40 of which were different versions of the same song. This highlights an important aspect of his creative process—Russell never considered his works entirely finished; a sentiment that has come to be synonymous with remix culture and modern dance music practice on a broad scale.

In many ways the struggles that Russell confronted as a musician—facing resistance from the downtown classical community for his efforts to invite dance music into the conversations of “serious” music listeners—is one that artists in the past decade have largely fought against. But, to our credit, we are getting better. Musicians like LCD Soundsystem's James Murphy (who remixed Arthur Russell on the Springfield EP in 2006) represent a more serious take on disco, rescuing the style from the realm of kitsch. This mirrors Russell's desire to reconfigure dance music as an explorative venture into minimalism's next logical step and apply that sentiment to the world of dance on a macro-scale, the successful implementation of which is so ubiquitous now that we perhaps take it for granted. Murphy, his DFA label, and the majority of dance-punk bands coming out of Brooklyn in the mid-00’s were informed by Russell’s application of the repetitive, almost hypnotic minimalist movements learned at the feet of Philip Glass and Rhys Chatham, transplanting these stylistic quirks into their hybridized music aesthetic. It is hard to imagine Hercules and Love Affair even existing without Russell as a cultural touchstone. It wasn’t too long before epic LPs by bands like !!! And LCD Soundsystem centered on single motifs applied liberally across genres, stretching themselves into the disco-influenced noise freakouts by Brooklyn’s Liars and Washington D.C’s Black Eyes (felt even more palpably on the post-Black Eyes project Mi Ami). And while this pan-disco re-awareness might be the most remembered and copied element of Russell’s musical output, it certainly wasn’t his most prolific.

The bulk of Russell’s material, which existed before, during, and after his disco phase was in his solo cello work. Russell’s performances on his instrument had the emotional starkness of Nick Drake, and the vibrato-rich timbre of his voice strikes a remarkable resemblance to singers like Bryan Ferry or Antony Hegarty. Many of these recordings have seen the light of day only recently via posthumous releases. But these compositions, recorded with simply an electronically manipulated cello, voice, and modest accompaniment paved the way for non-guitar-based singer-songwriters such as Final Fantasy’s Owen Pallett, whose own classically influenced chamber-pop tracks also reflect Russell’s compositions. Helen Money, the famed Chicago cellist, has largely expanded on Russell’s work as well, transforming his elegiac bowing into amplified and distortion-filled siren calls toward a near-black metal heaviness.

So, can one enjoy the disco of Arthur Russell whilst wholly excluding the other, decidedly different approach of classically leaning compositions, or vice versa? Yes and no. As bifurcated as his musical output seems to be, his dance tracks could not exist without the other, and Arthur Russell wouldn’t be Arthur Russell without disco. More impressive still is the way in which Russell's many different styles bled together so seamlessly. As with other artists who traverse broad categorical descriptions without escaping their inherent identities and fingerprint, signature sounds, Russell always managed to truly be himself. This made for a wonderfully honest career—he was a master of his medium, and craftily individual in his pursuits wherever that medium found its place within the world of pop music in the greater sense, quietly leaving an indelible stamp in the history books that was all his own.

Recommended Listening

First Thought Best Thought (Audika Records, 2006): The most “classical” compilation of works in Russell’s catalogue. FTBT is composed of two instrumental albums as well as pieces done for theatre and stage. The first album is a collection of laid back, soundtrack-sounding pieces that split the difference between Serge Gainsbourg and Pocket Symphony-era Air, while the second is quite honestly the most interesting departure for Russell we’ve heard. He stretches out French horn and trumpet notes to drone-like lengths, creating a sound palette that gives reference points for modern ambient pioneers like Stars of the Lid and Eluvium.

Another Thought (Orange Mountain Music, 1994): This album displays Russell’s songwriting in its most enduring and sentimental mood with songs like “A Little Lost” and “This Is How We Walk On The Moon.” While these are two of his most recognizable tunes, they also showcase his ability to write real pop songs with widespread appeal using only his cello. The raga-jam “In the Light of the Miracle,” while remixed almost to death, is a proto-disco example of Russell’s burgeoning love for the dance club, having an understated groove that was later reinterpreted into a certified club banger.

Love Is Overtaking Me (Audika Records, 2008): Of all the collections of Arthur Russell's work to date, this group of tunes, which consists of many songs by his band The Flying Hearts, may be the easiest to digest in one sitting, despite its run-time of over an hour in length. It’s a focused set with a folksy, country sort of flavor, likely carrying the artist’s Iowan roots through to his New York days with a nostalgic eye for prairies, farmlands, classic notions of love and familial relationships. Though its guitar-centric approach has James Taylor, Nick Drake, and Hank Williams making for simple reference points as to the overall sound of these songs, there are moments that hint toward the kaleidoscopic directions his music took throughout his career. “Your Motion Says,” and “Planted a Thought” hint at Russell grasping for the bounce of the dance club, while the beautiful cello-based lament “Eli” and the culminating ballad “Love Comes Back,” point to the more visceral works that would follow on his World of Echo album. This is a wonderful collection packed with many memorable moments. Chris Taylor of Grizzly Bear also digitally restored these songs from tapes Russell left behind following his death.

World of Echo (Audika Records, 1986): Perhaps the one truly unified “album” in the classic sense to be released during his lifetime, World of Echo zeroes in on Russell’s cello playing while he experiments heavily with electronic delay, distortion and reverb effects alongside his fragile voice that gives a fullness to something that sounds physically weak and hollow. Russell’s mumbling vocals act here as an extension of his sensual, playful bowing amidst mournfully sad melodies and weird, spaced out soundscapes. Although the album was released just prior to his being diagnosed as HIV positive, there is something tired and painful behind these compositions—a heartbreaking beauty in many of the album's tracks that match or might suspiciously predict his tragic situation to come, especially in songs like "Soon to be Innocent Fun / Let's See." Others further represent Russell’s tendency to bleed his influences and styles together, such as the refiguring of his own dance tunes “Wax the Van,” and “Tree House,” which are warped and twisted versions of their originals, hardly recognizable as their former selves. There’s also an updated version of (or perhaps an extension to) his composition “Tower of Meaning,” the original of which can be found on First Thought Best Thought. World of Echo is a fascinating look into the mind of Arthur Russell that feels like a summation of everything he worked for in the most singular and unique statement of his career.

Other Notable Releases:

•The Sleeping Bag Sessions (Sleeping Bag Records, 2006)
•The World of Arthur Russell (Soul Jazz Records, 2004)
•Calling Out of Context (Audika Records, 2004)

Further Reading/Research:

Online Articles

• New Yorker Article
• Pitchfork Article
• Wikipedia Article

Other Materials

• Hold on to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene — Biography by Tim Lawrence
• Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell — Documentary film by Matt Wolfe