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{{short description|American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = Arthur Russell
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* Killer Whale
* Jigmé
* In The Corn Belt
}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|1951|5|21}}
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* [[disco]]
* [[art pop]]
* [[minimal music|minimalist]]
* [[folk music|folk]]
* [[new wave music|new wave]]
}}
| occupation = {{flatlist|
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* [[Walter Gibbons]]
}}
| website = {{URL|
}}
'''Charles Arthur Russell Jr.''' (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992)<ref name="allmusic" /><ref name="familysearch">{{cite web|url=http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=700508078&lds=2®ion=-1®ionfriendly=&frompage=99 |title=Individual Record: Charles Arthur Russell, Jr. |access-date=February 17, 2009 |work=[[familysearch.org]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427062242/http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=700508078&lds=2®ion=-1®ionfriendly=&frompage=99 |archive-date=April 27, 2011 }}</ref> was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from [[Iowa]], whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. After studying [[contemporary classical music|contemporary composition]] and [[Indian classical music]] in California, Russell relocated to New York City in the mid-1970s, where he became
Russell
▲'''Charles Arthur Russell Jr.''' (May 21, 1951 – April 4, 1992)<ref name="allmusic" /><ref name="familysearch">{{cite web|url=http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=700508078&lds=2®ion=-1®ionfriendly=&frompage=99 |title=Individual Record: Charles Arthur Russell, Jr. |access-date=February 17, 2009 |work=[[familysearch.org]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427062242/http://www.familysearch.org/eng/search/PRF/individual_record.asp?recid=700508078&lds=2®ion=-1®ionfriendly=&frompage=99 |archive-date=April 27, 2011 }}</ref> was an American cellist, composer, producer, singer, and musician from [[Iowa]], whose work spanned a disparate range of styles. After studying [[contemporary classical music|contemporary composition]] and [[Indian classical music]] in California, Russell relocated to New York City in the mid-1970s, where he became associated with [[Lower Manhattan]]'s [[avant-garde]] community and eventually embraced the city's [[disco]] scene.<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web|url = https://www.allmusic.com/artist/arthur-russell-mn0000475362 | title = Arthur Russell | access-date = October 29, 2007 | author = Richard Pierson | work = [[Allmusic]] }}</ref>
The only full-length studio albums Russell issued under his name were the orchestral recording ''[[Tower of Meaning]]'' (1983) and vocal LP ''[[World of Echo]] '' (1986); he also released the disco LP ''[[24→24 Music]]'' (1981) under his Dinosaur L alias. Over the last two decades of his life, he amassed a large collection of unreleased and unfinished recordings, in part due to his [[Perfectionism (psychology)|perfectionist]] working tendencies. He died from AIDS-related illnesses in 1992, still in relative obscurity and poverty.<ref name="allmusic" /><ref name="Ratliff1" /><ref name="Sun" />
▲Russell produced a considerable collection of material throughout the 1970s and 1980s, including several underground dance hits under aliases such as '''Dinosaur L''' and '''Indian Ocean''', but his perfectionism and difficulty completing projects resulted in a limited amount of releases. The orchestral recording ''[[Tower of Meaning]]'' (1983) and vocal LP ''[[World of Echo]] '' (1986) were the only studio albums he released under his name; he also released the disco LP ''[[24→24 Music]]'' (1981) under his Dinosaur L alias. Over the course of his career, he collaborated with a wide variety of artists, including poet [[Allen Ginsberg]], musicians such as [[Peter Gordon (composer)|Peter Gordon]], [[David Van Tieghem]], [[Peter Zummo]] and [[David Byrne]], and DJs such as [[Walter Gibbons]], [[Larry Levan]], [[Nicky Siano]], and [[Steve D'Aquisto]].<ref name="WashPost" /><ref name="earplug" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://latimesblogs.latimes.com/music_blog/2011/05/hear-vin-diesels-1986-rap-collaboration-with-arthur-russell.html|title=Hear Vin Diesel's 1986 rap collaboration with Arthur Russell|website=Latimesblogs.latimes.com|date=May 4, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tinymixtapes.com/news/arthur-russell-and-steve-d%E2%80%99acquistos-loose-joints-classics-reissued-by-west-end-records-feedly|title = Reissued singles from Arthur Russell and Steve d'Acquisto's Loose Joints will make (Most of) your dreams come true}}</ref> He was also briefly a member of the pop bands the Flying Hearts and the Necessaries.
