VARIOUS ARTISTS – Four Songs By Arthur Russell – CDEP – RTRADCD408

As its title suggests, Four Songs puts the focus on Russell in his world as a songwriter. Russell was notorious for never finishing anything, so it’s no surprise his raw yet unmistakable tunes and lyrics could benefit from new arrangements and production styles. While Four Songs lacks a bit of the experimental spirit found across Russell’s work, for that same reason it should serve as an excellent introduction to new Russell initiates, some of whom might’ve been initially turned off by the alien tone koans of 1986’s spellbinding World of Echo or the dated drum programming and synths of much of Calling Out of Context. What’s left are– damn you, Lekman– four songs, each a transcendent expression of shared humanity, each hauntingly performed by four distinctive present-day artists.

Marc Hogan / Pitchfork