Arthur Russell
(Audika)
On the recent, well-intentioned, but ultimately unsatisfying, Plexifilm documentary Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell (reviewed HERE), viewers were perhaps left wondering what the late cellist and composer's music was all about and why he inspires such devotion among music aficionados.
Cutting to the chase of that question is Love Is Overtaking Me, the fifth posthumous Russell release from Audika Records. Here we find Russell's most accessible music, a collection of songs that mostly tilt in the direction of folk and folk rock. The songs here are memorable and melodic and as straightforward as any of his contemporaries, much of it so straightforward that it evokes James Taylor and Harry Chapin on the one hand and David Byrne on the other.
At twenty-one tracks, Love Is Overtaking Me is a weighty collection and answers the questions that the film does not. Perhaps that's how it should work: the film offering up Russell's life and the music left on its own, without the distraction of talking heads, music critics, and unwelcome interpreters. It's hard to ignore the beauty of Russell's voice as he sings: "Is it so different now or is it just the way I feel.... Love is overtaking me." It's basic and it's beautiful and if there's anything we really need to know about his music it's that Russell was capable of achieving a deep connection to the human heart. One wishes his own was not stopped so soon.
Standout Tracks: "Close My Eyes," "Love Is Overtaking Me" CHRISTIAN KIEFER
