Steve Angello - 'Sessions' (Ministry of Sound) Released 20/02/06

We’ve all seen the adverts on the TV. The seemingly endless, gut-wrenchingly awful dance compilations featuring the latest naff, turgid commercial ‘dance’ chart hits, so inhumane they’re mixed by a computer. They’re all enough to make dance aficionados cringe with fright and those who know nothing about the genre keep their distance. Of course, the once ultra-hip London superclub Ministry of Sound is the main provider of such abominations, forever tarnishing their name for the sake of albums that will shift units. Fortunately, MoS occasionally redeem themselves and release something that’s a fair representation of what really goes on on the dancefloor – and this powerhouse of a mix from Steve Angello has done just that.

Part of the collective known as the ‘Swedish House Mafia’ along with his production buddy Sebastian Ingrosso and others, Angello has fast gained a name for himself for his ‘****-off dirty house music’ and this collection doesn’t disappoint. Peppered with his own tracks and remixes, both under his own name and his Who’s Who? guise, ‘Sessions’ is a perfect snapshot into Angello’s palette. Kicking off with Ian Carey’s juggernaut of a track ‘Say What You Want’, CD1 takes in squelchy electro (Hiroki Esashika’s fantastic ‘Kazane’), sheer funkiness (The Columbian Drum Cartel’s ‘The Shipment’) and gurn-inducing stompers (Mr Angello’s very own ‘Need Some’ and the final, tres Old Skool ‘Deep Sleepless Night’ by MAD8 vs. Shawn Christopher).

Predictably things take a more pummelling turn with the second mix. The Danish man of the moment Trentmoller’s killer version of Royksopp’s ‘What Else Is There?’, Amo’s tech-house juggernaut ‘Alto Voltaje’ and Yoshimoto’s ‘Du What U Do’(Trentmoller mix of course) are all thrown in to the blender. Building to a satisfying climax, Angello drop’s in Sebastian Ingrosso’s shockingly good and unlikely take on Moby’s ‘Dream About Me’ and a bit of acid-tinged madness from Angello himself with ‘Teasing Mr Charlie’. Christ, it’s almost enough to forgive Ministry of Sound for all the torment they put us through. Well not quite.