Uncanny

VILLAGE VOICE “To describe Russell's music in a single phrase or paragraph is nigh on impossible. When making dance sides, he fused Indian, African, reggae, jazz, and funk rhythms into a beguiling and pliant blend that defied categorization yet filled dance floors, becoming a staple at the Loft, Nicky Siano's Gallery, and Larry Levan's Paradise Garage during disco's heyday. His modern compositions, made among peers like Glass, Steve Reich, and Rhys Chatham, were minimal yet highly lyrical: One set of work, entitled Instrumentals, hints at his underlying pop sensibilities. In the '80s, the art songs he recorded (appearing as World of Echo and Another Thought) were beatless and beatific affairs, as if resounding from unfathomable depths courtesy of oceans of reverb and echo, which bathed his singular voice and cello playing.”

Allen Ginsberg on Arthur Russell: "There was something that he exuded that was both delicate, exquisite-minded, and youthful, and at the same time oddly reticent."

From an internal Warner Bros. memo written by a befuddled record executive: "Who knows what this guy is up to—you figure it out."

AUDIKA RECORDS plans to issue a set of cowboy/folk tunes in September