A good remix is one that takes a classic song, tears it apart, and makes it something new, while still hearkening back to the roots of that classic. Thus, for my inaugural Hypomanic Monday, I give you Golden Oldies; a collection of remixes and covers of pre-1985 tracks. Some are straight-up remixes, some are almost unrecognizable covers of classic rock songs. Highlights include: Gabriel & Dresden’s cover of Kansas’s Dust in the Wind; Tiger Baby’s heart-wrenching cover of Joy Division’s Love Will Tear Us Apart; and capping it all off comes a cover of Neil Diamond’s classic Sweet Caroline from Angelo Venuto.

DJ Premier established himself as one of hip hop’s best beat makers in late 80s as the DJ half of seminal underground duo Gang Starr. His signature formula of classic East Coast boom bap laced with hooks composed of intricately interwoven vocal samples remains virtually unaltered since its introduction. Still one of hip hop’s hottest producers, DJ Premier consistently churns out jaw-dropping tracks that often prove to be career highlights for the artists he works with.