I’m not the first to sing the praises of Arthur Russell, but it pains me to think there are those that haven’t heard his strange angel voice and genius melodies. His music runs the gamut from sparse and electronic to quiet and acoustic to beat driven disco anthems. He was an artist who certainly defied classification and his career from the 1970s through the 80s left many gems that were hardly touched by listeners until a few years ago.
Russell started out in the world of experimental and art music, experimenting with stark sonic landscapes. The album World of Echo is full of songs that are complex, intriguing and melodic. It’s the kind of album you sit down and listen to. You drop everything, lay down on the floor, and listen.
I am in love with the more simple stripped down era of Arthur Russell. His folk songs have a complexity and seem to brim with his diverse influences. The songs on the posthumously released Love is Overtaking Me are raw and revealing, full of slightly self-deprecating narratives and songs of longing.