Calling Out of Context is a compilation album

Compilation album

A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...

 of songs written and recorded by experimental music

Experimental music

Experimental music refers, in the English-language literature, to a compositional tradition which arose in the mid-20th century, applied particularly in North America to music composed in such a way that its outcome is unforeseeable. Its most famous and influential exponent was John Cage...

ian Arthur Russell. It was released on March 16, 2004 by Audika Records in the United States and by Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records

Rough Trade Records is an independent record label based in London. It was formed in 1978 by Geoff Travis who had opened a record store off Ladbroke Grove...

 in the United Kingdom. Nearly all of the songs included on Calling Out of Context had never been previously released in any form.

Production

The songs selected for Calling Out of Context were recorded by Russell at his home and various studios between 1973 and 1994. Some of the songs, including "That's Us/Wild Combination", were meticulously reworked and rerecorded dozens of times by Russell, up until his death in 1994. Calling Out of Context contains many previously unreleased tracks, including several songs from Russell's scrapped Corn album.

In addition to singing and songwriting, Russell played many of the instruments on the album, including cello

Cello

The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

, percussion, guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, keyboards, and vocals. Many of the tracks feature percussion & drum programming from Mustafa Khaliq Ahmed, as well as synthesizer

Synthesizer

A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...

s & trombone

Trombone

The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...

 playing by Peter Zummo

Peter Zummo

Peter Zummo is an American composer and musician. He plays the trombone, valve trombone, euphonium, synthesizer, other electronic instruments, and also sings. He is associated with the postminimalist and Downtown aesthetics, and he describes his music as "minimalism plus a whole lot more."He...

. Both Ahmed and Zummo were longtime collaborators with Russell. Noted vocalist Jennifer Warnes

Jennifer Warnes

Jennifer Jean Warnes is an American singer, songwriter, arranger and record producer. She is known for her interpretations of compositions written by herself and many others, as well as an extensive playlist as a vocalist on movie soundtracks.Between 1979 and 1987 Warnes surpassed Frank Sinatra as...

 contributed singing to "That's Us/Wild Combination". Steven Hall contributed electronic drums to the record.

This was the first album released by Audika Records, and was done so after obtaining the exclusive licensing agreement with the estate of Arthur Russell to issue previously unreleased and out of print material from the musician's vast archive. The compilation producers were Melissa Jones, Steve Knutson, and Russell's longtime partner Tom "Sisu" Lee.

Reviews

Calling Out of Context received mostly positive reviews, including from Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

. AllMusic gave the album 3 1/2 out 5 stars, noting, "With the many hats Russell wore, Calling out of Context should hammer home the fact that he was also a dynamite writer of heart-on-sleeve love song

Love song

A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...

s -- not just a formidable cellist and innovative disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

producer."

Track listing

All songs written by Arthur Russell.

1. "The Deer In The Forest Part 1"-1:35
2. "The Platform On The Ocean"-8:04
3. "You And Me Both"-3:45
4. "Calling Out Of Context"-5:45
5. "Arm Around You"-6:32
6. "That's Us/Wild Combination"-6:58
7. "Make 1,2"-2:49
8. "Hop On Down"-6:02
9. "Get Around To It"-4:58
10. "I Like You!"-5:00
11. "You Can Make Me Feel Bad"-1:28
12. "Calling All Kids"-7:15

Technical personnel

• Art Direction, Design – Melissa Jones (2)
• Compilation Producer – Melissa Jones (2), Steve Knutson, Tom Lee (3)
• Executive Producer [Compilation Executive Producer] – Steve Knutson
• Liner Notes – Steve Knutson
• Mastered By – Ray Janos
• Photography [Cover Photography] – Jeanette Beckman
• Producer, Mixed By – Arthur Russell, Killer Whale (tracks: 1, 2, 4)
• Technician [Post Production And Digital Transfers] – Mikel Rouse (tracks: 3, 5, 6, 9 to 12)
• Words By, Music By – Arthur Russell