Nobrainers

*Patti Smith blog
- http://www.pattismith.net/news.html



* We played with Jens Lekman on Thursday night. One of the things I like about him is that he was in part responsible for letting people know about Arthur Russell.



Arthur Russell was one of the pioneers of the Downtown music scene in New York in the 1970s and 1980s. His music is some of the most idiosyncratic and soulful I've ever heard and it is vast in it's exploration and quantity. There is a documentary about Arthur Russell called "Wild combination" and it showcases much of his amazing music as well as having some lovely interviews with his family members and his long-time partner Tom Lee, who since Arthur's death has made it his life's mission to release and preserve Arthur's music.




Jens Lekman compiled an Arthur Russell tribute EP. "Four Songs By Arthur Russell" in 2007. It includes covers by Jens Lekman, Vera November, Taken by Trees and Joel Gibb.



Wild Combination is a good album to start with if you want to check out Arthur Russell. I think anyway.

*

A Movie about the Photographer Diane Arbus. I found this on the Patti Smith blog. I hope it's good.