#picture of bunny rabbit

[grrlmusic]

Arthur Russell - The Boy With a Smile

[dustedmagazine]

Arthur Russell — Picture of Bunny Rabbit (Audika)

Picture of Bunny Rabbit by Arthur Russell

It had to happen eventually. Arthur Russell passed away in April of 1992, but through the dedicated sifting and sorting and careful consideration and meticulous preparation of his former partner, Tom Lee, and Audika Records founder and custodian of Russell’s musical estate, Steve Knutson, the man’s reputation has been burnished by a steadily growing posthumous back catalog over nearly 20 years — a span longer, in fact, than Russell’s original period of recording. But the well had to dry up at some point, and with Picture of Bunny Rabbit, Knutson himself says it may be Audika’s last “major” release. It is a beautifully fitting way to wind down the endeavor.

One of the reasons Russell remains such a guiding light for modern pop music is his boundless curiosity for genre; in that sense, he’s as contemporary as anyone working today — whenever today is as you read this. You have the dance-oriented Arthur that attracted acolytes of the “Springfield” DFA remix to stuff on Calling Out of Context as much as it did names like Larry Levan or Nicky Siano the first time around; you have his deep interest in theater and dance manifest themselves in scores like Tower of Meaning that Julius Eastman ended up conducting; you have the heartland singer-songwriting of stuff like Iowa Dream that showcased how plainly good he could be at conventional, Oskaloosa-infused coal town folk songs; you have all of it on what remains his masterpiece, World of Echo (though it’s worth a word here to mention the curious absence of Another Thought from Audika’s catalog).

Weaving in and out of all of these is an Arthur Russell I’d call the nocturnal, an artist interested in texture more than songcraft, moods more than discernible lyrics, often foregrounding long pulls on the cello and lower-register vocals on the mic. A less charitable way of putting it might be that it’s the version of Russell that haunts most, but you could just as easily say it’s the one that most completely taps into his ethereal skill, that otherworld of echo. However you want to look at it, that’s the Arthur Russell you get as the framework for Picture of Bunny Rabbit. There are noisy experiments and electronic wobbles afoot in these productions, but the bones of it are what I’d like to believe are the closest we come to his unconscious.

“Fuzzbuster #10” sets the scene with a gentle, contemplative instrumental of swooping cello and keys, and there are two more “Fuzzbusters” that lend color and scene-setting to this album that are well sequenced. “Not Checking Up” (which first appeared in 2019) makes its first appearance on record. The gorgeous “Telling No One” is virtually impenetrable lyrically in part because of the echo and in part because Russell jumps notes and rushes in closer to the mic, then backs away, emphasizing the dynamics and homespun nature that so many of his songs showcase. The album’s eponymous eight-minute noise experiment is the only clear outlier, but even in context, its continual manipulation of the cello into an increasingly weirder and ultimately almost guitar-shredding raga feels oddly welcome, a jolt of energy to an otherwise quiet, sedately restrained record that ends with another beauty from the archives. You can feel the same synth burblings from “The Boy With a Smile” in the bass if you turn “In the Light of a Miracle” up loud enough, but it’s almost a distraction to the after-hours love song Russell plucks to life. “Dancing in the light, holding in the light, reaching in the light …” he repeats as the song nears its conclusion.

That is how I suspect most fans of Arthur Russell would like to imagine themselves: dancing, holding, reaching in the light of his tremendous gift. Much like his ironically titled “Losing My Taste for the Nightlife” (which is his most touching song, and which I don’t think I’ve ever played before dusk or after dawn), Picture of Bunny Rabbit acts as a missive from beyond the beaming moon, a distant lover’s planet transmitting messages of hope and heart to those back here who need to hear it — for which there will always be a handful. The album may be the last major project Audika puts out, but just think of the people hearing this for the first time who weren’t even alive for Calling Out of Context, never mind World of Echo. There will be new followers forever even when there is no more new music. Arthur Russell passed away in April of 1992; Arthur Russell is eternal. The picture never faded.

