The Swedish House Mafia (SHM), a DJ group that excels in electronic dance music, will be performing at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Jan. 16. The globally famous trio is made up of lookers Sebastian Ingrasso, Steve Angello and Axwell. They are all hot DJs by their own selves who became even bigger when they got together and became the Swedish House Mafia four years ago. Proof will be their show. They have turned the traditionally turntable confined DJ into a roof raiser who can party up a huge arena with great music and a laser show.
DJs have come a long way. There was a time when fiddling, tinkering, enhancing or worse, even changing somebody else’s work was tantamount to theft. I have heard of cases when composers would refuse to allow singers whose style they do not approve of to do their songs. Not anymore. Technology has made that acceptable practice. That is as long as you have permission to do so. Not having any means unauthorized use that can lead to legal problems and penalties.
Artists nowadays though are only too eager to give license to their works, more so when those who will tweak, reverse, slow, double track or whatever their work are superstar disc jockeys. The guys of SHM have done Madonna, N.E.R.D., Kylie Minogue and others. DJs were initially just that, guys who played records on the radio. Then they became a big influence in music sales. Then they started adding their personal touches to songs and pacing them to create a mood like romantic or lively or danceable.
Those who turned out to be good at this were soon being recruited to do the music for clubs and parties. And so these people who started out just playing other people’s music have become stars because they can make those songs sound better or I think I should say make listeners feel better about the songs. And that is why we now have the likes of David Guetta and the Swedish House Mafia.
The Ibiza-based trio’s trademark sound is a relentless sledgehammer beat that feels like a brain pounder. This first surfaced in the hit charts two years ago with One (Your Name). This was followed by Miami 2 Ibiza, Save The World, Antidote, Greyhound and Don’t You Worry Child. Those are their originals. To their credit, they have already proven themselves able composers.
But they also do tweak the works of others. I do not know if they will do them at the MOA but I am sure fans out here would love to hear what they did with Usher’s Euphoria, You Got The Love by Florence & The Machine and most of all the big winner, Every Teardrop Is A Waterfall by Coldplay.
The Swedish House Mafia show is made possible by Ovation Productions and Republiq. Tickets are priced at P7,920, P5,810, P4,760 and are available at all SM Tickets outlets or online at www.smtickets.com.
Incidentally, the Swedish House Mafia is celebrating its third week on Billboard Magazine’s much-coveted Hot 100 hit list. The tune is Don’t You Worry Child featuring John Martin from the album Until Now. This is one of the few times when a European electronic dance act has made the chart. The song has also made the top Pop Songs, Dance/Club Playlists, Radio Songs and Digital Songs listings.
And so here are the Top 20 songs in the Hot 100. Reigning at No. 1 is the latest by Bruno Mars, Locked Out Of Heaven. The others are: I Knew You Were Trouble by Taylor Swift; Diamonds by Rihanna; Hoy Hey by The Lumineers; Beauty And A Beat by Justin Bieber featuring Nicki Minaj; Gangnam Style by PSY; Die Young by Ke$ha; One More Night by Maroon 5; Home by Phillip Phillips; Thrift Shop by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz.
I Cry by Flo Rida; Scream & Shout by will.i.am & Britney Spears; Some Nights by fun.; Girl On Fire by Alicia Keys featuring Nicki Minaj; Don’t You Worry Child by Swedish House Mafia; The A Team by Ed Sheeran; We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together Again by Taylor Swift; Try by Pink; Cruise by the Florida Georgia Line; and Swimming Pools (Drank) by Kendrick Lamar.