Russell
==Early life==
Russell was born and raised in [[Oskaloosa, Iowa]]; his father was a former naval officer who eventually served as mayor of the
==Career==
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In 1973, Russell moved to New York and enrolled in a formal degree program at the [[Manhattan School of Music]], cross-registering in electronic music<ref name="keepon"/> and linguistics classes at [[Columbia University]]. While studying at the conservatory, Russell repeatedly clashed with [[Pulitzer Prize]]-winning serialist composer and instructor [[Charles Wuorinen]], who disparaged the composition "City Park" (a minimalist, non-narrative suite incorporating readings from the works of [[Ezra Pound]] and [[Gertrude Stein]]) as "the most unattractive thing I've ever heard".<ref name="lawrence2">{{citation |url=http://www.timlawrence.info/articles/2007/arthurrussellliminalities.php |title=Arthur Russell and Rhizomatic Musicianship |first=Tim |last=Lawrence |access-date=December 31, 2008 |periodical=Liminalities |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110030819/http://www.timlawrence.info/articles/2007/arthurrussellliminalities.php |archive-date=January 10, 2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Embittered by his experience, Russell briefly considered transferring to [[Dartmouth College]] at the behest of experimental composer [[Christian Wolff (composer)|Christian Wolff]], whom he had sought out and befriended upon arriving in the Northeast. But after a chance meeting at a Wolff concert in Manhattan, he became close with [[Rhys Chatham]], who arranged for Russell to succeed him as music director of [[The Kitchen]], a downtown avant-garde performance space. As a result, he abandoned his studies and remained in New York.<ref name="lawrence2"/> Russell and Chatham later briefly roomed together in a sixth-story walkup apartment at 437 East 12th Street in the [[East Village, Manhattan|East Village]]; Ginsberg (who maintained his primary residence in the building from 1975 to 1996 and helped Russell secure the apartment) supplied electricity to the impoverished composers through an extension cord. Russell resided in the apartment for the rest of his life. During his tenure at The Kitchen (from the autumn of 1974 to the summer of 1975), he greatly expanded the breadth and purview of the venue's offerings, crafting a program that "support[ed] other local and relatively low profile composers rather than... accentuat[ing] the work of composers who were beginning to acquire an international reputation." This approach elicited controversy when Russell booked Boston-based [[proto-punk]] band [[The Modern Lovers]] for an engagement at the venue, widely regarded as a leading bastion of [[minimalist music|minimalism]]. Russell's booking of Fluxus stalwart [[Henry Flynt]]'s "punkabilly" ensemble Nova'billy, concluding his season as director, was likewise unsettling to the avant-garde establishment. According to biographer Tim Lawrence, "the decision to program the Modern Lovers and [[Talking Heads]] was
From 1975 to 1979, Russell was a member of The Flying Hearts, recorded by [[John H. Hammond|John Hammond]], which consisted of Russell (keyboards/vocals), ex-[[Modern Lovers]] member Ernie Brooks<ref name="PitchWorld" /> (bass/vocals), Larry Saltzman (guitar), and [[David Van Tieghem]] (drums, vocals); a later incarnation in the 1980s included Joyce Bowden (vocals) and Jesse Chamberlain (drums). This ensemble was frequently augmented in live and studio performances by the likes of Chatham, [[
===1976–1980: Discovery of disco and early singles===
In 1976, Russell was in talks to join [[Talking Heads]], who were a trio at the time.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Owen |first1=Frank |title=Arthur Russell: 'Comedy is the highest form of art' - a rare interview from 1987 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/22/arthur-russell-comedy-is-the-highest-form-of-art-a-rare-interview-from-1987 |website=The Guardian |date=October 22, 2014 |access-date=November 27, 2022}}</ref> He recorded an acoustic version of the song "[[Psycho Killer]]" with the band, playing cello.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tiller |first1=Joe |title=How Did I Get Here? 10 Talking Heads Facts You Probably Didn't Know |url=https://www.thisisdig.com/feature/talking-heads-facts/ |website=Dig |access-date=November 27, 2022}}</ref> He would also collaborate on arrangements for early Talking Heads songs.