The innovative work of cellist-composer-electronic-pioneer Arthur Russell will be honored in a new tribute album released October 21 via Red Hot Organization and Yep Roc. Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell features 26 tracks by more than 20 artists, including Hot Chip, Sufjan Stevens, Phosphorescent, Blood Orange, The Autumn Defense and Lonnie Holley, paying homage to Russellâs boundless creativity and wide-ranging work, which swerved from electronic dance to folk to classical and resulted in what NPR hails as âcatchy and hypnotic records that were far ahead of their time.â Watch Hot Chip emulate that try-anything-once attitude in this behind the scenes video clip via Pitchfork or in the player below.
Over two years in the making, Master Mix earned early support from artists like Jose Gonzalez and Robyn, eager to put their twists on songs like âThis Is How We Walk On The Moonâ and âTell You (Today)â; from Matt Wolf, who directed the in-depth documentary âWild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russellâ; and from Russellâs longtime partner Tom Lee and the Arthur Russell Estate. Devendra Banhart, citing Russell as his inspiration for moving to New York, said, âIt felt somewhat taboo to be messing with such sacrosanct materials⊠We recorded [âLosing My Taste For The Night Lifeâ] as our way of saying to everyone, âListen to Arthur!ââ
Master Mix embodies the genre-defying, experimental spirit that defined Russellâs work. Living in the East Village from the â70s until his untimely death in 1992 at age 40 from AIDS-related causes, Russell moved effortlessly between the cityâs various music scenes, recording disco beats alongside Nicky Siano one night, and the next, crafting slow, haunting tracks in his apartment with his cello and idiosyncratic warbling voice. The New Yorker called his work âstranded between lands real and imagined: the street and the cornfield; the soft bohemian New York and the hard Studio 54 New York; the cheery bold strokes of pop and the liberating possibilities of abstract art.â Through his collaborations, he earned the admiration of artists like Allen Ginsberg, David Byrne and Philip Glass, who said of Russellâs music: âIt does not submit to formula, but subverts the formula.â
Red Hot Organization is dedicated to promoting awareness of AIDS and HIV through the lens of popular culture. Since its inception in 1989, Red Hot has released over 15 compilation albums, including 2009âs âDark Was The Night,â featuring The National, Bon Iver, Grizzly Bear, Dirty Projectors, Arcade Fire and more
Master Mix: Red Hot + Arthur Russell Tracklist:
1. Â Â Â Â Jose Gonzalez â âThis Is How We Walk On The Moonâ
2. Â Â Â Â Lonnie Holley â âSoon-To-Be Innocent Fun (Interlude)â
3. Â Â Â Â Robyn â âTell Youâ
4. Â Â Â Â Hot Chip â âGo Bangâ
5. Â Â Â Â Sufjan Stevens â âA Little Lostâ
6. Â Â Â Â Lonnie Holley â âIn The Light Of The Miracle (Interlude)â
7. Â Â Â Â Richard Reed Parry, Little Scream, Sam Amidon, Colin Stetson & Sarah Neufeld â âKeeping Upâ
8. Â Â Â Â Liam Finn, Ernie Brooks & Peter Zummo â âThis Love Is Cryingâ
9. Â Â Â Â Rubblebucket & Nitemoves â âEliâ
10. The Revival Hour â âHiding Your Present from Youâ
11. Sam Amidon â âLucky Cloudâ
12. Devendra Banhart â âLosing My Taste For The Night Lifeâ
13. Phosphorescent â âYou Can Make Me Feel Badâ
14. Blood Orange â âIs It All Over My Face & Tower Of Meaningâ
15. Scissor Sisters â âThatâs Us/Wild Combinationâ
16. VEGA INTL. â âArm Around Youâ
17. Oh Mercy â âPlanted A Thoughtâ
18. Lonnie Holley â âHop On Down (Interlude)â
19. Cults â âBeing Itâ
20. Richard Reed Parry â âJust A Blipâ
21. Glen Hansard â âI Couldnât Say It To Your Faceâ
22. Thao & The Get Down Stay Down â âNobody Wants A Lonely Heartâ
23. The Autumn Defense â âOh Fernanda Whyâ
24. Alexis Taylor â âOur Last Night Togetherâ
25. Lonnie Holley â âThe Deer In The Forest (Interlude)â
26. Redding Hunter â âClose My Eyesâ
Tags: Arthur Russell, New Release, Pitchfork, Red Hot