Sound Lesson: Pilooski the Sonic Editor

The art of re-editing songs comes with many dangers. The craft demands not only enough skill to conjure up an innovative song that pushes music forward but also the mastery to match if not surpass the quality of the original track. The re-editor must breathe life into dusty bones. He faces the challenge to make the old sound new.

Paris based DJ, Pilooski, who also is known by his Polish name Cedric Marszewskihas, achieveds just this pinnacle style of re-editing shelved classics into body rocking dance party jams. Last year Pilooski gained international recognition in nerdy DJ / blog communities for his re-edit of "Beggin'," a pop hit dating back to New Jersey's legendary Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons.



Pilooski cleanly cuts up the guitars of ESG's "UFO" (does any ESG sample not sound amazing?) with a boom bap drum break that propels the vocals into hyperspeed and defy sonic laws by sounding damn smooth if not James Brown soulful. "Beggin' " is one of those tracks that reaches toward the sweaty, adrenaline rushed climax of the party when everyone is wildly dripping the music.

The flipped up video of Beggin' succeeds just as well in resurrecting the dead with some new superpowers.



Part of Pilooski's genius is that he reaps forgotten or neglected elements out of older joints that were never gilded the status as classics. These songs have not been dogmatically hardened into our collective minds by their incessant replay on nostalgiac compilation albums seen on late night infomercials or kitschy diners or oldies radio stations.

Pilooski's proud defiance of codified genres and exceptional digging powers opens up an overflowing reservoir of history to inform his ever growing taste. Listen to how Pilooski transforms the powerful croons of Nina Simone into a slammin' dance thumper in his newly released remix of "Take Care of Business" on the 4th Verve remixed compilation.

Many of Pilooski's edits (and he has many) can be found on the rare and highly sought after limited vinyl releases by Dirty Sound System. Dirty is a group of Parisian selectors that pride themselves on comin' up with the dusty diamonds that inspire and break expectations. These tracks are released with some edits (by the likes of Pilooski) on compilations that fittingly go by the name "Dirty Diamonds." From ominous space disco to thumping krautrock drum breaks, cruising past the euphoric Balearic islands to the syncopated gardens of Northern Soul, dirty does not fear geographical or psychological walls.

Following the numerous "Dirty Diamonds" EPs came a full length Pilooski compilation, dirty edits vol. 1. It also includes a couple surprising covers that will bend your ears backwards.


01 . Mono Puff - Pretty Fly
02 . 99 Frames For Prince - 1999
03 . Alan Parsons Project, The - I Robot (Pilooski edit)
04 . Edwin Starr - Get Up (Pilooski edit)
05 . Pointer Sisters - Send Him Back (Pilooski edit)
06 . Steve Lawrence & Eydie Gorme - Black Hole Sun (Dirty Reissue)
07 . Unknown - Untitled
08 . Ari Boulogne - Le Petit Chevalier
09 . Can - Mothersky (Pilooski edit)
10 . The Human Beinz - Nobody But Me (Pilooski edit)
11 . Pipilotti Rist - I'm A Victim Of This Song (Wicked Game)

Download part 1.
Download part 2.

Sound Lesson 3: ESG

Before we get on to the very important lesson of the week, I'd like to welcome to Crooks and Grannies a new addition to the team, Cyrus the Humble, but as far as I'm concerned, I'll call him Cyrus the Magnificent... Humble the Magnificent? I think Edan already beat me to that. So, it seems that the trinity is complete, Cyrus will be taking care of writing imagery and recording some sounds, and that will hopefully turn into a cohesive exploratory project of San Francisco.

And yo, Granny Wesson where you at? Besides that, if D-Rock ever gets his act together, then he can join the team for an occasional punch to the face. Get off your turntables and start writing! Or at least throw me a mix, son. Enough of that, let's get to the program.


The saga of the art-funk ensemble ESG (Emerald Sapphire Gold) begins with a healthy dose of South Bronx mythology that necessarily gives birth to anything seminal in the world of Hiphop. So the story goes, streetwise Mother Scroggins figured that she could keep her four daughters out of the mean BX streets by hooking them up with some instruments to jam with. Does this not sound like an Afrika Bambaataa remedy for street violence? Maria took the congas and negotiated the vocals, Renee handled the guitar, Valerie beat on the drums, and their friend Leroy Grover strummed the bass until the youngest sister Deborah took over.

The Scroggins sisters swooped into the downtown NY scene where they found a medley of influences in Hiphop, post-punk, new wave, and house during a time in music history when the boundaries of the genres weren't so cemented into place. Inspired by the evolving sonic zeitgeist the band developed an enigmatic sound boasting complex poly-rhythms laced together with pop guitar hooks that waft breezily over a resounding bass line.

Their first single was produced by the legendary Martin Hannett of Joy Division allure in 1981, the self-titled debut EP released in America on 99 Records (the same label as Liquid Liquid) and Factory Records in England. Hannett's keen ear for body wrenching rhythms emphasized by steady abysmal voids informed ESG's distinctive sound for the rest of their 30 year career.

So who sampled ESG? Their original Hannett produced single "UFO", a sweaty groove fitting its name due to the works of an ominous fast pasted guitar pluck that sounds like an extraterrestrial police siren cut over a clamoring drum break, reaches toward Funky Drummer notoriety in the sample game. Big Daddy Kane, The Beastie Boys, EPMD, Madlib, 3rd Bass, Pete Rock, Public Enemy, even indie rockers The Liars - and in fact, any list that claims to cover the definitive archive eventually admits defeat by adding a new track that escaped everyone's aural grasp. So I won't even try it.

This one resonating cut may serve as the defining element of the brand of aggressive, strong headed Hiphop that slices your eardrums into pieces. Just peep the recent additions of Dilla's "Geek Down" off the Donuts LP or Edan's "The Science of the Two" with Insight off Beauty and the Beat.

So why does ESG not get the James Brown love, you know that credited and compensated love, that they deserve? The group addressed this issue with their 1992 EP Sample Credits Don't Pay Our Bills. They recently called it quits while Renee Scroggins hopes to take more seriously her production of other artists.


Soul Jazz's Universal Sound revisited the band's illustrious career with the release of the powerhouse compilation, ESG: A South Bronx Story. Don't forget to help pay ESG's bills by copping the second chapter of the Story, Rarities, released in Nov. 2007.