I like to go into the studio with a *name* of a track in my head, and an idea of the feeling I want from that track, then build from there. Sometimes I'll hear a bassline in my head in the shower, and if it applies, then that solidifies the concept.

There's a wicked live-pa guy here in town who used to have as his sigfile a quote that went something like "In order to make music with feeling, don't think about the music, think about the feeling.". That makes a lot of sense to me.