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kemp |first1=Sam |title=David Byrne, Philip Glass and Allen Ginsberg on the outsider art of Arthur Russell |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/david-byrne-philip-glass-allen-ginsberg-on-arthur-russell/ |website=Far Out Magazine |date=March 30, 2022 |access-date=November 27, 2022}}</ref> He stated that they became friends but he "ended up not joining the band. They were all from art school and were into looking severe and cool. I was never into that. I was from music school and I had long hair at the time."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Owen |first1=Frank |title=Arthur Russell: 'Comedy is the highest form of art' - a rare interview from 1987 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/oct/22/arthur-russell-comedy-is-the-highest-form-of-art-a-rare-interview-from-1987 |website=The Guardian |date=October 22, 2014 |access-date=November 27, 2022}}</ref>
Around 1976, Russell became a habitue of New York's nascent underground disco scene, namely [[Nicky Siano]]'s Gallery on Houston Street in [[SoHo]]. In a 2007 interview with ''Wax Poetics'' magazine, Siano downplayed the popular myth that Russell's interest in the genre solidified over the course of a single night, noting that "Louis [Aquilone, Siano's best friend and Russell's then-lover] was at the Gallery every single Saturday night. After spending a few Saturday nights without Louis, Arthur decided to come. After the third or fourth time there, he started to come without Louis".<ref name="Aitken">{{citation |author=Stuart Aitken |title=Disco Savant |periodical=[[Wax Poetics]] |url=http://www.stuartaitken.com/post/43475783725/arthurrussell-waxpoetics |date=June 2007}}</ref> Though an eager dancer, Siano has described Russell's style as "strange... outrageous, weird... he was definitely a 'white-boy' dancer."<ref name="Aitken"/><ref name="lovesaves">{{Citation| last = Lawrence | first = Tim |title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979 | publisher = Duke University Press | location = Durham | year = 2003 | page = 337}}</ref> By the time Russell was involved with Tom Lee in the 1980s, his nightlife activities had subsided to a large extent. "It wasn't like Arthur and I were in some gay disco world, getting dressed to go out to the club and dancing the night away," Lee has said. "We’d go to [[CBGB]], we'd go to [[Max's Kansas City]], we'd go to Tier 3 but we'd listen to the group and then go home. For him it was about the daily grind of actually playing music."<ref>{{citation |url=http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/9/19/q-a-tom-lee-on-life-with-and-without-arthur-russell |date=September 19, 2008 |access-date=February 18, 2009 |title=THE FADER – Q + A: Tom Lee|periodical=[[The Fader]]| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090207000817/http://www.thefader.com/articles/2008/9/19/q-a-tom-lee-on-life-with-and-without-arthur-russell| archive-date= February 7, 2009 | url-status= live}}</ref>▼
▲Around 1976, Russell became a habitue of New York's nascent underground [[disco]] scene, namely [[Nicky Siano]]'s Gallery on Houston Street in [[SoHo]]. In a 2007 interview with ''Wax Poetics'' magazine, Siano downplayed the popular myth that Russell's interest in the genre solidified over the course of a single night, noting that "Louis [Aquilone, Siano's best friend and Russell's then-lover] was at the Gallery every single Saturday night. After spending a few Saturday nights without Louis, Arthur decided to come. After the third or fourth time there, he started to come without Louis".<ref name="Aitken">{{citation |author=Stuart Aitken |title=Disco Savant |periodical=[[Wax Poetics]] |url=http://www.stuartaitken.com/post/43475783725/arthurrussell-waxpoetics |date=June 2007}}</ref> Though an eager dancer, Siano has described Russell's style as "strange... outrageous, weird... he was definitely a 'white-boy' dancer."<ref name="Aitken"/><ref name="lovesaves">{{Citation| last = Lawrence | first = Tim |title = Love Saves the Day: A History of American Dance Music Culture, 1970–1979 | publisher = Duke University Press | location = Durham | year = 2003 | page = 337}}</ref> By the time Russell was involved with Tom Lee in the 1980s, his nightlife activities had subsided to a large extent. "It wasn't like Arthur and I were in some gay disco world, getting dressed to go out to the club and dancing the night away," Lee has said. "
