If you’re a working journalist on my newspaper, most days are full of blistering excitement and hype. Then there are the night rosters – the graveyard shifts. Trapped in a grey cubicle, the poor suckers working do little more than hover around crime scenes and calling the police, in the hope of uncovering some gruesome event. Finally, we undertake a two hour trip to the eastern suburbs and back, along a pitch black highway strewn with thundering road trains, somewhere around midnight, to drop off the early edition papers to the cops. It’s something of an understatement to say that you need an upbeat soundtrack to make this sorry series of events bearable.

This is exactly where Sessions 6 was tested out, and came up trumps. Our good ol’ friends at the Australian division of the Ministry of Sound have proved yet again they’re the master of handpicking tracks, and meling them d together to reflect the current clubbing zeitgeist. Disc one, mixed by Goodwill, is excellent: modern and retrospective all at once. Track one by Kudi Day N Nite is bouncy and upbeat and possibly one of the best tracks on the CD, that’s littered with big and not so big names. Calvin Harris (with his dreamy, soulful offering I’m Not Alone), Empire of the Sun (featuring Perth’s own Luke Steele with We Are the People), MSTRKRFT, Lily Allen (a delightful mix of The Fear), Martin Solveig... and yes, Slumdogz feat. Jai Ho all pop up, to great effect. And the wonderful Sneaky Sound System’s with It’s Not My Problem, with echoes of The Killers. After that, there’s a whole bunch of familiar tunes given a modern reworking – a nicely acoustic _Times Like These _ by Albin Myers precedes a pop-rocky-electro Wherever by the Stafford Brothers vs Hoxton Whores, and the olde favourite You’re Not Alone by Oliver Twizt is given a staccato techno edge in a remix by the Bingo Players.

These are followed by the even more ye olde Right in the Night by Sgt Slick and Steve Angello & Laidback Luke’s take on Show Me Love before the whole thing is rounded off with a smattering of up to the minute techno and electro tunes. The good news is that disc two – by Tommy Trash – is equally danceable, though markedly different, and gets a bit bleepy, shouty and samey at times. It’s a bit cooler and younger maybe, with more of a nod to the current and continuing obsession with an 80s aesthetic and post punk-electro trash, given a noughties twist and slightly more twisty beats.

Of course, there’s The Presets with If I Know You, who continue to dazzle Australia with their talent and prowess. Other excellent tracks include Tommy Trash’s own Need Me To Stay, which has gorgeous vocals over a funky, dirty beat, The Ting Tings with Fruit Machine (“What’s that sound, I like that sound, I love that sound … it’s the sound of machines.”) and Lady Sovereign with So Human. There’s a fantastic Armand Van Helden remix of Signs, La Roux with Queensland, the inimitable Deadmau5 with Ghosts and Stuff and Yeah Yeah Yeahs with Zero.

Dirty South takes the reign on the third disc, and has big boots to fill. Thankfully, it proves to be a departure from the previous two discs and concentrates on a purer housey-techno-trance sound. Fans will welcome the smooth, humming beats of Dirty South’s own We Are and Alamo and there’s plenty of other fodder to keep danceheads entertained: Sebastian Ingrosso with Laktos, Solee with Jule, Harry Choo Choo Romero and Jose Nunez with Lifting Me High and the very talented Cicada with The Things You Say. So there you have it. All three discs passed the driving test, so I’m pretty damn confident they’ll pass the dancefloor test.

