Unsung Heroes 044: Deadmau5 – The Veldt (Eric Prydz Festival Edit) [Progressive House/UNRELEASED]

On this week’s Unsung Heroes we take a look at unreleased material from a true legend of dance music and how musical simplicity can offer that certain, twinkling touch of creative legacy. It’s no secret that Eric Prydz has tirelessly built his career into one of the most successful enterprises in EDM today. With an illustrious cast of artists such as Fehrplay, Andre Sobota and Jeremy Olander, as well as his incredibly iconic Pryda Friends/Mouseville labels, his journey has smoothly transitioned from the European lands to the young, but ferocious American market. He is also one of the only artists in the world who hasn’t sacrificed his own musical identity for success; rather, he flipped the system on its head and crafted music that people have grown to love throughout the years. Each liveset only features his own music because of his uncompromising attitude, which each aspect of his career abiding by his own set of rules. Starting off as friends and close colleagues with the members of the now separated Swedish House Mafia, his unique Progressive and Progressive House sounds have gained notoriety while still maintaining that innate sense of mystery; a feat that is very rarely, if ever, achieved in today’s scene.

As customary with many of his tracks, he has only released a small fraction of the many pieces of music that he currently resides in his repertoire and many of his singles will never be released to the general public. That is a part of the magic of Eric Prydz; that in order to truly get an appreciation of his wonderful musical world, one must see him live in a vast journey of sights and sounds. America got its chance in 2012 after 2 years abroad, (due to his crippling fear of flying), as a part of the Identity festival series. During these series, Eric Prydz did something a little out of left field and created his own version of the hit of the season, which was Deadmau5‘s then highly anticipated single, The Veldt. Many people still remember this track and many producers have played it live, with the most famous remix being produced by Tommy Trash. This particular single struck a deep chord with the youth of America and many people championed its release with universal acclaim. Now, some critics may call Eric Prydz‘s edit as pandering to the hits of American culture and is an attempt to gain relevance towards this new, untapped market, but I disagree. Prydz took this track because of its ornate individuality and remolded it into something truly magical without trying to compete with Deadmau5‘s own reputation.

http://youtu.be/JxhsuNrKBOc

While many producers fight to remain alive in the scene, both Deadmau5 and Prydz are ambivalent towards the perceptions of the masses and simply create to further along the advancement of musical discovery. Trying to compare both to see which is better is like comparing apples to oranges; they are both different, yet equally beautiful interpretations of the track. But this particular edit has not only stunned me upon first listening to it, but has also remained among the top 10 of best Progressive House tracks that I ever heard. Everything that the track is made out of just relishes in the fascination of sounds and Prydz does it best with his signature synths and basslines. Rather than screaming for relevance with high energy, it is a tame beast that focuses on the intimate relationships between each individual voice while crafting a highly detailed story to immerse the listener towards. His delicate, yet shimmering pads, youthful synth chords, cascading ostinatos, low cut percussion, intriguing chord conversations and dreamy, almost inter-dimensional moments of spectral clarity pulls through incredible synapses of musical discovery that other artists are too afraid to attempt. It combines real human emotion and a subversive look into the wonders of human imagination in a hope inspiring celebration of our incredible scene. It’s best described by the one vocal in the song, which is “A world where children play.”; and is a brilliant commentary of the unlimited possibilities in American dance music.

Eric Prydz‘s Festival Edit of Deadmau5‘s single, The Veldt, remains as another one of his unreleased tracks, so listen to the track above and support the Original mix of Deadmau5‘s masterpiece today.

Keep the music alive. -Q

Beatport (Original Mix): http://www.beatport.com/release/the-veldt-feat-chris-james/910155

Unsung Heroes is a weekly segment where we take a look back at an amazing production and bring it back into the light for older and newer fans alike. These tracks were often overlooked, overshadowed by a huge release or are just not that well known to the public here in America. Here, you can find all the hidden gems in many genres and find a new favorite track (or another tool/weapon for aspiring DJ’s).