Audika US レコード& CD

Review: Where do you start with this epic collection? Arthur Russell should be no stranger to any music boffin, having been a tour de force on the New York underground during the 1970s and 80s. A maestro of disco, formative-era dance music, anything remotely avant-garde, despite having worked on some of the most iconic releases of the day, he only produced three albums before passing before time. "Iowa Dream" is what was left behind, or at least to some extent. Archived and - for years - never earmarked for release, thanks to the tireless efforts of composer Peter Broderick, this collection of demos, home recordings, and lost songs has been restored, edited and mixed, then carefully placed on this lovingly-conceived compilation. The result is a must-buy for fans and newcomers alike and will only serve to cement Russell's place in the pantheons.

Review: First released in 2004, nearly twenty years after much of the material was recorded in 1985, Calling Out Of Context reveals yet another facet of the ever-fascinating Russell, the New York polymath who defied generic categorisation even as he married pop melody and avant-garde abstraction in an aural outer space. This is an album that showcases the more melodious side of Russell's work, and for all the stylistic touches that may remind of its '80s origins, Russell's emotional voice and mercurial sleight-of-hand render these otherworldly ditties an experience unto themselves. An essential testimony of a talent never to be matched, yet also less a rarities collection than a dreamlike experience of considerable psychic charge.