Rough Trade Records, in partnership with Audika Records, have announced ‘Picture of Bunny Rabbit’ (code only faster: crossing the line from vocal to instrumental and back), a new album of previously unreleased World Of Echo era material by cellist and composer Arthur Russell, recorded in 1985/86.
World of Echo, Russell’s first and only solo album issued during his lifetime, was released in 1986, the same year he was diagnosed with HIV. His illness ensured that the artistic growth and sense of exploration encapsulated in ‘World of Echo’ would be tragically curtailed. Within six short years, Arthur was gone. The album was a fusion and transcendence of the diverse styles of music that he relentlessly explored, from disco to North Indian classical music.
Following his premature death from AIDS in 1992 at forty, his music has undergone a resurgence. Listening to Russell’s music or watching Matt Wolf’s critically acclaimed documentary Wild Combination (2008) reveals him as an explorer. Still, far more was going on beneath the surface than many realised. Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg, a close friend of Russell’s, hinted at this when referring to his work as ‘Buddhist bubblegum music’. Matt Marble’s 2020 book ‘Buddhist Bubblegum’ took a deep dive into how Russell’s lifelong Buddhist practice was being applied to his music. Marble states in the book’s opening that, just as George Harrison once expressed an aim to ‘spiritually infiltrate popular culture’, Russell had the same agenda – ‘Applying mantra, meditation, numerology, astrology and ritual directly to his music, Russell sought to project spiritual illumination to the masses through techniques drawn from esoteric Buddhist philosophy.’
Later on in Marble’s ‘Buddhist Bubblegum’, he reveals how Russell’s solo album World of Echo, made using voice, cello and effects pedals, involved a number of those above-mentioned esoteric practices. For some, Russell’s solo work was ‘life changing’. Marble reveals how the composer Philip Glass proposed to fellow composer John Moran that he accompany him to one of Rusell’s solo performances around the time of World of Echo. He states: “Arthur’s music changed my life that night…”
Considering the background to this period of Russell’s solo work and the importance that has since been placed on it, ‘Picture of Bunny Rabbit’ holds a fascinating allure. It features nine previously unreleased performances compiled from completed masters culled from two unique test pressings, including one dated 9/15/85 by Arthur, provided by his mother and sister. A further four tracks were discovered in his tape archive. The track listing includes an exceptional and dramatic solo recording of “In The Light of a Miracle” and the enigmatic title instrumental “Picture of Bunny Rabbit”, written especially for a friend’s pet rabbit. The bulk of the material was recorded with engineer Eric Liljestrand at Battery Sound Studios, New York, which was located directly opposite the World Trade Center and at Arthur’s apartment studio in the East Village.
Accompanying the announcement is the lead single and video – The Boy With a Smile.
Arthur’s final years were filled with a renewed commitment to creativity and unceasing live and recording work. He regularly performed the ‘World of Echo’ material and incorporated several of its compositions in collaborations with choreographers active in New York’s innovative dance community. Arthur worked closely with Diane Madden, Allison Salzinger, Stephanie Woodard and John Bernd, usually playing his cello and effects boxes off-stage as the choreographers’ pieces were performed. In 1993 Arthur posthumously received a prestigious Bessie Composer Award for his work in the dance world.
This release is the latest in a series in partnership with Audika Records, the exclusive label and home for the Arthur Russell archive and estate, who since 2004 have compiled and published the exceptionally varied, long sought-after music of Arthur Russell, and who in the process have helped the beloved, late artist find the broader audience he always believed he would reach. A new generation of listeners and critics has come to appreciate Russell as a visionary and an influence upon a broad range of today’s most compelling musical artists.
Picture of Bunny Rabbit is released via Audika Records (North America) & Rough Trade Records (UK/EU) on June 23rd, 2023
Pre-Order Link: https://roughtrade.ffm.to/pictureofbunnyrabbit
Picture of Bunny Rabbit Track listing:
- Fuzzbuster #10
- Not Checking Up
- Telling No One
- Fuzzbuster #06
- The Boy With a Smile
- Fuzzbuster #09
- Very Reason
- Picture Of Bunny Rabbit
- In The Light of a Miracle
Arthur Russell – Vocals, Cello, Keyboards, Guitar, Harmonica, and Echoes
Produced by Arthur Russell
Recorded at Battery Sound NY 1985/86
Engineered by Eric Liljestrand
Mastered by Timothy Stollenwerk at Stereophonic Mastering
Compilation produced by Steve Knutson and Tom Lee