3. Arthur RussellWorld of Echo
When I first became aware of Arthur Russell I used to go out partying a lot to disco and house clubs in Manchester, particularly a club called Electric Chair. That was a game changing party for me as a kid. And that’s when I first came across Arthur Russell. I knew him for his disco records but then over the past decade a lot of his stuff started to get reissued and I saw the documentary about him, Wild Combination, and there was footage of him playing a version of ‘Soon To Be Innocent Fun’ from the World Of Echo album. And that tune just breaks my heart. It absolutely decimates me, no matter how many times I listen to it. I listen to the album, if I’m really honest, to get to that tune specifically, which is only the second or third tune and after that it’s like I’m coming down off that track.
This record made me realise, ‘hold on, I could do stuff like this’ – particularly in regard to his vocal technique and the way that he approaches his cello, creating these really strange melodies. I’ve always been interested in writing songs on my own, but I didn’t tend to play them to anyone because I thought ‘well, nobody is going to want to hear this’ (laughs) but that changed after I did The Craic In The Cosmic Egg, which I released on Bandcamp and was hugely influenced by Arthur Russell in terms of trying create a world of its own.
