orchestral disco?

like just about everyone else, i've recently been enjoying the orchestral folk-pop of jens lekman's latest, night falls over kortedala...but not quite enough to catch the swede's show at the logan square auditorium last friday (although it would have been interesting to see how the sample heavy arrangements lent themselves to a live setting)...anyways, i still wanted to do a post on the guy because i was intrigued by a four-tack ep he curated earlier this year called four songs by arthur russell...arthur russell has a pretty interesting story (which will actually be told in an upcoming documentary); a classically trained cellist & composer involved in the new york art scene, he was unsuccessfully recruited by the talking heads in the mid 70s & eventually paved the way for garage & house music with his unique brand of disco...lekman's compilation (for which he contributed only one of the songs, "a little lost") focuses on the stripped down material from the later part of russell's life, & it's a pretty low key dreamy affair, but still worth a listen...almost the complete opposite is my favorite russell song, "kiss me again", released as a 12" under the name dinosaur in 1978 (featuring david byrne on guitar), it's a fantastic 12 minute workout that never lets up...the alternate b-side version (below), which i like a little better, pushes the cello to the front & isn't as glossy as the original mix...highly recommended.

download: jens lekman - the opposite of hallelujah
download: jens lekman - a little lost
download: dinosaur - kiss me again (version)

related: speaking of david byrne (kind of), the knee plays is being reissued tomorrow...you can find out everything you ever wanted to know about the project, here.

download: david byrne - in the future

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update: pitchfork's got video of jens lekman performing in someone's apartment after friday night's chicago show.