Celebrating Arthur Russell: 5 Essential Cuts

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“Is it All Over My Face” wasn’t Arthur Russell’s first foray into disco, that would be “Kiss Me Again,” which he recorded as Dinosaur L, but it is his most enduring. Russell had been drawn to the diverse, egalitarian, and freewheeling world of New York’s discos in the seventies. Legendary DJ Nicky Siano noticed Russell on the dancefloor — he was a small, awkward man — and made him a protege. “Is it All Over My Face” is dirty; in Siano’s predominately gay loft party, the double entendre was not lost. But the tune also has a comfortable and goofy groove. It’s the sort of song any geek can dance to.

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Larry Levan’s Paradise Garage was where underground disco ended up after its earlier mavens got hooked on drugs and DJ residencies. Levan’s Garage represented everything that was good about NYC’s nightlife. Everybody was welcome, the freakier the better. Levan smoothed down “Is it All Over My Face,” bringing the drums to the front and dropping out the horn blasts. The result is a grimy, throbbing sure shot that you can mix with anything.

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Russell started Sleeping Bag records in 1981 with William Socolov and Juggy Gales. Kurtis Mantronik, the pioneering electro producer, served as A&R. If Sleeping Bag needed a tent, it was the Paradise Garage, for which it was practically an in-house label. Russell’s first effort for the label, an EP called “24/24 Music,” featured this gem, which ruled dancefloors throughout the early eighties.

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World of Echo was Russell’s masterpiece; a full-length, experimental pop album produced by microtonal composer Phil Niblock. Released in 1986 to a positive reception, it was the first taste audiences had of Russell’s haunting wail and fluid sense of melody.

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“Let’s Go Swimming,” from World of Echo, features Russell sawing away on the cello, his favorite instrument. Each scratch of the bow opens a new horizon of sonic space against which Russell’s voice floats like a parachutist drifting over a sea of broken glass. He will land, you know, but it won’t be pretty.