Dinosaur L 24-24 Music CD

It's arguable that no other artist has so successfully conflated the mutually exclusive worlds of disco and avant-garde music than the late cellist/composer/producer Arthur Russell. In the late '70s, he casually mixed it up with New York City's modern classical elite, as well as in its burgeoning underground dance music scene. In 1979, Russell assembled a crew of seasoned session musicians under the name Dinosaur L, recording the first of his many innovative productions, 24-24 MUSIC.

Working under the tight conceptual framework of minimal composers like Steve Reich--the title alludes to subtle changes in the music initiated every 24 bars--the album contains a brilliant interplay of structured rhythms and loose improvisatory jams. On "#5 (Go Bang)," staccato bursts of horns and organ vamps punctuate the thumping 4/4 disco beat--sounding like a curious fusion of downtown no-wave and afro-beat. Among the more odd-ball experiments are the acid-soaked funk guitar and faux-operatic vocals of "In the Corn Belt," and the J.B.'s-in-an-echo-chamber funk of "#1 (You're Gonna Be Clean on Your Bean)." An expansive, boundary-defying work, 24-24 MUSIC is a journey through the wild imagination of one of dance music's true geniuses.

An incredible full album from Dinosaur L -- the legendary New York dancefloor project of Arthur Russell! The group's a punky, funky, chunky amalgam of bass thumping, guitar riffing, keyboard filling, and sax honking -- all very much in the spirit of Russell's best quirky club work of the time, but with the added sound here of a more expanded approach -- one that takes the tunes in a whole new territory than the more famous 12" singles! The tracks on the original set were simply numbered -- "1", "2", "3", and so on -- and come across almost as free-jamming instrumentals -- but this reissue appends the songs with their 12" titles, so "#1" gets parenthetically entitled "You're Gonna Be Clean On Your Bean" and "#5" as "Go Bang!", plus this disc adds several 12" versions that were not on the original LP release, like Francois K's mix of 'Go Bang!" and Larry Levan's mix of "In The Corn Belt". Totally great stuff -- as experimental as it is funky!