sketches for world of echo / open vocal phrases, where songs come in and out

Just when you thought there was no more gas in the Arthur Russell archival tank, Rough Trade go ahead and announce this very special live recording from 1985. An intimate solo performance that would later be combined with studio recordings to become the classic World Of Echo album, this is a rare chance to hear the master at work, live, raw and unedited. - Flying Out

Open Vocal Phrases Where Songs Come In and Out offers an intimate, unedited solo live performance recorded at Phill Niblock's Experimental Intermedia Foundation in Downtown NYC on 20 December 1985.

Curated and produced by Phill Niblock with Arthur Russell, the performance was one of two concerts that laid the foundation for what would become World of Echo. Titled by Arthur himself, this extraordinary recording was captured by Steve Cellum and overseen by both Phill and Arthur. Arthur would later edit sections from this performance, combining them with studio material recorded at Battery Sound to finalise World of Echo, released in 1986.

Some of it sounds so pure and clear and I am picturing him huddled around all that gear, simply magical. In my memory he didnt play for the audience but was rather trying to perfect these various permutations of sound within himself... and a few of us just happened to be present – Tom Lee

This double vinyl edition includes the complete nineteen-minute-plus version of Tower of Meaning/Rabbits Ear/Home Away, along with the previously unreleased songs Thats the Very Reason and Too Early to Tell. Side four also features two instrumental tracks from the previously unreleased in the UK Sketches for World of Echo: Changing Forest and Sunlit Water.

CD 1 - Sketches for World of Echo
1. Changing Forest  
2. Lets Go Swimming  
3. They and Their Friends  
4. Keeping Up  
5. Make 1,2  
6. I Take This Time  
7. Losing My Taste For The Nightlife  
8. I Cant Hide You  
9. The Boy with a Smile On His Face  
10. Sunlit Water  

CD 2 - Open Vocal Phrases Where Songs Come in and Out

1. Thats The Very Reason  
2. Tower Of Meaning/Rabbits Ear/Home Away From Home  
3. Happy Ending  
4. All-Boy All-Girl/Tiger Stripes/You Cant Hold Me Down  
5. Introductions  
6. Hiding Your Present From You/School Bell  
7. Too Early To Tell  

Vinyl 2LP

A1. Thats The Very Reason  
A2. Tower Of Meaning/Rabbits Ear/Home Away From Home  
B1. Happy Ending  
B2. All-Boy All-Girl/Tiger Stripes/You Cant Hold Me Down  
C1. Introductions  
C2. Hiding Your Present From You/School Bell  
C3. Too Early To Tell  
D1. Changing Forest  
D2. Sunlit Water