Arthur Russell: The Flying Heart
David Toop, The Wire, January 2004
Arthur Russell is the great enigma of New York's music scene. A cellist, Buddhist and former music director at the legendary Kitchen, he was seduced by mid-'80s disco and produced some of the most enduring underground dance tracks of the age. These, and a previously unreleased cache of his own oceanic, dreamlike solo cello songs, are set to re-emerge this year. David Toop — the only writer ever to interview Russell — speaks to his parents, friends and fellow musicians including Rhys Chatham, Gary Lucas, Peter Zummo and more, to pick up the echoes of a life in music's floating world.
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