Talk about bad timing: Originally, we had big plans to see Wild Combination: A Portrait Of Arthur Russell screen tonight at International House, as part of their Sound On Screen fall series. (View trailer here.) But then fate, and the Phils, intervened. If you are late to the Arthur Russell party, though, you can be forgiven: Just about the whole world is. Russell was a classically trained avant-garde composer and cellist who moved to New York in 1973; when he discovered disco music in the late 70s, he fused the two worlds of avant-garde and dance to create some of the most wildly beautiful and visionary music of that, or any other, era. But there’s this whole other thing going on with Russell’s music that many others have commented on — put plainly, it’s fucking inspirational. Having a rough go of things these days? So are we. And for this writer, Russell’s tunes have been a major salve lately. Witness:

So put it this way: The screening’s at 7pm. The film is 71 minutes. You’ll be out by the first pitch. And in between, you just might find that nugget of inspiration you’ve been looking for.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 29th, 2008 at 4:33 pm.