Arthur’s Landing records and performs the songs of Arthur Russell–the band includes several members who knew and worked with late NYC genius plus younger musicians influenced by Russell’s groundbreaking work in disco/funk and “Buddhist Pop”.
 
Arthur’s Landing on Facebook

Darshan Jesrani’s recording project “Metro Area” (together with partner Morgan Geist) on Morgan’s Environ label has left an indelible mark on the dance music landscape. Known for its forward-looking, freestyle recombination of influences, Metro Area’s work revolves around classic production styles and the songwriting focus of disco, newwave/synth-pop and R&B. Metro Area has injected much needed doses of funk and sensuality, mood and space back into the loop-based and seldom-subtle world of underground dance.
 
Their 2002 debut album elicited superlative responses from The New York Times to The Onion, from web-logs to the Wire. Metro Area won a place among Rolling Stone’s “Top 50 Albums of 2002”, a rock and rap-dominated list for which most club/dance projects are not even considered. Further accolades include BBC/Radio 1’s “Dance Album of the Year” and a “Best New Artist” prize at the 2003 DanceStar/American Dance Awards.
 
In 2007, Darshan caught the collective ear with his co-writing, production and remix work (alongside Ewan Pearson and Klas “Sasse” Lindblad) on “It’s All True”, the debut single from beloved UK singer Tracey Thorn’s (Everything but the Girl) solo album “Out of the Woods” (Virgin). This release made waves in broader arenas and was touted as a fresh and uplifting update of the Funhouse-style, vocal-led, New York City synth-pop sound of the early/mid-80s.
 
Darshan’s extended “Parks Dept. Dub” remix of “Starlight”, an underground hit by celebrated and hungry New York disco upstarts Escort (July 2006) landed on the yearend top-10 lists of many DJs known for their selections and taste.
 
Metro Area 7, the latest in the series (Nov. 2007) was relelased November 2007 to superlative praise. Metro Area’s mix CD for Fabric (late 2008) was considered by Pitchfork to be both of one of the best modern disco mixes and one of the best in the series. Last year (2010), Resident Advisor named Metro Area’s “Miura” number 1 in their top 100 singles of the past decade, and their Metro Area album at number 2 in their top 100 albums of the past decade.
 
Having completed the first phase of his studio, which operates out of a commercial loft in Brooklyn, Darshan is preparing a battery of material for release in late 2012 and 2013 on his new Startree imprint, to be produced and distributed exclusively by Word and Sound. Completed remixes for Nina Kraviz and others are forthcoming in Autumn of 2012. Darshan continues to be in demand as a DJ worldwide, both solo and together with Morgan as Metro Area.
 
Metro Area official Facebook

Artur8 on Soundcloud