Review: Eric Prydz travels across the techno spectrum at Create

By August Brown

July 4, 2013 12 AM PT

There might not be a more shape-shifting dance music producer today than Eric Prydz.

The Swede (and recent L.A. transplant) first earned major notice in the mid-2000s as a collaborator with Swedish House Mafia, with one world-obliterating solo pop hit to his name -- the Steve Winwood sampling, aerobics-video spoofing “Call on Me.” Had he stuck to that path, he might have become an EDM stadium titan -- or flamed out once that goofball tune hit total saturation.

Instead, he made a hard pivot into underground techno, washy ambience and hard house sounds, while keeping his knack for crowd-friendly pacing. Under his own name and a slew of aliases, he’s done perhaps one of the hardest jobs in music in the last few years: credibly build a second act that straddles the line between Electric Daisy Carnival’s populist blowouts (where he performed last month on the main stage) and the flintier tastes of old-guard Ibiza lifers.

That accomplishment was evident at his Wednesday night set at Create, the new SBE/Insomniac joint venture in Hollywood that took over the old Vanguard space.

Over the course of a long set (we got there when he started at 12:30 a.m. and left around 3 a.m. with no sign of him stopping), he toyed with Create’s crowd, staying just anthemic enough to keep the Champagne-and-sparklers crowd enthused while slipping in difficult cuts from the fringes of his catalog.

It’s important to stress how little Prydz’s very early career relates to what he’s up to now. As Swedish House Mafia retires its high-octane, high-fructose EDM-pop, Prydz has long since lapped that trio in pursuit of moods across the techno spectrum. At Create, he dropped buzzing sawtooth house workouts such as “Power Drive” from his Pryda project in between meditative stretches of pure atmosphere.

His own remix of Depeche Mode’s “Personal Jesus” drew a through-line to “On Off,” a broody but propulsive cut from his Detroit techno-inclined Cirez D alias mashed with Green Velvet and Harvard Bass’ “Lazer Beams.” Contemporary American EDM can feel like it crawled out of the ocean with no knowledge of anything that happened before Daft Punk’s “Discovery,” but Prydz’s connections across the electronica spectrum proved that modern tools and a sense of history only complement each other.

After recent EDC and Coachella headline gigs, where a DJ has to fly blind given the enormity of the crowd, he probably appreciated the chance to go deeper. He didn’t play hits; he made all kinds of stranger songs hit hard.

Prydz seemed halfway between amused and wan at the Fourth of July, stars-and-stripes-themed swimsuit-dancers who trotted out major bottle-service orders across his stage. That’s a hazard of today’s EDM business, to be sure, but also a reminder of one possible path in dance music that he willingly took a pass on -- to his benefit, and ours.

ALSO:

Live Nation to acquire stake in Insomniac

Electric Daisy proves EDM fests need fresh moves

Insomniac and SBE announce new Hollywood club Create