Anthony Pappa: Melbourne, Renaissance, Nubreed and the Long Game

Anthony Pappa tends to get introduced as the technically brilliant one, which is true and also slightly insulting. Plenty of DJs can mix cleanly. What Pappa did with that ability, harmonic, patient and quietly relentless programming across Renaissance, Nubreed and Balance, is why people still dig his mixes out. Nubreed 001 remains a particularly good place to hear his control of pace at the start of the 2000s. Balance and Renaissance provide other angles: the tracks may be recognisable, but their order and the space between the big moments do much of the work. Technical skill means more when it serves an actual musical journey.