The spirit of Arthur Russell continues to burn brightly nearly 20 years on from his death. Arthur’s Landing is a band made up of musicians he worked with in his life, and is drawn from many of the different styles he mastered. So we have some disco heads, leftfield experimental musicians and even modern classical, drawn together to make new arrangements of the master’s work. It’s a successful venture, performed with clear affection for the music, but not afraid to put a new twist or two on it. So it is that ‘Is It All Over My Face’ is renamed ‘Love Dancing’, effortless and colourful with a typically languid vocal. Luminous textures abound in songs like ‘You Can’t Go Back’, while ‘I Want To Change My Life’ is profound and thoughtful. The only problem is that for such personal material, on several occasions the listener yearns for Russell himself to be present. That said, with such intricate and imaginative scoring, as Russell would no doubt have wanted, the whole project presents its subject in a vibrant perspective.
4 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
