Genius of time

"The twenty-two tracks on this definitive best-of compilation capture the slippery, pliant, ecstatic sound that defined Larry Levan as a producer, DJ and high priest for a club night deemed "Saturday Mass" by its attendees ... It was short-lived however, and as the decade wore on, the closing of the Paradise Garage and the high human cost of AIDS began to take a toll on Levan's psyche and work (along with his ravenous heroin habit). But as Genius of Time shows a new generation of dance fans, Levan was a singular talent. As Moulton put it: "He had the feel. He would always sacrifice the technical if it meant that he could have the feel, and that's the most important thing in music." You can feel that in every track here" - Best New Reissue.

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"There's a sense that Genius Of Time was compiled on a budget, with its music sourced from Universal affiliates such as A&M, Island and Motown. That's understandable in an industry forced to watch the purse strings, but what would Levan have made of such an approach? He was, after all, a perfectionist-not to mention the kind of guy that would happily spend weeks in the Caribbean frittering away company money. Furthermore, this compilation poses a serious question about posthumous releases. When artists pass on, there may be no one around to appraise such a project, leaving the record label, in many cases, to treat the work as they will. When hip-hop producer Madlib discussed how he might deal with this issue, he suggested an extreme solution: burn everything rather than be misrepresented. Genius Of Time is packed with fantastic, game-changing tracks, but it still only tells part of the Levan story".

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