Holiday Shores, “Your Motion Says” (Arthur Russell Cover) MP3
- story Sam Hockley-Smith
This is not an invitation for every band to cover the immensely coverable Arthur Russell, but we will say that the majority of reworks we’ve heard lately have been pretty solid. Next in line is Holiday Shores‘ cover of “Your Motion Says,” which actually benefits from the fact that it originally came from a super limited cassette. Tape hiss is prevalent, it’s intimate and sparse and singer Nathan Pemberton turns Russell’s hushed vocal quiver into an imperfect gauzy moan. Catch the band on tour and pick up Through the Thin Cloud if they still have them and if you still have a tape player.
(via RCRD LBL)
Pocketknife, “Get Around To It (Ray Burst Remix)” (Arthur Russell Cover) MP3
- story Claire Lobenfeld
Electric Minds‘ tribute album to Arthur Russell features a cover of his song “Get Around to It” as re-imagined by Brooklyn-based DJ, Pocketknife. It is decidedly more disco than the original, but Joe Worricker’s vocal tones are almost tantamount to Russell’s, feeling like an update Russell would have given himself. Rough Trade’s Ray Burst continues the transformation by remixing the cover into whirl-y millennial disco that is fun on its own, but finds itself most attuned with the original song’s theme of desperation by obscuring Worricker’s vocals. They are muted into indecipherable parts of the beat that loom over the track, dissenting from Burst’s sanguine interpretation. A noted revisionist with a propensity for abandoning projects entirely, Russell would have appreciated all of the tinkering.
Schnipper’s Slept On
- story THE FADER
Each Tuesday, FADER editor Matthew Schnipper highlights an underappreciated recent release he thinks we need to know about. This week it’s Arthur Russell’s Love is Overtaking Me. Stream the title track, buy the album and read Schnipper’s thoughts on it after the jump.
Q+A: Tom Lee On His Life With Arthur Russell
- story THE FADER
In FADER 56, to celebrate the release of Wild Combination we caught up with Tom Lee, who told us about his life with his longtime partner, the late Arthur Russell. Now we have more of that exclusive interview, where Lee talks about meeting the parents, what it takes to make him feel cool, and meeting the love of his life. Click here to enter to win tickets to see Wild Combination tonight in San Francisco, and click below to read Simon Greenberg’s interview with Tom Lee and see more photos.
Audio: New Arthur Russell Music
- story THE FADER
Love Is Overtaking Me, a record of Arthur Russell’s country recordings, is being released in late October and Audika Records has put up two tracks as teasers. “Eli” is so raw. It’s about a sad dog. October, we are waiting.
Stream: Songs from Arthur Russell’s Love Is Overtaking Me
