There’s some sweet tracks out at the moment. Grooving house with a melody seems to be back on the rise, something that I’m happy about. Don’t get me wrong, I like the minimal and dark tracks also, and a combination of the two can build a great journey through the emotions.
I’m currently reading a book called ‘Sweet Anticipation’. In it the author details how human emotions are formed and how music is able to conjure up those feelings. It’s pretty huge and heavy going (like reading someone’s damn PhD thesis!) but I’m sure it will be worth it. DJs and producers could benefit from the idea of anticipation in their mixes and tracks. A lot of mixes I hear these days are just big track after big track. Most listeners want to be taken on a journey, and if that means taking them to a dark place so they can appreciate the light then so be it – they’ll thank you later.
Now to a musical sample of anticipatory genius. I’m a huge fan of Eric Prydz’s work (in all his Cirez D, Pryda and Eric Prydz guises) and a track I frequently open my sets with is Paolo Mojo – 1983 (Eric Prydz Remix). When I first saw it I thought “twelve minutes?? Surely you cant justify a track being over twelve minutes long unless you’re Mike Oldfield”. But I was wrong, and a thousand listens later the track still does it for me. It builds for a substantial 7 minutes and 23 seconds before you’re hit with the riff, but it is worth it. I couldnt find a copy of the full version anywhere, so I’ve uploaded it for you to sample. Plug some big headphones in and enjoy.
Eric Prydz’s sets are equally as impressive. The first time I saw him live (as Cirez D) at Dirty Disco in Leeds I was so blown away that I thought it might have just been coz I was pretty well mashed. But it seems to happen every time I see him live, so now I put it down to Prydz’s skills. Okay, that’s enough love for Prydz for one day, but I’ll leave you with this… it’s a rare live recording from Privilege in Ibiza in 2009 of part of one of Prydz’s fine mixes. Listen and learn 