In 1977, trenchantly attracted to the minimalist rhythms of disco and funded by Siano's "Gallery war chest", Russell wrote and co-produced "Kiss Me Again" in collaboration with a diverse array of musicians—Flynt, Zummo, Byrne (on rhythm guitar) and [[Gloria Gaynor]] veterans [[Wilbur Bascomb]] (bass) and Alan Schwartzberg (drums)<ref name="allmusic" />—under the moniker of '''Dinosaur L'''.<ref name="PitchWorld">{{citation|first=Andy |last=Beta |url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21468-the-world-of-arthur-russell |date=February 2, 2004 |access-date=October 29, 2007 |title=Arthur Russell: The World of Arthur Russell |periodical=[[Pitchfork Media]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071214072502/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/21468-the-world-of-arthur-russell |archive-date=December 14, 2007 }}</ref> The first disco single to be released by Sire Records,<ref name="allmusic" /> it was a fairly large club hit, reportedly selling "some ungodly amount, like two hundred thousand copies".<ref name="lovesaves"/> Despite the modicum of commercial success and "ecstatic reaction" elicited by the record in the New York underground, according to Siano, "Ray Caviano [head of Warner/Sire's disco division] never really pushed it,"<ref name="lovesaves"/> and the record failed to cross over into the mainstream. The song's main hook was [[Interpolation (popular music)|interpolated]] by [[Desmond Child]] (who was acquainted with Russell via Larry Salzman) on his minor 1979 hit "Our Love Is Insane," leading Russell to accuse the musician of infringement among his friends. Although the duo was signed to Sire to produce a follow-up single featuring Gerri Griffin of the [[Voices of East Harlem]], the sessions stalled because of Siano's burgeoning drug habit (leading him to take temporary refuge in California) and Russell's myopic approach to recording.<ref name="Aitken"/>
In 1980, '''Loose Joints''' (initially known as the Little All-Stars) was formed with Russell, onetime DJ [[Steve D'Aquisto]], Columbia student and Russell confidante Steven Hall, three singers found on [[The Loft (New York City)|The Loft]]'s dancefloor, miscellaneous other musicians, and the Ingram Brothers rhythm section (best known for later backing [[Patti LaBelle]]).<ref name="NYer">{{cite magazine|last=Frere |first=Sasha |url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/03/08/040308crmu_music |title=Let's Go Swimming |magazine=The New Yorker |access-date=December 4, 2013}}</ref> With a stated ambition to create "the disco ''[[White Album]]''", the group—under contract to leading underground disco label West End Records—recorded hours of music but only released three songs: "Is It All Over My Face", "Pop Your Funk" (in two disparate arrangements, including a [[no wave]]-influenced single edit), and "Tell You Today". D'Aquisto, a non-musician who favored such extemporaneous touches as off-key singing and the input of street [[buskers]], repeatedly clashed with the perfectionist Russell throughout the sessions.<ref name="Aitken"/> Despite the acrimony, Hall felt that "[D'Aquisto] allowed shy Arthur to come out of his shell in the gayest sense. He also taught him how to let go in terms of slavishly and clairvoyantly searching for and then locking in the groove."<ref name="Aitken"/> The experimental recordings bemused many of downtown New York's disco cognoscenti, including West End head [[Mel Cheren]] and Loft proprietor [[David Mancuso]], a predicament that led [[Larry Levan]] to remix "Is It All Over My Face" for club play; the ensuing track, based around a female vocal wiped from the original mix (and recorded on stolen studio time with [[Francois Kevorkian]] as an uncredited co-mixer)<ref name="Aitken"/> was an enduring staple of Levan's sets at the [[Paradise Garage]] and a formative influence on [[Chicago house]], in addition to becoming a bona fide commercial hit in the New York area via airplay on [[WBLS]].<ref name="Hinckley">{{citation|last=Hinckley |first=David |title=Saluting the Mix Mechanic of the Paradise Garage |periodical=[[Daily News (New York
