Maharishi Everything Is Recorded LP

The debut solo album from Richard Russell, featuring vocal contributions from Sampha, Giggs, Ibeyi, Obongjayar, Infinite, Wiki & Syd, and instrumental contributions from Kamasi Washington, Damon Albarn, Rachel Zeffira, Peter Gabriel, Owen Pallett & more.

Tracklist

1. Intro
2. Close But Not Quite (feat. Sampha)
3. She Said (feat. Obongjayar & Kamasi Washington)
4. Wet Looking Road (feat. Giggs)
5. Mountains Of Gold (feat. Sampha, Ibeyi, Wiki and Kamasi Washington)
6. Show Love (feat. Syd & Sampha)
7. Echoes In The Bone – Interlude (feat. Rachel Zeffira)
8. Bloodshot Red Eyes (feat. Infinite & Green Gartside)
9. Cane (feat. Ibeyi)
10. Purify – Interlude (feat. Infinite & Peter Gabriel)
11. Be My Friend (feat. Infinite)
12. Everything Is Recorded (feat. Sampha and Owen Pallett)

The album’s other standout is “Be My Friend,” which also foregrounds Infinite, his voice layered this time so as to become a choir. Russell brings in a sample of Dallas preacher TD Jakes talking about the illusion of solitude: “It is possible to be alone and not live alone/It is possible to feel alone and not work alone.” It’s a poignant insight, but the same sample crops up multiple times across the album, so that by the time it lands here, it sounds like a rare miscue from Russell—a heavy-handed move from someone who’s trained us to expect a light touch. – Pitchfork

Artwork by Maharishi/Hardy Blechman