As part of a celebration honoring the life and music of the late, great, great, great Arthur Russell, here’s a previously unreleased recording of Talking Heads’ seminal “Psycho Killer” featuring Russell on cello. And unlike many archival, historical curiosities of this sort, this one is actually fucking good.
Byrne’s voice doesn’t quite reach the blissful, psychotic fever pitch of the original recording, but Russell’s cello masterfully ratchets up the tension every time it enters, frantically trading phrases with Byrne during the veres and settling into the background during the chorus. Listen below:
