A few things make us despair of the state of dance music here at Ears To The House. Contrary to what some people seem to think, it is not cynical to ask questions of a scene – this sort of toxic positivity, where we must pretend everything is perfect, does everyone a disservice.

But one thing annoys us more than most – and it’s the sheer lack of any innovation or anything new. Not only that, but many of those who tried to do things differently when they started out have long stopped trying – and we’ve got a prime example of that right here.

DJ Pierre claims to be the man who invented acid house. It’s a statement he defends robustly whenever questioned, but there’s no denying he played a crucial role in the genre’s development. Anyone into house music in the 1990s will also probably remember his infamous Wild Pitch remixes.

Paul Van Dyk, on the other hand, has been known for his work in the development of trance in the early 1990s – and was very much there when the genre’s popularity exploded around the turn of the millennium. He has a considerable discography of tracks and remixes and played in front of over one million at Berlin’s Love Parade between 1997 and 2000.

So what happens when these two – who we think were certainly innovators back in the day – get together? Well, this rather boring tech-house sounding interpretation of a release DJ Pierre released with Phuture back in 1987 is the answer…

Casting aside the obvious dullness of the result, the question must be asked – how on earth did this collaboration even come about? Ears To The House understands from our sources that DJ Pierre – real name Nathaniel Pierre Jones – came up with the idea of doing something new with “Acid Trax” after developments last year.

Back in 2020, Larry Heard and Robert Owens sued Trax Records, alleging they had never been paid royalties for anything they’d released through the label. The case was eventually settled out of court when Trax agreed to return the master recording rights back to them – and we understand several others have also been handed their rights back since then.

As for how Paul Van Dyk became involved, this remains shrouded in mystery. We understand the two men have known one another for many years – and we’re also told one or two other things are said to be in the pipeline. Hopefully, they’re a little bit more original than this effort…