Patrick Masterson

[august-sysex]

arthur russell - very reason (2023, originally recorded 1985/86)

[reckonslepoisson]

Picture of Bunny Rabbit, Arthur Russell (2023)

Plenty have noted how honoured we are to have such expert and tasteful curators as Audika at the helm of Arthur Russell’s posthumous material; rightly so, Picture of Bunny Rabbit is intimate and well-paced, as immersive and world-crafting as Russell’s sound deserves and a piece that lays his ingenuity out clearly and obviously.

Pick: ‘Fuzzbuster #06’

[sinceileftyoublog]

Arthur Russell Compilation Review: Picture of Bunny Rabbit

(Audika)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

Yes, there have been no shortage of posthumous Arthur Russell releases over the years, as his partner Tom Lee, in conjunction with Steve Knutson of Audika Records, have worked to essentially conjure full-length records from his trove of unfinished work. The latest, Picture of Bunny Rabbit, is about as cohesive as they get. Nine unreleased tracks recorded around the same time as Russell’s only album, the beloved World of Echo, Picture of Bunny Rabbit is an exceptionally curated and sequenced collection taken from test pressings found by his mother and sister. As obtuse as Russell can be, the title of the album recalls the cover of Calling Out Of Context, with a rabbit adorning his cello, immediately placing the album within the context of his oeuvre. The titular object also reminds you of the very power that can come from the existence--and subsequent discovery--of simple, physical documents. What’s more Arthur Russell than that?

Of course, throughout Picture of Bunny Rabbit, Russell’s voice is as much of an instrument as his bowed cello, fading in and out on “Not Checking Up”, “Telling No On”, and “Very Reason”. The mysterious aura of Russell comes from both not knowing what’s out there and, on the music we do know exists, being unable to tell what he’s saying or what instruments he’s using. A rubbery whooshing pervades “The Boy With a Smile” and “In The Light of a Miracle”. The 8-minute title track sees dissonant cello disintegrating in real time, unfurling like tape over feedback squalls to the point where it sounds like a MIDI version of a guitar solo. At the same time, Russell always knew when to surface. The harmonica on “The Boy With a Smile” creates a rootsy tactility, the controlled chaos of his string playing yielding free percussion. Russell’s vocals rapidly shuffle on “In The Light of a Miracle”, though they’re as clear as ever, contrasting his sticky cello, plainly borrowing rhythms from Indian classical music.

Knutson’s artistry here, too, is strong as ever. He purportedly chopped “In The Light of a Miracle”, whose previously released version on Another Thought bopped like a Remain in Light outtake, from a longer jam session of an undetermined, assumingly prolonged duration. And then there are the numbered “Fuzzbuster” tracks, named such that upon initial gaze at the track list, you’d think they were mere interludes. These instrumental pieces are as essential as anything on the album, juxtaposing guitars with cello to create moody drones, and they are perfectly placed within the album. The pulsating notes of “Fuzzbuster #10″ give Russell an opportunity to play with space and silence. Along with the rounded guitar notes and double tracked cellos of “Fuzzbuster #06″, it bookends the one-two punch of “Not Checking Up” and “Telling No One”. The distortion on “Fuzzbuster #06″, in particular, recalls tracks like “You Can Make Me Feel Bad” whose weighty timbres tug at your emotions and punch you in the gut. And “Fuzzbuster #09″ plays off of the folk elements of “The Boy With a Smile”, Russell’s galloping guitar picked in unison with whirring cello. It’s probably a fool’s errand to try to rank or even compare the various assemblies of Russell’s work, but taken on its own, the focused, adhesive, and concise Picture of Bunny Rabbit is one of the best pieces of music you’ll hear all year, no matter when recorded.

