that summer i developed somewhat of an obsession with tonto’s expanding head band after having seen them perform at the big chill festival that year. the music blew my mind. later upon my return to civilisation and the ensuing research which then began in earnest i became as much blown away by the enormous t.o.n.t.o. (the original new timbral orchestra) modular synthesizer that had created the music as i was by the music itself. built in the early 70s, it s still the largest synthesizer around today. with the live show still resonating in my head i tracked down everything tonto had ever recorded. one of these tracks was an obscure outtake from the time t.o.n.t.o.’s creators, malcolm cecil and robert margouleff, were producing and engineering for stevie wonder in the ‘70s(https://youtu.be/wuaszff7yq0). the track, bittersweet, only ever appeared on a highly limited self-released cd put together to coincide with their appearance at the big chill. consequently i featured it on a few mixes i did over the years and invariably i’d be asked “what’s that track?” by those with an ear for something unique. and invariably these same people, many of them djs, would turn away disgruntled when i informed them it was cd only. although i didn t know it at the time, the seed was definitely sown for this vinyl compilation that you now hold in your hands.

master mix tells the story of arthur russell, exploring his music and ongoing relevance to a new generation of artists. showcasing the diversity of arthurs musical worlds, each artist reinterpreted one of his tracks in their own style in tribute to his influence. features tracks from hot chip, robyn, blood orange, sufjan stevens, jose gonzalez and many more. the triple vinyl lp includes a download code for the full album.