A DJ, producer and significant figure in contemporary electronic music, Marcel Dettmann steps forward to contribute to Running Backs ongoing Mastermix series. Whereas previous editions of Mastermix have taken an ear to the sound of lapsed, legendary clubs such as Wild Pitch and Front, Dettmanns curation deftly captures the man himself in ongoing perpetual motion, raiding the vault for his own precision-tooled edits, long-employed on dancefloors to devastating effect. Alongside a continuous mix, this release arrives as a 3LP gatefold, and as a limited edition cassette.

Closely associated with Berlins techno landscape, Dettmann was born and raised in the former GDR, then later immersed in the bleary-eyed counter cultural landscape of post-unification Berlin. Initially oriented by post-punk, industrial and new-wave music, Dettmann has been DJing since 1993, always expanding and perfecting his repertoire. He later began working behind the counter at the citys tastemaking rave boutique Hard Wax, and a decade after he first dropped a needle, became (and remains) resident at notable local nightspot Berghain/Panorama Bar, where his instincts have helped sculpt the signature sound of both main dancefloors.

Of course, youre probably not asking, Who is Marcel Dettmann? More importantly, you might want to know; just what treats has he gifted us here? The trip begins with a simple pitch-shift skywards, transforming Identified Patients creeping The Female Medical College of Pennsylvania into a peak-time freakout, before an alternate take on Toctronics Bis uns das Licht vertreibt emerges from the vaults for the first time. Dating from 1995, and one of Dettmanns all-time favourites, Cristian Vogels Untitled clambers back into the box with respectable cuts, while John Benders Victims of A Victimless Crime kicks off the flip sporting a new arrangement, transporting us back to the foundations of a confident, stripped-back sound.

A few subtle edits to Clarks perilously funky Dirty Pixie takes us to Dettmanns remix of Junior Boys. Produced in 2010, it transposes the Canadian duos sophisticated pop with our curator in his minimal prime, and has since become an irresistible prize for high-minded diggers. The same can be said for Experimental Products explosive proto-electro anthem Who Is Kip Jones?, empowered from pricey Discogs purgatory with just the slightest of tweaks. Its deservedly sandwiched between the guiding influences of Chicago and Detroit in the form of Mutant Beat Dances raw The Human Factor and a shimmering new version of previous solo production Water, featuring close friend and Ostgut Ton ally, Ryan Elliot.

The second half of the Mastermix seamlessly connects the mechanical past and digital present of EBM and industrial in the dance, with Dettmanns instincts as a guiding hand. Severed Heads iconic We Have Come To Bless This House emerges with mere nips and tucks, while Nitzer Ebbs Shame is significantly reimagined as a highwire act of rhythm and tension, setting up a sensual second take on a 2017 remix of Limbo from Swiss synth heroes, Yello.

Core musical memories are shaken and stirred with a context-shifting take on Frank Duvals emotional classic Ogon, while Ian Norths Sex Lust You and Ford Procos notable Coil collaboration Expansion Naranja effectively throb with only minor adjustments, respectfully imagined as shadow versions. Meanwhile, a simple breakbeat lifts Albert Kuningass Astraalprojektio in the direction of wide-eyed dancefloors, while a fresh take on K-Alexi Shelbys Season of The Real inexplicably emerges somehow even funkier than before.

The conclusion of the compilation leads back to Das Tier from the prolific experimentalist Conrad Schnitzler, whose swirling synths and hypnotic vocals are duly tightened by Dettmann, but only as he puts it, in conversation with the original. Concluding three discs and thirty years of commitment to the dancefloor, this Mastermix not only offers us the opportunity to eavesdrop on this endless exchange, but to gain some sought-after material for our own record collections.