[dumblr]

[mariposiar]

[egophiliac]

As someone who hasn’t played the twst game very long I just got into it. I wanted to know about events? Like do some not come back? For example do the Masquerade, Port, Beanfest, Ghost bride, starsending events. Do those come back? I hear people say how they missed their chance to get this great card like as if it won’t ever come back and then someone on Reddit will say something like “Oh beanfest happened twice on the JP server” so which events have gotten reruns so far? I would ask about more recent ones like the Easter one but idk if it’s too recent to know if get rerun or if they clarify that it won’t come back? I was really sad to find out about the Silk outfits I missed out on when they visit the scalding sands. I also was really sad to find out i missed out on the anniversary cards because I didn’t play the game yet. I wish they would add the anniversary cards to the store at least…I want to be apart of the celebration :’)

I was looking in the shop and saw all the different groovy items you need to groovify event cards and this question just came to me so I had the urge to ask someone…

welcome to Twst! 🎉 it is a bit confusing to jump right into, especially because. they're not always consistent. :') it sounds like you're probably playing on Eng, which I'm less familiar with, but I'll try based on what I know! (I also don't always remember everything, so somebody please correct me if I get something wrong!)

first, I do recommend the Twst wiki.gg, which seems to stay pretty up-to-date on events for both the Eng and JP versions! it's a great resource for when you want to see if/when an event ran or rerun. in general, I believe that the Eng version only does reruns that have already happened in JP, so if JP has a rerun that hasn't happened yet in Eng, they should get it too eventually! on the other hand, I don't think either version has ever rerun an event more than once. :( BUT this doesn't mean you're entirely out of luck, because:

anniversary events (March for JP, January for Eng) will usually offer a chance to get both an older event SSR and an older birthday SSR in the shop, via buying a special item with exchange currency (which you get by doing pulls on the anniversary gacha, I think you need to do 100-150 pulls for enough currency to buy the item to exchange for an SSR). only SSRs though, and you're limited to one each (one birthday, one event). so if there's an SSR you REALLY want and it's already had its rerun, it's probably worth planning to save up some keys for!

as for actual reruns, they seem to come in a few different flavors:

straight-up rerun, no changes or extra cards

unchanged event story, with a new SSR of a character who wasn't in the story (e.g. Applepom Jamil)

slightly rewritten event story that includes a new SSR (e.g. Ghost Marriage, they don't seem to do this anymore though)

completely new event story that acts as either a sequel or alternate-universe version of the original (e.g. Beans Day part 2, Fairy Gala IF) (though this is pretty rare and might actually count as a separate event, rather than a rerun?)

Master Chef/Culinary Crucible events have never gotten reruns (though they might start now that we've finally gotten through all the characters in JP, time will tell). birthday and Halloween events will also rerun the previous version in addition to the new one -- for instance, Eng should be getting a Glorious Masquerade rerun this year, followed by the new (Playful Land) Halloween event. and a birthday campaign will, in addition to the new card, have a separate pickup for the previous year's birthday card.

for the specific ones you mentioned -- I think Beanfest, Ghost Bride, Fireworks, and Starsending have already rerun in Eng, so those most likely will not be rerun again (at least not anytime soon). Masquerade should be coming back for you guys this Halloween, and Portfest JUST got its rerun in JP, so that should be coming too sometime in the future! (no new SSR though, alas, I was really hoping for a little marching band sailor boy Leona. ����) the Easter event is the White Rabbit Fest, right? that one hasn't gotten a rerun in JP yet either, so it's still on the table!

all that said, it's entirely possible they'll change the rules at some point and start doing more reruns/chances to get older event cards, especially since the game's been going on for a few years now and some cards haven't been available for a pretty long time! there's only one card that they said was for-realsies limited-time-only and wouldn't ever be available again -- Platinum Grim, since he was to celebrate the 100th anniversary -- so. there's always a little bit of hope for everything else. :D (fairy gala Ortho PLEASE COME BACK SOB)

[acmeoop]

Deleted Scene Alternate Meeting “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” (1988)

[grrlmusic]

Arthur Russell - Picture of Bunny Rabbit

[spindle-and-nima]

i cant stop saying the word sneeping because of you oh my god its so funny. hes sneeping

Oh my god that's one sneepy boy if I ever seen one

[tragoidi]

[toncomtoncosh]

rabbit on scanner

[minotaurapologist]

Like schooling fish

[gattsjigar]

Oh you.

[happiinesstheory]

being together is just the best