If there were such a thing as 'reigning world champions of electronic dance music' you wouldn't be surprised to see the Swedish House Mafia sporting the belt. But the three Swedes are hardly new to the scene; Angello, Ingrosso and Axwell are house music veterans in a new guise and they've gone through their own hell to get here. 

In a recent interview childhood friends Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso recall that they weren't received well on the club scene back in the late 90's, struggling for a gig they were always hassling people to let them play - 'we begged for them to let us play, even for free'. Things hadn't improved by 2000 when after meeting a member of the Artful Dodger(!) they moved to Southampton, UK to try and further their careers. Unfortunately things didn't work out and the guys who were living on a diet of 'potatoes and fish sticks' had exhausted all their resources pressing their own promo's. Axwell recalls similar moments too but he managed to secure the first glimmer of hope back in 2004 with 'feel the vibe' - a global club hit. At the same time Angello was suceeding on the underground scene, most notably with his remix of 'sweet dreams' by Eurythmics. 

Now we can begin to understand the drive that these guys have, they deserve to be where they are, although their name might be new their faces certainly aren't. After debuting their own night in Ibiza back in 2009 (Dark Forest at Pacha) they met with more success, these guys used to drive around the island putting their own posters up and promoting their own events! This year; 'Masquerade Motel' ran by the Swedes was by all accounts one of the Ibiza seasons top nights, and 2010 has also contained more landmarks for the mafia (read: producing a certain instrumental called 'one') which started by tearing apart the Miami Winter Music Conference and now gets air time wherever I seem to go! The Mafia's follow up (vs. Tinie Tempah) 'Miami 2 Ibiza' is going down much the same route and seeing as you've all probably heard these tracks more than a few times by now I thought I'd collect up some of the best remixes I've heard, who knows, somehow you might be able to like these songs EVEN MORE!
 
Expect to hear a lot more from these Swede's in the future, as soon as they have time we can expect an album and they've been working on tracks with the likes of Kylie Minogue. A one hour documentary on the guys is being filmed right now and they have an upcoming mix cd 'until one' coming out very soon if it's not already available where you are. The Mafia have stated that they'd like to replicate David Guetta's success ('by producing a track like ' I gotta Feeling' - I don't know how this qualifies as 'success' but there we are) Who am I to disagree? After what these guys have been through over the last decade, and bearing in mind the quality of the tracks they're putting out - I can't begrudge them a little fortune! Enjoy their remixes!    

Pub Quiz Ammo - There used to be four members of SHM, a one 'Eric Prydz' made up the final member but as he decided to move to London as opposed to remianing in Sweden he was banished from the Mafia. You'll still find heaps of Pryda tracks in the SHM sets however, it's all amicable!

'Show Me One' (Laidback Luke Bootleg) - Ok, it's a bootleg as opposed to a remix but I guarantee you'll be like 'OH NO HE DIDN'T!' when this beast drops. I don't know where house music would be without 'Show me Love' by Robin S! 

'One' (Congorock remix) - Really hard to categorise this one in any particular genre, it retains some of the original's house elements but the drop takes it down a more chemical road - it still has has 'club banger' written all over it, but it's darker, harder (faster, stronger, why not)  

'One' (Proximas Dub) - Don't tell me you weren't expecting a dubstep remix! Here it is, and it is good! Subwoofers are necessary to feel the full weight of the track, it's a subtle little dubstep gem this one.

'One' (Foals Cover) - Yes, Foals as in the immense indie band Foals! UK peeps might already be on this one, it sounds like a (very good) radio 1 live lounge track, a re-imagining of the song with a full band. Yannis' vocals take the place of Pharrel's... I'm not convinced that if this track had come as an indie track first that it'd be as big as the Mafia's version but needless to say, if the Foals are going to put this in their live sets it will GO OFF. Again, it's not a remix, it's a cover but shhh.

'One' (Netsky Remix) - The Belgian drum 'n' bass wonder kid can semingly do no wrong! Churning out some of my recent fave remixes for the likes of Chew Lips and Plan B, it's going to be all about Netsky soon, everywhere! This is the track that could have me raving harder than the original. Madness.  

'Heard it through the ONE' (Swedish House Mafia VS. Marvin Gaye) (!) -  Honestly I'm not joking - Marvin Gayes 'heard it through the grapevine' vocals have been dropped over 'one' - and it's nowhere near as terrible as you'd first think, in fact quite the opposite. More could've been done with it but it's definitely different, and the ability to spot something as luicrous as this might just make a career for this man in the future (read: Jason Nevins etc.) Hanging out for a high quality MP3 of this bootleg, get in touch if you can find one!

Caspa Remix - Again this is subtle dubstep that's going to need a good subwoofer! A remix from a heavyweight like Caspa is almost certain to get a full release so buying it at a higher quality is going to make you love this even more! Don't expect any big drops and you'll get on with this just fine!  

Sander Van Doorn remix - Trance superstar Van Doorn lives up to expectations here with a massive trance riff! Famed for his Dusk till Doorn compilations, this man gets behind the decks for stints of time that would turn my stomach - but I bet it's all worth it when he sees tens of thousands of ravers get mental to this remix. This heavyweight trance tune is getting an official release so you'll be able to find it in the usual outlets, itunes etc.  

BONUS! 'Leave the World Behind' by Swedish House Mafia & Laiback Luke (Vonka Remix) - Some more dubstep for you all, this time it's the 2009 track 'leave the world behind getting remixed'. Vonka won a monthly remix competition with this track on a blog I follow, the name escapes me now but I'll find it out so a) it's relatively unkonwn and b) it's a very good submission! Tree Boy xoxo