Another Thought (Double LP)

Originally released in 1994-- two years after the enigmatic downtown NYC cellist/composer died of AIDS-- Orange Mountain reissues this oft-forgotten piece of Russell's musical legacy.

Another Thought was originally released in 1994, just two years after Arthur Russell's death from AIDS in 1992. At that time the enigmatic downtown NYC cellist/composer's work appeared to be in danger of fading into obscurity, with nearly all of his recorded material either hopelessly out-of-print or unreleased entirely. But in the last few years-- thanks to recent compilations like Soul Jazz's The World of Arthur Russell and Audika's First Thought Best Thought-- Russell's back catalog has undergone serious renovation, and his work has finally begun to receive the broad-based recognition it deserves. Within the context of this freshly refurbished discography, Orange Mountain's new reissue of Another Thought takes on a slightly different character, as this excellent collection can now better serve to connect the routes between Russell's various musical galaxies.

As most of his fans have doubtless noticed by now, Russell was an artist whose career defies easy synopsis. Formally trained as a cellist, his music seemed to effortlessly draw links between the outwardly incompatible vocabularies of No Wave/post-punk, space disco, and avant-garde modern composition. So it is probably for the best that Another Thought was never intended as greatest hits package or a comprehensive career overview. The collection was instead compiled by producer Don Christensen from the countless hours of unreleased tapes that Russell had recorded over the final decade of his life. Most of this material consists of eccentric, deceptively simple solo pop songs for voice and cello. And as suggested by the album's cover photo-- which depicts Russell nonchalantly sporting a newspaper pirate hat-- there's a boyish innocence and playful romanticism to many of these tracks, resulting in some of the warmest and most intimate performances of his career.

It remains unclear what exactly Russell's intentions had been for this material. He recorded so extensively during the 80s-- reportedly leaving behind as many as a thousand unreleased tape reels-- that it becomes difficult to determine which of these tracks he considered to be finished, and which were simply fragmentary sketches for future projects. In a strange sense, however, the unvarnished quality of these recordings generally works in Russell's favor. Unlike much of the homespun dance pop that appeared on Audika's 2004 collection Calling Out of Context, few of these tracks feature any of the lyrical or production earmarks that would necessarily date these recordings to the 1980s. Beguiling love songs like "A Little Lost" and the title track have instead a winsome, out-of-time quality that has aged them well-- an impression accentuated by the still-alien impact of Russell's percussive cello work and unique, expressive vocals. Pitchfork.