By tb-two* music critic HANNAH ELLIOTT, Robinson High

Just as their name alludes, this Swedish-born trio of house disc jockeys and producers have arrived with their final album as Swedish House Mafia and, as expected, they are going out with a bang. Though this is only their second compilation album, they have been on the progressive house music scene since 2008.

In a world where the traditional three-piece band is fading into the untraditional, Swedish House Mafia is probably the most successful house group in leading the shift into machine-made music. I have always looked at the house (dubstep, dance, or whatever you want to call it) genre with a wary eye but always give the producers major cred, because whoever says house musicians have no talent is dreadfully overlooking the musical ability and meticulous process needed to create such a product.

Since the genre strays so far from customary, a lot of people are scared of the change in speed and write it off. But as Swedish House Mafia’s massive following suggests, this is the future.
Honestly, the whole rave culture thing kinda scares me. The concerts are one endless mosh pit. Rumors of people having heart attacks from the strobe lights, and the latest story of nine spur-of-the-moment stabbings at Swedish House Mafia’s festival performance in Dublin this summer really creeped me out, but this doesn’t mean the music is satanic bubble-gum mess.

Greyhound is by far my favorite of the album. I watched a video of the three guys putting it together in the studio and the layering of the beats and sound effects was fascinating. The trio talked about how the beat was too “rubbery,” “short” or “saturated.” All these new words to describe something I once thought was so simple was intriguing. I think I liked Greyhound so much more than the rest because there were no words; it simply put their electronic mastery on display and showed its intricacy with no gimmicks or meaningless lyrics.

After educating myself about the Swedish group and giving the album a listen, it made me pretty sad that they were breaking up. House music is an art form, maybe not entirely regarded as quality music, but it is a huge part of today and the future of music. Though Swedish House Mafia is leaving the scene, they leave behind a solid album, inspiration for the success of the next big house group, confirmation that house is going to be the super genre of the future.