Name: Iowa Dream
Brand: Arthur Russell

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

RT0264LP

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Colour

Black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Format multiplier

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2021-11-26

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

PIAS

Tax rate GB

Standard:20

UPC / Barcode

191402026412

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Total Cap

2 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

RT0264CD

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191402026429

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1 / CD / Extended format: No / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No

Artist

Arthur Russell

Genre GB

New Wave / Post Punk

Label GB

Rough Trade

Arthur Russell was an American cellist, composer, and artist. Born on May 21, 1951 in Oskaloosa, Iowa, he began studying the cello and writing his own music at a young age. In the early 1970s, Russell moved to California where he studied Indian music and collaborated with Allen Ginsberg. He later relocated to New York City and contributed to various musical projects with renowned artists such as David Byrne and Peter Zummo.

Russell's groundbreaking career included producing disco singles like "Kiss Me Again" and "Is It All Over My Face". In 1982, he co-founded Sleeping Bag records and released his album "24-24 Music". Throughout the mid-1980s, Russell continued to experiment with different genres while captivating audiences with his performances on cello accompanied by innovative effects.

Tragically, Arthur Russell passed away from AIDS-related illnesses in April 1992. His deeply personal songs left a lasting impact on the music industry. A documentary titled "Wild Combination: A Portrait Of Arthur Russell" was released in 2008 to honor his remarkable contributions.

Rough Trade is a multinational label that was started by Geoff Travis in 1976 as a London record-shop. It quickly grew into an independent label and distributor, collaborating with notable labels such as 4AD, Factory Records, and One Little Indian. The label's catalogue numbering system for singles/EPs included prefixes like RT### and RTT###CD for different formats. Albums were numbered sequentially as ROUGH### with extensions for different formats.In the early 1990s, Rough Trade faced financial difficulties after expanding into the US market. The US branch was shut down and the German branch ended up in the Zomba Music Group. One Little Indian provided financing and took over the label in the UK, retaining ownership of key releases like A.R. Kane albums. Geoff Travis eventually regained control of Rough Trade around 1999–2000 and re-launched it alongside Tugboat Records.

Nineteen tracks of Russell’s most personal work. Featuring collaborations with a stacked roster of downtown New York musicians. Over the past decade, the visionary musician Arthur Russell has entered something close to the mainstream. Sampled and referenced by contemporary musicians, his papers now open to visitors at the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center in New York, and his name synonymous with a certain strain of tenderness, Russell is as widely known as he’s ever been. There’s the Iowa boy, the disco mystic, the singer-songwriter and composer, and the fierce perfectionist deep in a world of echo. While all of these elements of Russell are individually true, none alone define him.

Several tracks on Iowa Dream were originally recorded as demos, in two early examples of Russell’s repeated brushes with potential popular success—first in 1974, with Paul Nelson of Mercury Records, and then in 1975, with the legendary John Hammond of Columbia Records. For different reasons, neither session amounted to a record deal. Russell kept working nearly up until his death in 1992 from complications of HIV-AIDS.

At once kaleidoscopic and intimate, Iowa Dream bears some of Russell’s most personal work, including several recently discovered folk songs he wrote during his time in Northern California in the early 1970s. For Russell, Iowa was never very far away. “I see, I see it all,” sings Russell on the title track: red houses, fields, the town mayor (his father) streaming by as he dream-bicycles through his hometown. Russell’s childhood home and family echo, too, through Just Regular People, I Wish I Had a Brother, Wonder Boy, The Dogs Outside are Barking, Sharper Eyes, and I Felt. Meanwhile, songs like I Kissed the Girl From Outer Space, I Still Love You, List of Boys, and Barefoot in New York fizz with pop and dance grooves, gesturing at Russell’s devotion to New York’s avant-garde and disco scenes. Finally, the long-awaited You Did it Yourself, until now heard only in a brief heart-stopping black-and-white clip in Matt Wolf’s documentary Wild Combination, awards us a new take with a driving funk rhythm and Russell’s extraordinary voice soaring at the height of its powers. On Iowa Dream, you can hear a country kid meeting the rest of the world—and with this record, the world continues to meet a totally singular artist.

Iowa Dream

Music GB

Discover Iowa Dream by Arthur Russell on Rough Trade. Available in CD and LP formats. Nineteen tracks showcasing his personal work with downtown NY musicians.