In 1981, Russell and entrepreneur Will Socolov (who partially financed the Loose Joints sessions) founded [[Sleeping Bag Records]].<ref name="NYer" /> Their first release was a recording of ''[[24→24 Music]]'', a controversial disco-influenced composition (with rhythmic shifts every 24 bars, hence the title) that had been commissioned by and first performed at The Kitchen in 1979. The first limited pressing of this record had a hand made silk-screened cover. Steven Hall later described its debut as "the best performance of Arthur's work that I ever attended... it was like really hot dance music and no one got it. The idea that Arthur would turn around and bring that [dance] music into their venue and present it as serious music was really very challenging to them, and very threatening to them."<ref name="keepon"/> "Go Bang," originally released on this album but recorded three years earlier by an ensemble that included Zummo, Peter Gordon, academic/composer [[Julius Eastman]], Bascomb, and John and Jimmy Ingram<ref name="journal">{{citation|url=http://www.timlawrence.info/articles/pdfs/IWantToSeeAllMyFriendsAtOnce.pdf |title=I Want to See All My Friends At Once: Arthur Russell and the Queering of Gay Disco |periodical=Journal of Popular Music Studies |date=November 16, 2006 |issue=2 |access-date=December 30, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090530210921/http://www.timlawrence.info/articles/pdfs/IWantToSeeAllMyFriendsAtOnce.pdf |archive-date=May 30, 2009 }}</ref> was remixed as a 12" single by [[Francois Kevorkian]].<ref name="allmusic" /> Kevorkian's remix of "Go Bang" and Levan's remix of "In the Cornbelt" (another track from the ''24→24'' suite) were frequently played at the Paradise Garage.<ref name="Ratliff1" />
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Russell continued to release dance singles such as "Tell You Today" (4th and Broadway, 1983), an upbeat dance groove and Loose Joints holdover featuring the vocals of Joyce Bowden. Additional releases that followed included "Wax the Van" (Jump Street, 1987) and "I Need More" (Vinylmania, 1988), which paired Russell with erstwhile [[James Brown]] foil Lola Blank (then married to Bob Blank, Russell's preferred studio engineer); the Peter Zummo collaboration "School Bell/Treehouse" (Sleeping Bag, 1986); and "Let's Go Swimming" (Upside/[[Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade]], 1986), which anticipated later developments in [[tech house]] and was Russell's only dance single to be released under his own name. The latter two records were remixed by legendary 70s-era DJ [[Walter Gibbons]], who had renounced his career for [[evangelical Christianity]] and was employed as a buyer at Rock and Soul Records in [[Midtown Manhattan|Midtown]]. Despite Gibbons's religious predilections, the two forged a dependable (if occasionally tempestuous) working relationship.<ref name="lawrence3">{{citation |url=http://www.timlawrence.info/articles/2008/WalterGibbonsJPMS.php |title=Disco Madness: Walter Gibbons & the Legacy of Turntablism and Remixology |first=Tim |last=Lawrence |access-date=December 31, 2008 |periodical=Journal of Popular Music Studies |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081202082352/http://www.timlawrence.info/articles/2008/WalterGibbonsJPMS.php |archive-date=December 2, 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Further Gibbons/Russell collaborations include "C-Thru" (a dance version of "See Through" on ''[[World of Echo]]'' that remained unreleased until 2010) and a remix of Russell's "Calling All Kids" (eventually released on the 2004 compilation ''Calling out of Context'').<ref name="lawrence3"/>
At the same time, the album ''[[Tower of Meaning]] (Chatham Square, 1983)'' was released in a limited pressing on [[Philip Glass]]'s private label.<ref name="allTower">{{citation |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r202058|pure_url=yes}} |title=Tower of Meaning |periodical=[[
While Russell tangentially remained affiliated with the new music sphere in New York until his death, continuing to perform in solo and group configurations at The Kitchen and Experimental Intermedia Foundation, ''Tower of Meaning'' was his final orchestral effort.<ref name="lawrence2"/>
The rejection of Russell's ''Corn'' album (
During the mid-1980s, Russell gave many performances, either accompanying himself on cello with a myriad of effects, or working with a small ensemble consisting of Steven Hall, Ernie Brooks, Peter Zummo, percussionist Mustafa Ahmed, and composer [[Elodie Lauten]].
