Weekend Weapons: AN21

Weekend Weapons: AN21

18 November, 2010 | 5.13AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: an21, size records, weekend weapons

Antoine Gabriel Michel Haydamous Josefsson—you can simply call him AN21 for short—came flying out of the gates last year with a couple of collaborations with his big brother, Steve Patrik Josefsson Fragogiannis, perhaps better known as Steve Angello.

The junior Mafioso hasn’t let up since, turning out numerous collabs with San Francisco’s Max Vangeli. Now, AN21 and Steve Angello have mixed the new Size Matters compilation for Size Records, filled with top-shelf cuts from the likes of Matteo DiMarr, Thomas Gold, Cirez D, Kim Fai, and of course plenty of material from Angello, AN21, and the Swedish House Mafia.

We asked AN21 to tell us what he’s been playing lately; read on for his sizable picks.

AN21, Max Vangeli & Kim Fai, “Story” [Size Records]

This will be one of the singles for mine and Max’s album for Size. I’ve been trying it out on my US tour and it’s one of the best tracks of the whole night! It has a beautiful emotional break and the kick comes in with a perfect side melody that just makes you put one of your hands up in the air while closing your eyes. Followed up by one of the biggest drops you’ve heard this year!

Pendulum, “The Island (Steve Angello, AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)” [Size Records]

Wow, we got an email asking if we wanted to make a remix of Pendulum’s upcoming single. I got shocked because I’ve always looked up to their previous tracks, so of course we said yes. Then they sent over “The Island” and well… it was the best tracks I’ve heard all year. We started working on it at Gran Hotel in Ibiza’s bar in headphones. After we were done with the idea we went to Steve’s house and worked all night, ‘til it was finished at 8AM. Didn’t sleep and jumped on Tiesto’s jet which took us to Amsterdam and we played it in his tent at Mysteryland and wow, I don’t think I’ve ever jumped like that before!

Penguin Prison, “Golden Train (Kim Fai Remix)” [Wall of Sound]

Kim Fai really knows how to make a track that just creates those special moments. He played this while we did our first AN21/Max Vangeli/Kim Fai B2B sets. And I just went nuts asking WHAT THE FUCK is this? Kim smiled and continued jumping… couple of days later I got a present in my email. It’s amazing!

Gorillaz, “On Melancholy Hill (AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)” [Size Records]

We made this one more for listening purposes and ended up playing it and it really surprised me how well it worked. People just went crazy, and it’s one of my last tracks in almost all of my sets. It has a chilldown break that sounds like the original, and all of a sudden these huge chords come in and the rest is history!

Thomas Gold, “AGORa (Short Edit)” [Size Records]

I heard that Thomas was performing in my hometown Stockholm at Solidaritet. So I decided to surprise him, but when I entered the dancefloor I heard “AGORa,” so guess who was surprised? I went up to the booth and said, “Wow what the f*** is this?” And the morning after when both of us were hungover, we signed the track to Size Records. It has a beautiful break that never ends, lots of cool elements that surprise and keep you dancing in the buildup, and when it drops it really drops! I’ve been playing this in all my sets ever since and it’s just simply amazing.

Ridney & James Talk, “Forever (Ramon Tapia Remix)” [Size Records]

I’ve been loving Ramon’s work for years now and this is one of those tracks I always play when I do longer sets, so when I’m starting slow and groovy and getting a bit tired of it, I drop this remix and people recognize the “Forever” vocals and it’s all hands up in the air. But no, no, nothing bigroom or progressive, straight down to a perfect bass and sexy beats! I love it!

Third Party, “Release” [Size Records]

New upcoming kids based in London, they really impressed me with all the sounds… Big chords with an amazing drop, LESS IS MORE!

Ridney, “Arrivals” [Hussle]

When I’ve been going for a couple of hours and it’s getting near the morning I drop this, it enters this beautiful vintage sounding break with just an excellent bumping drop with hands in the air. Perfect for those kids on E! Haha.

Michel Cleis, “Litoral” [Cadenza]

I went to check out Luciano on one of his Cadenza nights at Pacha and ended up hearing this track. The day after I went on a Beatport spree for two hours before finding it! It’s all about the grooves.

Radio Slave, “I Don’t Need a Cure for This (Kenny Larkin Remix)” [Rekids]

Radio Slave with a Kenny Larkin remix, do I need to say more? Right now I’m sitting in Steve’s house in LA watching the view of the entire LA during sunset and listening to it… Beautiful, groovy, and just an amazing bassline. I even ended up buying it twice on Beatport!

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