David Day works for Forced Exposure, DJs and is a freelance writer. He also has pretty much the best music taste in the world. But you don’t have to take my word for it…

Before production was digitized, remixes and reedits were literally in the hands of engineers. Magnetic tape was the medium of the day, and post-disco R&B wrapped itself in it. The multi-track sound of the 80s lent itself best to the soul-funk dance music, but quickly that style ate up the Top 40 charts. Cold edits and cut-up vocals put everyone from Cyndi Lauper to Hall and Oates atop pop countdowns. But much of this edit technique traces back to the Freestyle of the early 80s, a genre begging for a revival. Freestyle was the culture of the edit on a ropeline between the South Bronx and Miami Beach, and it produced unabashed pop dance confection.

But it proved that the editing of a song, or reediting as the case may be, set up the sound of success. Vocals were cut off or doubled up, drum fills dropped through trap doors and synthesizers magnified to dissapear. Throughout the 80s, pop embraced this technology, and for years we had synthesized pop splendour. These days, it seems the only thing synthesized in pop music is credibility.

Tha Rayne– Didn’t You Know (Yam Who Reedit)

Cowbells and candy rolled out lengthwise and taken for a stroll. A long-forgotten Arista twelve with a baby Beyonce on vocals, dissasembled and stacked backed together with deliberate slowness by the mighty Yam Who. (If I was L.A. Reid, I’d have this dude on speed dial). Tha Rayne, meanwhile, has the kind of vocal delivery Freestyle loved, straightforward and almost flat, like a palm. The mix goes: bare bones Kool and the Gang horn stabs give way to swooning strings, drop it out and bring Tha Rayne, introduce Hammond, re-edit to the finish. All in a little over 8 minutes.

[visit the Discogs page for this release here, buy the ringtone for “Didn’t You Know” here]

The Knife– Heartbeats (Rex the Dog Remix)

Rex the Dog has been tearing up studios and buzzbins for a few months, but pair him with a Swedish duo bent on synthesized pop and it’s like the 90s never happened. Granted, the technology has been updated, and the edits harsher and more pronounced, but this sounds like it could follow Denise Williams on the Footloose soundtrack. The tracked-out fist-pumping chorus only appears twice, but it’s all you need. The rest is strictly modernized, yet still manages to sound like it was edited with a razor blade. The vocals are further co-opted by the rhythm, and by the end, Rex the Dog makes like a modern “Jellybean” Benitez.

[buy “Heartbeats” here, visit The Knife’s site at Rabid Records here]

Freeez– Southern Freez

While not strictly a reedit, “Southern Freeez” does break in all the right places. British post-disco funk just warmer than it is cold. The pop-lockin breakbeat coasts like a bride on wheels. The instinctive handclap drops your trunk. The sci-fi synths slide right over the top. There are two warpdrive edits in this track wherein the DJ would likely cut the midrange and drop the bass, and then set the club off. Beggars Banquet, in fact, put out four records by this UK mob, and their sound parallelled that of Freestyle: it sounded clean because it was polished. Don’t forget the polish.

[buy Freeez records here, visit Freeez’s discogs site here]

Remember to check back tomorrow for three tracks from Xiu Xiu…