September 1986 saw the release of ''[[World of Echo]]''<ref name="allmusicEcho">{{citation |url={{AllMusic|class=album|id=r239390|pure_url=yes}} |title=World of Echo |periodical=[[
Russell also collaborated with a number of choreographers, including John Bernd,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Gallacher |first=Alex |date=April 11, 2023 |title=New Arthur Russell album of previously unreleased material - 'Picture of Bunny Rabbit' |url=https://klofmag.com/2023/04/new-arthur-russell-album-picture-of-bunny-rabbit/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226171446/https://klofmag.com/2023/04/new-arthur-russell-album-picture-of-bunny-rabbit/ |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |access-date=May 21, 2024 |website=KLOF Mag |language=en-GB}}</ref> [[Diane Madden]],<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dunning |first1=Jennifer |title=The Dance: New Works By 6 Choreographers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/01/19/arts/the-dance-new-works-by-6-choreographers.html |access-date=September 28, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=January 19, 1988}}</ref> Alison Salzinger,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Jack |title=IN PERFORMANCE: DANCE |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/02/13/arts/in-performance-dance-041050.html |access-date=September 28, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=February 13, 1996}}</ref> Stephanie Woodard,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Brodeur |first1=Michael Andor |title=A new release of Arthur Russell's music only deepens its mystery |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/arts-entertainment/2023/07/07/arthur-russell-picture-of-bunny-rabbit/ |newspaper=The Washington Post |access-date=September 28, 2023}}</ref> and Charles Moulton.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Kisselgoff |first1=Anna |title=DANCE REVIEW; Ohio Offers Its Versions of Experiments |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/02/25/arts/dance-review-ohio-offers-its-versions-of-experiments.html |access-date=September 28, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=February 25, 1995}}</ref> He was also honored with a posthumous [[Bessie Award]] in 1993.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Dunning |first1=Jennifer |title=Cunningham Among Bessie Winners |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/10/14/arts/cunningham-among-bessie-winners.html |access-date=September 28, 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=October 14, 1993}}</ref>
===1986–1992: Later work, illness, and death===
Shortly after the release of ''World of Echo'', Russell was diagnosed as HIV-positive. Though the disease caused [[
Russell died of AIDS-related illnesses on April 4, 1992,<ref name="allmusic" /> at the age of 40.<ref name="NYer" /> In an April 28 column, [[Kyle Gann]] of ''[[The Village Voice]]'' wrote: "His recent performances had been so infrequent due to illness, his songs were so personal, that it seems as though he simply vanished into his music."<ref name="Gann">{{citation |last=Gann |first=Kyle |title=Square Rhythms: Schlesinger Technique Arthur Russell 1951–92 |periodical=[[The Village Voice]] |page=94 |date=April 28, 1992}}</ref>
Russell was prolific,<ref name="earplug">{{citation |url=http://www.earplug.cc/mailer/issue08/index.html#russell |title=Russell Revival Goes Bang |periodical=Earplug.cc |date=October 30, 2003 |issue=8 |access-date=October 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929122507/http://www.earplug.cc/mailer/issue08/index.html#russell |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> but was also notorious for leaving songs unfinished and continually revising his music.<ref name="Ratliff1" /><ref name="Sun">{{citation |last=Licht |first=Allen |title=A First Thought Is Never Finished |periodical=[[The New York Sun]] |page=15 |date=April 11, 2006}}</ref><ref name="PitchSpring">{{citation|url=http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39966-springfield |title=Arthur Russell: Springfield |first=Jess |last=Harvell |date=December 12, 2006 |periodical=[[Pitchfork Media]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109020134/http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/39966-springfield |archive-date=January 9, 2008 }}</ref><ref name="TLinterview">{{citation |url=http://www.timlawrence.info/books/ArthurRussellBlowUp.php |title=Arthur Russell Interview |access-date=October 29, 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929085531/http://www.timlawrence.info/books/ArthurRussellBlowUp.php |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="wolk">{{cite news |author=Douglas Wolk |url=http://www.villagevoice.com/music/0410,wolk,51619,22.html |title=Living With Imperfection, page 1 – Music |
==Personal life==
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==Legacy and influence==
