Pitchfork

The late Arthur Russell is known as many things, but a pop/folk/country songwriter is rarely one of them. It's exactly that side of Russell that Audika Records (with help from Grizzly Bear's Chris Taylor) has unearthed for a compilation called Love Is Overtaking Me that the label will release on October 28 in the U.S.

The compilation collects 21 unreleased demos and home recordings from across the composer's career, including collaborations with producer John Hammond (Billie Holiday, Bob Dylan), Jerry Harrison (Talking Heads, the Modern Lovers), Rhys Chatham, and others. It includes music recorded between the early 1970s and 1991, and features such Russell projects as the Flying Hearts, the Sailboats, Turbo Sporty, and Bright & Early. Grizzly Bear's Taylor helped mix, edit, and restore the album, while the song selection was made by Russell's partner Tom Lee, Audika's Steve Knutson, and the Modern Lovers' Ernie Brooks.

This is Audika's fifth Russell retrospective, following Calling out of Context, World of Echo, First Thought Best Thought, and Springfield.

In addition to Audika's U.S. release, Rough Trade will put out Love Is Overtaking Me in the UK on October 27.

Several songs featured on Love Is Overtaking Me also appear in director Matt Wolf's previously reported documentary on Russell's life, Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell. The movie features commentary from Russell's parents, Philip Glass, Allen Ginsberg, Ernie Brooks, Tom Lee, Steve Knutson, and Jens Lekman, among others. Plexifilm will release Wild Combination on DVD in November, and the movie screens in theaters throughout Europe and North America this fall.

Love Is Overtaking Me:

01 Close My Eyes
02 Goodbye Old Paint
03 Maybe She
04 Oh Fernanda Why
05 Time Away
06 Nobody Wants a Lonely Heart
07 I Couldn't Say It to Your Face
08 This Time Dad You're Wrong
09 What It's Like
11 Hey! How Does Everybody Know
12 I Forget and I Can't Tell (Ballad of the Lights Pt. 1)
13 Habit of You
14 Janine
15 Big Moon
16 Your Motion Says
17 The Letter
18 Don't Forget About Me
19 Love Is Overtaking Me
20 Planted a Thought
21 Love Comes Back