Check out the tracklisting…

Disc 1 – mixed by Goodwill
1. Kid Cudi – Day ‘n’ Nite (Crookers Remix)
2. Rudenko – Everybody (Extended Mix)
3. Fedde Le Grand, Mitch Crown – Scared Of Me (Extended)
4. Calvin Harris – I’m Not Alone (Deadmau5 Mix)
5. Various Artists – We Are Perfect
6. Empire Of The Sun – We Are The People (Burns Remix)
7. Sidney Samson – Riverside (Original Mix)
8. MSTRKRFT, JFK, Al P – Bounce Feat Nore & Isis
9. Dada, Sam Obernik, Paul Harris – Stereo Flo (Extended Mix)
10. Lily Allen – The Fear (Dresden & Johnston Club)
11. Martin Solveig, Chakib Chambi – One 2.3 Four (Ms Club Vox Mix)
12. Eddie Thoneick, Michael Feiner – Don’t Let Me Down
13. Sneaky Sound System – It’s Not My Problem
14. Albin Myers – Times Like These (Edx’s Indian Summer Remix)
15. Stafford Brothers, Hoxton Whores, Frank Stafford – Wherever
16. Oliver Twizt – You’re Not Alone (Bingo Players Remix)
17. Sgt. Slick – Right In The Night (Club Mix)
18. Slumdogz – Jai Ho (Wez Clarke Remix)
19. Steve Angello, Laidback Luke, Robin S – Show Me Love (Extended Mix)
20. The Cube Guys – Be Free (The Cube Guys Vokal Mix)
21. Wolfgang Gartner – Flashback
22. Martijn Ten Velden – Together

Disc 2 – mixed by Tommy Trash
1. Tommy Trash, Mr Wilson – Need Me To Stay
2. The Presets – If I Know You (Tom Middleton Remix)
3. The Ting Tings – Fruit Machine (Dave Spoon Remix)
4. Tiga – Shoes (Mr Oizo Remix)
5. N.A.S.A., Kanye West, Lykee Li, Santogold – Gifted (The Aston Shuffle)
6. Jesse Rose – Touch My Horn
7. Sidney Samson, Lady Bee – Shut Up & Let It Go
8. Dj Rockid – Girlz
9. Lady Sovereign – So Human (Sinden Remix)
10. Busy P, Murs – To Protect And Entertain (Crookers Remix)
11. Tekitek, Dj Orgasmic – The Sixpack Anthem (Tommy Trash Remix)
12. The Aston Shuffle, Danimal Kingdom – Do You Want More (Magik Johnson Remix)
13. Mastiksoul – Run For Cover (Original Mix)
14. Bloc Party – Signs (Armand Van Helden Remix)
15. The All-american Rejects – Gives You Hell (Bloody Beetroots Remix)
16. La Roux – Quicksand (Beni’s Sinking At 1.56 Mix)
17. Deadmau5 – Ghosts N Stuff
18. Dance Area – Aa 24 7
19. Laidback Luke, A-trak – Shake It Down
20. Planet Funk – Lemonade (Benny Benassi Remix)
21. Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Zero (Erol Alkan Rework)
22. The Bloody Beetroots – Cornelius (Mix Oi!)

Disc 3 – mixed by Dirty South
1. Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, Laidback Luke, Deborah Cox – Leave The World Behind (Dirty South Remix)
2. Funkagenda, Dj Exacta – Mad Money (Kim Fai Kredit Krunch Remix)
3. Wippenberg – Chakalaka
4. Scan X – Midnight (Julian Jeweil Mix)
5. Todd Watson, Jason Singh – The World As You Know It (Nordean Dub)
6. Solee – Jule
7. Fatboy Slim, Koen Groeneveld – Rockerfeller Skank
8. Various Artists, House*less – Tribar
9. Harry “choo Choo” Romero, Jose Nunez – Lifting Me High (Dj Dlg Huge Mix)
10. Pryda – Reeperbahn
11. Various Artists – Cyan / The Things You Say
12. Afrojack – Esther
13. Doman & Gooding, Dru & Lincoln – Runnin’ (Mark Knight & Funkagenda’s Done Or Dusted Mix)
14. Dirty South, Rudy – We Are
15. Sébastien Ingrosso – Laktos
16. Dirty South – Alamo
17. The Heller & Farley Project – Ultra Flava (Martijn Ten Velden Remix)