Arthur Russell – In The Light Of The Miracle (Remixes)

Description

FINALLY! The very first commercial release of two legendary remixes of Arthur Russell’s “InThe Light Of The Miracle”. Both are widely regarded as transcendent masterpieces and verymuch befitting of the title holy grails.
These long-beloved mixes are the types you’d wish would last for eternity. With almost 30minutes of music here, we very nearly get our desires granted. At last, these jaw-droppingmixes are widely available to every Arthur fan in the world. This is musical perfection.
The deep Loft classic “In The Light Of The Miracle” remained unreleased during Arthur’s lifetime, finallydiscovered when Phillip Glass included the original version on Another Thought on Point Music in 1993. AsSteve Knutson told us, when Another Thought was being put together, the plan was to release a companionalbum of remixes that was overseen by Steve D’Aquisto but the project only got as far as these two remixesof “In The Light Of The Miracle”.
Some dodgy scans of some centre label designs suggest that Point Music mightve been planning to releasethese on a 12″ but it didnt happen. The story goes that Gilles Peterson heard the remixes on a visit to thePoint Music offices and wanted to release them on Talkin Loud. Were not sure how many white label copiesmade it out into the wild, but again, these remixes didnt make it to a proper release.
These remixes both extend and undeniably enhance the original, elevating it to new heights. The 13 minuteremix on the A-side is by Danny Krivit & Tony Smith with editing duties performed by Tony Morgan. As everwith Arthur, the music is almost impossible to describe: is it Disco? Garage House? Avant Garde? None ofthese tags do full justice to its sheer majesty. You best just listen. Stretching out the original with some
unbelievably great percussive elements, until we’re in a deeply spiritual, otherworldly realm, it’s just toobeautiful for words. As many have claimed, it’s the prototype for EVERYTHING.
The “Ponytail Club Mix (Part 1 & 2)”, produced by Tony Morgan in the mid-90s, is in a more up-tempo style,with vocals higher in the mix, the BPM upped to 120 and the addition of a housey 4/4 kick drum. A 14 minuteepic, you could say this is a more straight ahead “club-friendly” mix (but can things ever be that
straightforward with Arthur?!) It also has some really interesting vocal parts not used in the other versions,including some vocals from guest poet Allen Ginsberg.
These remixes are part of the same original project that also produced the Another Thought album so itseems only right that they have a sleeve that matches. Thanks again to Janette Beckman for letting us useanother of her photos of Arthur and the rest of the design follows what Margery Greenspan, Tina Lauffer andMichael Klotz did for Another Thought back in 1994.
Simon Francis remastered the original audio for both tracks and Cicely Balston’s precise cut for Alchemy atAIR Studios ensures this 12″ well and truly slaps. The immaculate Record Industry pressing will ensure thisincredibly sought-after treasure finds a home in many more collections, this and every year.

Tracklist

A1 IN THE LIGHT OF THE MIRACLE (13:26 min)
B1 IN THE LIGHT OF THE MIRACLE – PONYTAIL CLUBMIX (PARTS 1 & 2) (14:10 min)