The last year has seen a resurgence of interest in the history of dance edits like Danny Krivit's extended re-works of MFSB's "Love Is The Message" and JB's "Funky Drummer," and cut & paste joints like Double D & Steinski's "Lesson" - check the excellent article in Grand Slam No.1 if you wanna geek out. Some of the most sought-after pieces of the genre are the six volumes of the Big Apple Productions "Genius At Work" series. The b-side is what drew us to this particular volume. Its an obscure Pal Joey' re-edit of MFSB's "Love Is The Message(1)," which throws some nice 808 claps & rhythmbox nastiness under this NYC dance classic. On the flip, "Genius At Work(Vol. 4)(2)" is a little more on the early house/dance tip than some of the others in the series. It utilizes the "I'll House You" and "Big Fun" beats as the foundation for assloads of vocal clips and snippets (some of which are little naughty, word to the delicate flowers out there) from sources as diverse as Gwen McRae singing "took my love away" (from "Ain't Nothin' Goin' On But The Rent"), to Al Pacino in Scarface exclaiming "hokay!" The overall effect is dope cut-up madness that puts house right smack next to hip-hop (where it belongs, godammit). A really really good record.

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