Song of the Day: Riddler feat. Craig Smart - "Higher"

The move from remix to original production is always a big and scary step. Born Rich Pangillinan, The Riddler, has achieved much success as part of the remix/production teams Mynt and Al B Rich and as a mixshow DJ - winning the Best Mixshow DJ IDMA with mixshows on WKTU and Z100. For his first solo production, "Higher" is not quite what you would expect - its more progressive "Beatport-sounding" with a tech intro that drops down to vocals and then explodes with a bigroom crescendo for the meat of the track. I can easily picture any of the top international DJs dropping this track at peak hour and people going nuts for it. If there is one quibble I have with the track, it is the lyrics. Not the vocals, as Craig Smart (who recently sang "SOS" with Ian Carey), delivers the lyrics perfectly. The lyrics themselves are dance music cliche 101 - "lift me up, take me higher, spread your wings and fly away with me." Not that we would expect Shakespeare or anything - but you get the idea. Overall, "Higher" is a solid track and we should all expect to see more from the Riddler in the near future!
Audio - Youtube
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Photo Courtesy of Amerada Music