Though never achieving great success during his lifetime, Russell has been acknowledged as an important influence on a variety of musical developments and artists in recent years. In 2004, ''[[Stylus Magazine|Stylus]]'' described him as "criminally overlooked for far too long" and "a genius—never to be recognized in his own time, but to be enjoyed by generations to come."<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://stylusmagazine.com/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507015252/http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/arthur-russell/calling-out-of-context.htm|url-status=dead|title=Stylus Magazine|archive-date=May 7, 2012|website=Stylusmagazine.com}}</ref> ''[[PopMatters]]'' noted "the contributions Russell made to the disparate genres of [[electronic dance music|dance]], [[disco]], [[dub music|dub]], and [[experimental music]]" and wrote that "his absolute fearlessness in lending his own unique style to even the most unlikely sound combinations is peerless."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/russellarthur-calling-2496052682.html|title=Arthur Russell: Calling Out of Context|date=June 2, 2004|website=PopMatters}}</ref> ''Vice'' noted that he "never settled on one genre of music [...] He made winsome [[country music|country]] and hypersexual [[disco]] and delicate [[art pop]]," while drifting through the downtown rock and classical scenes of New York.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Julious |first1=Brit |title=How We Walk on the Moon: Arthur Russell's Quiet Genius |url=https://www.vice.com/da/article/6x8qyd/arthur-russell-red-hot-organization-master-mix-compilation |website=Vice |date=November 17, 2014 |access-date=November 22, 2022}}</ref> ''Bandcamp Daily'' credited him with "spanning and shaping sounds as far afield as disco, minimalism, [[avant-garde]], [[New wave music|new wave]], and [[folk-pop]]."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wray |first1=Daniel Dylan |title=A Comprehensive Guide to the Arthur Russell Catalogue |url=https://daily.bandcamp.com/lists/a-comprehensive-guide-to-the-arthur-russell-catalogue |website=Bandcamp Daily |date=October 23, 2017 |access-date=November 22, 2022}}</ref> ''[[Pitchfork Media|Pitchfork]]'' called Russell "a changeling artist whose only parallel might be [[Miles Davis]], constantly placing his individual sound in new contexts, constantly searching."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/6908-calling-out-of-context/|access-date=November 2, 2016|date=February 17, 2004|first1=Andy|last1=Beta|publisher=[[Pitchfork Media]]|title=Now I know what it's like to assume you know what Arthur Russell sounds like. Back in the day ...}}</ref>
Artists who have cited Russell as an influence include [[Dev Hynes]],<ref name="test">{{cite web|url=http://www.thefader.com/2013/11/19/blood-orange-hitting-the-right-notes/ |title=Blood Orange: Hitting the Right Notes |publisher=The Fader |date=November 19, 2013 |access-date=July 11, 2014}}</ref> [[The Lemon Twigs]] and [[James Murphy (electronic musician)|James Murphy]]. [[James Blake (musician)|James Blake]] named his club night and record label after Russell's provisionally titled album "1-800-Dinosaur". [[Planningtorock]] covered Russell's song "Janine" on their album ''[[W (Planningtorock album)|W]]'' in 2011,<ref name="quietus">{{cite web|last=Freeman|first=John|title=Rudely Visionary: Planningtorock Interviewed|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/06315-planningtorock-interview|work=[[The Quietus]]|access-date=December 10, 2011|date=May 24, 2011}}</ref> and former [[Everything But The Girl]] singer [[Tracey Thorn]] covered "Get Around to It" on her 2007 solo album ''[[Out of the Woods (Tracey Thorn album)|Out of the Woods]]''. A tribute EP, ''[[Four Songs by Arthur Russell]]'', curated by [[Jens Lekman]], was released in 2007 through Rough Trade Records. In 2014 the HIV/AIDS focused [[Red Hot Organization]] released a tribute triple LP compilation, ''Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell'', included artists [[José González (singer)|Jose Gonzalez]], [[Robyn]], [[Hot Chip]], [[Sufjan Stevens]] and [[Devendra Banhart]] among others.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Various Artists: Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19833-various-artists-master-mix-red-hot-arthur-russell/|access-date=January 29, 2021|website=Pitchfork|language=en}}</ref> In 2015 Red Hot presented ''Red Hot + Arthur Russell Live'' featuring musicians and songs from the tribute at [[Brooklyn Academy of Music
Filmmaker Matt Wolf completed a feature-length documentary on Russell called ''[[Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell]].'' It premiered at the Berlin International Film Festival on February 13, 2008. Tim Lawrence, an author and academic at the [[University of East London]], has written a biography of Russell,
==Discography==
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* ''[[World of Echo]]'' (1986, Upside Records/[[Rough Trade Records|Rough Trade]])
====as Dinosaur L
* ''[[24→24 Music]]'' (1982, [[Sleeping Bag Records]])
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* ''Corn'' (2015, Audika Records)
* ''Iowa Dream'' (2019, Audika Records)
* ''[[Picture of Bunny Rabbit]]'' (2023, Audika Records)
===Live albums===
* ''Sketches
* ''The Deer in the Forest: March 2, 1985, Live at Roulette'' (2020, Audika Records)
* ''24 to 24 Music Live at the Kitchen'' (2021, Audika Records) Recorded live April 28, 1979.
