Top 50 Remixes / Edits of 2013

As regular readers will be more than aware, here at Pelski we love a remix or two. We are particularly partial to a good ol’ disco edit. So expect plenty of colourful funk cuts and summery remixes in our belated top 50.

(For our top 100 ‘original’ tracks, click here.)

1. Boe & Zak’s – Loop For Love

‘Loop For Love’, released on Tiger & Woods’ Editainment series, fast cemented itself as a dancefloor weapon this summer. Recognisable as the regularly pillaged disco hit ‘It Looks Like Love’ by Goody Goody, Mathew Styles drags the 1978 gem onto modern dancefloors by stretching the nagging guitar riff over a choppy, ragged house groove, whilst leaving the strings to soar.

2. The Mole – Lockdown Party (DJ Sprinkles’ Crossfaderama)

The original version by The Mole – a producer who can be described as anything but orthodox – sounds straight-laced in comparison to Sprinkles’ whacky, rambling 12 minute take. During it extensive runtime, Sprinkles sporadically introduces flurries of cowbell, movie samples, crowd noises and all sorts, often pulling it back to a stutter of mangled electronics before releasing it once again. The remix has the feel and loose arrangement of a live performance, but with a steady, cheery buzz, evoking the giddy excitement of a house party just starting to kick into gear.

3. Frank Booker – Egbe Mi O

This Afro-disco edit finally saw an official release this year courtesy of KAT recordings. Marvellously chunky and buried in Booker’s signature low-end, the Kiwi remixed Nigerian afro-beat classic, Fela Kuti’s ‘Egbe Mi O (Carry Me)’. He stretches out a scratchy electric guitar loop and choppy percussion (originally from Cream’s legendary Ginger Baker) into another hypnotic, nagging house rhythm, whilst bonkers West-African guitar solos and fevered African chants come and go.

4. Rhye – The Fall (Maurice Fulton Alt Mix)

Maurice Fulton’s remix of LA soul band Rhye demonstrates a more conventional approach than we are used to from an artist whose intriguing output is almost always strange. This – and a few other uncharacteristically accessible remixes – saw him win over a new audience in 2013. A big, rounded electro-funk synth struts through the first half with a gleeful sense of retro, whilst the second half usurps the gurgling synth with twanging disco reverb and a keener conga-led groove.

5. First Choice – Love Thang (Genius of Time Edit)

A highly sought-after edit which eventually landed on the Verktyg vinyl imprint. Genius of Time strayed from the usual edit formula by actually adding an entirely new melody and groove (as opposed to just sprinkling a little extra percussion, as is so often the case). A huge churning synth dominates the production, so that the source vocals – reduced to snippets – make only fleeting appearances. An effective groove; and wonderfully eerie.

6. Jacques Renault – Back To You (Paradis Remix)

Paradis’ remarkably rich remix of ‘Back To You’ dropped on Let’s Play House early in the year, turning Renault’s elated horn-sampling bomb on its head, painting it in deep, intricate textures. The French duo course subtlety through what was previously a blunt instrument: the percussion pulled back into short, abrupt clicks and the bass to a stunted murmur, whilst wistful vocals breathe through the mix like a billowing gust.

7. Change – Holiday (Late Nite Tuff Guy Remix)

Again, this wasn’t technically produced in 2013, but did finally see an official release (Tuff Cut #003) as well receiving heavy rotation from the likes of Greg Wilson. Late Nite Tuff Guy’s dry crack of snares and rumble of funky bass are enough to keep you captivated for a whole four minutes. But it is guaranteed to have everyone throwing their hands in the air come the elated chorus.

8. New York Edits 3 – Side B

A lush disco edit of Mary Wilson’s 1979 Motown single ‘Red Hot’. Wisely opting to focus on the lavish piano keys and searing strings, Mary Wilson’s vocals are stripped out besides that scorching chorus: “just feelin’ red hotttt”. It’s a subtle and finely crafted edit which doesn’t deviate too much from the original, but offers an altogether smoother listen. Also worth checking out: the Donald Bumps edit.

9. Daniel Avery – Drone Logic (Factory Floor / Gabe Gurnsey Remix)

A raw and intense electro remix from Factory Floor’s frontman. Daniel Avery’s original ‘Drone Logic’ is a fairly abrasive piece of techno that positively quakes under its own analog weight. London-based electronica band Factory Floor pull the thing back a little, twisting its boisterous techno pulse into a more jittery synth. Most satisfying of all is the crisp beat thrown over ‘Drone Logic’’s bleeping, fizzing electronics.

10. Portable – A Deeper Love (Soul Capsule’s Ghetto Mix)

Soul Capsule propels a gently minimalist house groove via some bubbling synths and raw, dry percussion; there’s even a faint but ominous rumble of thunder clouds in the background adding to the perturbed mood. Rave synth-stabs and female wailing make for a loveable if familar throwback, but it has a restraint evident in its persevering techno progression and nine minute runtime.

11. Matthew Herbert – It’s Only (DJ Koze Remix)

12. Adil Hiani & San Proper – Les Moutons Ivres (Moutons Ivres Drunk Disco Drop 9)

13. Michael Jackson – Billie’s Had Her Jeans Acidwashed (Fatneck Rework)

14. Gay Marvine – America

15. Czerwone Gitary – Uczę się Żyć (Kacper Kapsa Edit)

16. Typesun – Last Home (DJ Nature Remix)

17. The Right Now – Call Girl (Hot Toddy Mix)

18. Pete Herbert & Dicky Trisco – In The Disco Last Night

19. North Pollard – Never Gonna Let You Dub (OOFT! Remix)

20. Osunlade – Camera Shy (Andrés  remix) 

21. Revivra Aka Estèphe & Vulzor – What’s Going On

22. Rayko – Rock My World

23. Richard from Milwaukee – Free Love (An Eric ‘Dunks’ Duncan Mix)

24. Dear Rose Music Company - I’m Every Dub

25. Brodka – Varsovie (Eltron John Dub)

26. Fingerman – Too Much

27. Nirosta Steel – Some Say (Pocketknife Mix)

28. Spaventi Dazzurro – Lonely (Jerkoff Mix)

29. Nicholas – The Music Lives

30. SoundMonsters – Feed My World (Powel Remix)

31. Mano Le Tough – Primative People (Tale Of Us Remix)

32. LUV008 – A1

33. Rhye – Open (Jeff Samuel Faded Remix)

34. Walter Murphy – Fifth of Beethoven (Flight Facilities Edit)

35. Session Victim – Yes I Know (Max Graef Remix)

36. JV – EditChannel XXX

37. K & B – Grandma’s Hands

38. Batongo – Aguirre (Mano Le Tough remix)

39. Marco Shuttle – The Vox Attitude (Pangaea Remix)

40. Late Jam (Willie Burns’ Dance Remix)

41. Dimitri From Tokyo – Sfunky

42. Daft Punk – Get Lucky (Drop Out Orchestra Edit)

43. Rahaan – Make Me Hot

44. Francis Harris – You Can Always Leave Curtains (DJ Sprinkles Remix)

45. Murat Tepeli – Forever (Prosumer’s ‘hold me touch me’ Remix)

46. Gesloten Cirkel – Hole (Transportation AAD Remix)

47. Hugo H – Chante vs James (aka The Same)

48. Black Booby – Hot Scotch

49. Jimpster – Porchlight And Rocking Chairs (KiNK Remix)

50. Billy Byrd – Lost In The Crowd (Olivier Boogie Edit)