Arthur Russell, FIRST THOUGHT BEST THOUGHT - 54m 25s

Tracks & Durations

1. Tower of Meaning	2:03
2. Tower of Meaning	6:01
3. Tower of Meaning	2:05
4. Tower of Meaning	2:49
5. Tower of Meaning	6:22
6. Tower of Meaning	3:37
7. Tower of Meaning	21:39
8. Sketch for the Face of Helen	9:43

Note: The information about this album is acquired from the publicly available resources and we are not responsible for their accuracy.

Review

Before Disco, and before the transcendent echoes, Arthur Russell wanted to be a composer. His journey began in 1972, leaving Iowa to study Indian classical composition with Ali Akbar Khan in Northern California and ending two years later in New York at the Manhattan School of Music. In that brief period Arthur met and worked with several musicians and poets that would guide his work throughout the remainder of the decade: Allen Ginsburg, Christian Wolff, Jackson MacLow, Rhys Chatham, Philip Glass, Elodie Lauten, and Ernie Brooks. Initially intended to be performed in one 48-hour cycle, Instrumentals was in fact only performed in excerpts a handful of times as a work in progress. The legendary performances captured live in New York at The Kitchen and Franklin St. Arts Center include the cream of that eras downtown new music scene including Ernie Brooks, Rhys Chatham, Jon Gibson, Peter Gordon, Garrett List, Andy Paley, Dave Van Tiegham, and Peter Zummo. Included here is the previously unreleased Instrumentals Vol. 1 along with Instrumentals Vol. 2 that has been out of print for over twenty years. Originally released in 1984, sections of Instrumentals Vol. 2 were incorrectly mastered at half speed, and have been corrected for this compilation. Reach One is one of Arthurs earliest compositions dating back to 1973. The hypnotic soundscape was written and performed for two Fender Rhodes pianos, and is previously unreleased. One of the holy grails in Arthurs discography, Tower Of Meaning is a beautiful and stunningly moving orchestral work. Conducted by the late Julius Eastman, Tower Of Meaning was originally released in a limited private edition of only 320 copies. Sketch For The Face Of Helen shares only the same title as the previously released excerpt from 1981. Inspired by his work with friend and composer Arnold Dreyblatt, this previously unreleased version was recorded with an electronic tone generator, keyboard and ambient recordings of a rumbling tugboat from the Hudson River. FIRST THOUGHT BEST THOUGHT is an essential collection of the lost instrumental treasures from Arthur Russells vast archive and brings the genius of his legacy closer into focus. Packaged with a 16 page color booklet + O-card of archival images and essays by former Modern Lover Ernie Brooks and Audikas Steve Knutson.

Other Versions

Albums are mined from the various public resources and can be actually the same but different in the tracks length only. We are keeping all versions now.

First Thought Best Thought

Tracks: 16 (+8 tracks), Disk length: 1h 12m 47s (+18m 22s)

Please note: we do not provide any Arthur Russell music downloads, have no any mp3 music including music samples and music ringtones, and can not assist you where to buy music CDs and used CDs. You can search for it on music sites all over the Internet or visit one of our advertisers. We appreciate any ideas and comments about this experimental music database.