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===Singles===
* Dinosaur: "Kiss Me Again" (1978). [[Sire Records]]. Vocals by Myriam Valle. Produced by Arthur Russell & Nicky Siano.
* Loose Joints: "Is It All Over My Face
* Loose Joints: "
* Dinosaur L: "Go Bang" / "Clean on Your Bean #1" (1982)
* Loose Joints: "Tell You (Today)" (1983). 4th and Broadway. Vocals by Joyce Bowden. Produced by Killer Whale (Russell) & Steve D'Aquisto.
* Clandestine
* Felix: "Tiger Stripes" / "You Can't Hold Me Down" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. Vocals by Maxine Bell. Produced by Killer Whale & Nicky Siano.
* Indian Ocean: "School Bell/Treehouse" (1986). Sleeping Bag Records (US) / 4th and Broadway (UK). Produced by Arthur Russell & Peter Zummo.
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* Lola (Lola Blank): "Wax the Van" (1987). Jump Street Records. Vocals by Lola Blank. Produced by Bob and Lola Blank.
* Lola (Lola Blank): "I Need More" (1988). Vinylmania. Vocals by Lola Blank. Produced by Bob and Lola Blank.
* Arthur Russell: "Springfield" (2006). Audika Records. Includes a remix by [[
===Mixes and edits===
* Sounds of JHS 126 Brooklyn: "Chill Pill" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. "Under Water Mix" by Killer Whale.
▲* Clandestine featuring [[Ned Sublette]]: "Radio Rhythm (Signalsmart)" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. "Extra Cheese" and "Dub" mixes by Killer Whale & Nicky Siano.
* Bonzo Goes to Washington ([[Bootsy Collins]] and [[Jerry Harrison]]): "[[Five Minutes (Bonzo Goes to Washington song)|Five Minutes]]" (1984). Sleeping Bag Records. "R-R-R Radio" and "B-B-B Bombing" mixes "chopped and channeled" by Arthur Russell.
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* [http://www.arthurrussellmovie.com Arthur Russell Documentary] a documentary film by Matt Wolf about Arthur Russell
* [http://thequietus.com/articles/03425-review-excerpt-hold-on-to-your-dreams-arthur-russell-and-the-downtown-music-scene-1973-1992-by-tim-lawrence ''Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell''] Review & Excerpt by The Quietus
* [http://www.residentadvisor.net/feature.aspx?1125 ''The making of Is It All Over My Face?''] Extract of Tim Lawrence's ''Hold On to Your Dreams: Arthur Russell and the Downtown Music Scene, 1973–1992'' about the story of the track Loose Joints –
* [http://www.audikarecords.com/ Audika Records] Audika Records is the label, home, and archive of the Arthur Russell estate.
* [http://archives.nypl.org/mus/23272 Arthur Russell papers, 1960-2005] Music Division, [[New York Public Library for the Performing Arts]].
{{Arthur Russell}}
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[[Category:American LGBTQ singers]]
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[[Category:Rough Trade Records artists]]
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[[Category:20th-century cellists]]
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