Don't you think it's getting to be a bit much? The edits, I mean, the disco edits. From resurrecting some lost lots of pop treasures to gluing eccentric elements together in a radically new form, disco edits have had their day and now, in keeping with the trash pit of creativity of the age that we live in, hundreds of producers of varying ability have taken a fun thing and driven it straight into the ground.
Given the common DNA of Disco and House, "disco edits" have always been here and probably always will, but are now being considered a genre all their own, like Minimal or Dude House. People like Leonard Part Sixx, with a background of exquisite quality as well as quantity, are rather being pushed aside in favor of this month's flavor (seriously, the guy's discography is incredible). But the really frightening thing is the sheer mass of edits I'm hearing which are barely reworked at all. Just throw in a kick, rearrange via hokey Abelton cut-and-paste and you've got it, son - instant cred among those who should really know better than this. It's fine for a DJ that prides himself on making an entirely new set every time he plays, but it's an awful lot of disposable junk for the rest of us.
Before the whole "genre" flames out spectacularly, I urge you to check out I:Cube's Cubo Edits from French producer Nicholas Chaix. Known for a long discography primarily on Versatile, his Cubo Edits on French cult label Les Edits Du Golem are four tracks that shine through the fog of a terribly confused market. Tracks like the lead-off, "HNT", have given me maybe the most dreamlike yet wide-awake experiences since I gave up demerol abuse. Built upon the skeletal remains of Hunting by early '80s UK outfit New Musik, "HNT" stands out like Versailles against a suburb of McMansions. Think of it as New Wave re-imagined if you like, or "Disco if House Music never existed" as I heard someone describe Nu Disco the other day - doesn't matter what you say as it's less an "edit" or an exercise in the use and abuse of digital production tools than a transcendental experience. The sloppy wave FX of the original and an added sonorous voiceover are poured over those synth hooks like a thick, impervious tar, and underneath each track's ear candy is a narcotic thump that just pounds on your backbone like a xylophone.
Also of note is "A Bicyclette," which this fellow ID'd as an edit of a French '80s pop hit, "Juste Une Mise Au Point" by Jackie Quartz. On the B Side, "Piano in Paradise" has more of an '80s clubby feel, and this is a major tune. I love piano stuff like this, with simple piano chords looped into infinity and gorgeously ragged soul-with-strings pushing it somewhere toward ecstasy.
Review by: Terry Matthew / February 2012
Available: Les Edits du Golem | Vinyl from juno.co.uk
Terry Matthew is the managing editor of 5 Magazine. You can contact him at 
