You can tell Cari Lekebusch has a broad taste in music by his uncommonly broad recording catalogue. Disco-flavoured house, electro, warehouse techno, acid, ambient—he's done it all. One of Sweden's best-loved electronic music artists, Lekebusch has been central to the country's ongoing dance music history since emerging as a producer and DJ in the mid-'90s. Quirky, well-produced and effective on the dance floor, many of Lekebusch's tracks are considered classics.

Before Swedish labels like Aniara Recordings, Studio Barnhus and Kontra-Musik, there was Svek. Operating between 1996 and 2003, the label was home to some of Lekebusch's earliest productions. Along with similarly respected artists such as Jesper Dahlbäck, Gene Hunt and Alexi Delano, he was a driving force behind an outlet now widely considered one of the all-time greats. There have also been plenty of Lekebusch-produced hits on H. Productions (formerly known as Hybrid), a label he's been running since 1995. These days, H. Productions is where you'll find most of Lekebusch's new productions, tracks that tend to appear in the record bags of top-tier DJs from right across the techno spectrum.

Lekebusch runs his label and makes music from the studio of his sixth-floor apartment in the Bandhagen district of Stockholm. The cozy three-room space feels a like an archive of classic Swedish house and techno. An assortment of early Svek and Hybrid records are kept neatly in plastic protectors on a shelf in Lekebusch's sound-proofed studio. The studio sits across the hall from a bright living room, and it was in this space where Lekebusch and his girlfriend and fellow DJ Miia Magia hosted a small group of friends for a listening session last month. They ordered pizza and locked into Lekebusch's selections, which began with two tracks from James Brown, one of the many artists introduced to him by his parents' vast record collection.

Lekebusch then moved through tracks from Grace Jones and a string of cuts from Swedish hip-hop acts, some of whom he's made music with in the past. His electronic side surfaced later on in the night, as he cued up classics by Gary Newman and Kraftwerk. There was some euphoric disco, with James Murphy's sprawling "Hello Steve Reich Mix" of David Bowie's "Love Is Lost," before finishing with a curveball Swedish hip-hop track.

Before the guests arrived, Matt Unicomb sat down with Lekebusch to talk about the tracks he planned to play (the audio is in the player below), getting a window into his musical world away from the decks and studio.

Full tracklist /
01. James Brown - The Boss
02. James Brown - The Payback
03. Cherrie - Tabanja
04. Grace Jones - Cry Now, Laugh Later
05. Erik Lundin - Araba
06. Hearin’ Aid - Pop 4
07. Ol' Dirty Bastard - Baby C'mon
08. Vex Ruffin & Fab 5 Freddy – The Balance
09. Sister Nancy - Bam Bam
10. Gary Numan – Films
11. Kraftwerk - Antenna
12. The Jonzun Crew - Pack Jam
13. Man Parrish feat. Freeze Force - Boogie Down
14. David Bowie - Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA)
15. Nimo & Adiam Dymott - Marvins Rum

Stream the playlist /

Gallery

Home listening

Photographer Christian Olofsson was on hand to capture photos from the entire evening.