SLOW TO SPEAK "EDITS : 1999-2014" (2XCD)

In an age where the dance music edit has been misinterpreted and degraded to quantized midtempo disco chuggers polluted with smooth Ableton kicks and stretched out to yawn-inducing infinity, Paul Nickerson and Francis Englehardt of Slow to Speak set the record straight with this compilation that collects fifteen years of their revisionary undertakings that improve originally great – and now better – works of music. Often operating from the approach taken by early trailblazers of the edit, Nickerson and Englehardt draw upon their impeccable tastes as selectors and razor-sharp instincts as DJs to restructure and trim the fat off a healthy variety of house, techno and rock tracks with the purpose of unleashing each tune’s maximum dramatic power.

The edits herein range from subtle cut-and-paste rearrangements to borderline remixes with heavy doses of added instrumentation – a clever rework of 70s rock anthem “Hold Your Head Up” that extends the tension-building, cowbell-inflected organ solo to hone in on the song’s groove and bolster the catharsis of its iconic chorus; a revisit to Marshall Jefferson’s early jack anthem “Ride the Rhythm” that unexpectedly incorporates the hip house verse from Louie Vega and Marc Anthony’s “Ride on the Rhythm,” casually bridging two vital strains of house history while reminding us of how uplifting such sincere vocal celebrations of dancing can be, no matter how unfashionable they currently seem; a delightfully cracked treatment of the devastating Celebrate LIFE anthem “All Day, All Night” likely inspired by skipped records caused by the mayhem of dancers during the party’s peak hours; a masterful, full-bodied remix of Thom Yorke’s “The Eraser” whose structural adjustments, heavy duty percussion (those cymbals!) and otherworldly samples endow Yorke’s composition with grandeur and enhance its feeling of solitude into something at once alien and universal; “One Thousand,” an ominous stomper that merges the anxiety and analog synth-work of minimal wave with a hard, lumbering beat reminiscent of early techno, “Lynam” and “Somebody,” rearrangements of two new party-rockers whose barely noticeable modifications vastly elevate the impact of each piece and demonstrate Englehardt and Nickerson’s highly discerning tastes as listeners and profound care for the music they’ve devoted their lives to sharing; plus many more tracks that have either been unreleased or have previously found their way onto wax via Nickerson and Englehardt’s Slow to Speak, Celebrate LIFE and Track Rabbit Suppers imprints.

And just when we thought the art of the DJ medley was long extinct, as bonuses, Nickerson and Englehardt have included their lovingly assembled, career-defining tribute medleys to legendary house masters MK and Murk, both of which fiercely burn through the best works of their respective producer’s catalogs while functioning as brilliant tracks to be played out during the highest, sweatiest peaks of our finest underground gatherings.