Before we head down another ‘DJ’s DJ’s’ or an ‘Axwell has been the figurehead of the Swedish dance scene for 350 years’ preamble, let’s assess what we know about him. No, what we really know about him. Not what the press-sheet says, but what facts we have at our own disposal, and that’s diddlysquat, if I was to be frank.
Last time it was Mark Farina. He was the Chicago ‘DJ’s DJ’ who sessioned us some fairly tidy – if fairly pedestrian – lean-cuts of classic house. The time before that it was Josh Wink and Steve Angello. The time before that was probably Ahab. And before Ahab, it was probably Moses. Not that we’re getting sick of the series at all, just that there’s only so much screaming jollification we can take in the house, and another dose of highly excitable hand twitching club anthems ain’t exactly what we’ve been short of. Short of it or not though, that is what we’ve got: Kid Crème ft Bashiyra, Sunkids, Deux, Axer, Nelly Furtado – it’s all in there, all bright and enormous sounding and all boasting to varying extents the skewed, electro twists of Axwell’s dexterous decks, even if it’s the monstrous android disco of Deaux’s ‘Xpand’ and Whirlpool’s ‘Disco To Disco’ that truly satisfy.
A series of huge club records have won him fans with the likes of Little Louie Vega, Danny Rampling, Ben Watt, Pete Tong and last summers’ remix for Hard-Fi pretty much ensured a ‘Sessions’ appearance.
The only surprise, is the time it has taken to arrive.