I first encountered this particular one a few days ago, but I held off publishing. Frankly, I couldn’t quite work out what I made of it all – but last night, I had one of those revelatory moments where things became nice and clear.
Which is more than it ever was in the head of Eric Prydz when he tweeted this…
What does this mean exactly? Is Prydz trying to say that techno moved forwards from 1990 and 2004, then stopped in 2005? Did things change direction then, or did things just stop evolving in his eyes? Well, no one knows – because Prydz has gone silent on the subject.
I’ve written in the past about how quite a lot of the big DJs on the scene are, to be honest, a bit thick. They don’t seem to understand that Twitter is a two-way exchange. If you’re going to make a statement which you suspect will cause some debate, be prepared to defend your position.
In a subsequent tweet before he decided to run off for his next flight – goodness me, he likes business class, doesn’t he? – he tried to elaborate, claiming that since 2005, techno has been the music of the past. What he doesn’t explain is how he’s come to this position and the changes he’s seen personally over the years.
Which means that his view is essentially reduced to being a rant. For all we know, he might well have a case that techno isn’t as good as it used to be – but Prydz has decided to walk away from the fire he started. And when you start to look at Prydz’s personal record, it all starts to make sense.
Let’s remember that Prydz didn’t start out making techno. In his first few years in music, he mostly made his name out of remixes. There were some good ones in there – this one was a particular favourite of mine from that era – but you’d be hard pushed to describe any of it as techno. At best, most Eric Prydz productions take elements of techno and combine them with others.
Let’s also remember that Prydz is somewhat embarrassed about his own roots too. Which tune made him famous? “Call On Me”, released by Ministry of Sound in 2004. The idea came from a DJ Falcon and Thomas Bangalter bootleg from two years earlier which never got an official release. Prydz has refused to play the song which turned him into a superstar for many years now.
Oh, and one final word, Eric. Make sure you spell your words correctly. Because, er, there’s no easy way to put this, but…
What you’ve inadvertently suggested here is rather rude…