Marcel Dettmann - Conducted

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  • Ask Marcel Dettmann, and he will no doubt claim that he plays all sorts of music—not just techno. See him play at his home club, Berghain, and he might prove that point. In the context of the mix CD, however, Dettmann sticks to his strengths and offers up concise documents of where the genre now resides. That Dettmann would be a torchbearer for the genre itself is no accident: He is a resident at the world's most famous nightclub, and is one of its most popular DJs. Conducted, then, is a snapshot of a techno in motion: You have the nods to reemerging industrial influences via Roman Lindau and Vril, the current fetishization of the raw is provided by The Analogue Cops and Answer Code Request and there are the solemn nods backward to unsung heroes like Bluemoon Productions and Reel By Real. What Dettmann does as well (and often better) than anyone else is seamlessly bring them all together into one place. Anthems, bridge tracks, curios—they're all here and they're all mixed wonderfully. Take a listen to what Dettmann is hearing in his headphones when he mixes Reel By Real's "Sundog" into Bluemoon Production's "Night": The melodic theme is basically the same, even if it takes a moment to fully reveal itself. The way that he eventually gets from Shed's nostalgia-laden and hilariously hard-to-blend "Hello Bleep!" back to a Ben Klock remix of O/V/R is a master class in how to beat breakbeats at their own game. Far from "just" a 4/4 techno mix, Dettmann juggles difficult material on Conducted, putting himself in harm's way and escaping narrowly at every turn. Right now, Dettmann and techno are in a particularly fertile moment. BPMs have slowed down considerably. Further spaces to breathe have been opened up by distinctive acts like Sandwell District, Milton Bradley and Morphosis—all of whom feature here. To easily fit together so many takes on the genre in little more than an hour is no mean feat. Conducted makes it seem effortless.
  • Tracklist
      01. Sandwell District - Immolare (First) 02. Signal - Wismut 03. Roman Lindau - Sub Suggestion 04. Mono Junk - Channel B 05. Reel By Real - Sundog 06. Bluemoon Productions - Night 07. The Analogue Cops - Why You Love Me 08. Vril - V3 09. Milton Bradley - Don't Phonk 10. Silent Servant - El Mar 11. Morphosis - Too Far 12. Redshape - The Lesson 13. Shed - Hello Bleep! 14. Cheeba Starks presents The Toupe Committee - GoGo Bop (A Trip to the Bodega) 15. O/V/R - Post-Traumatic Son (Ben Klock Wave Mix) 16. FBK - Nanomal 17. Answer Code Request - Escape Myself 18. Shed - 44A (Hard Wax Forever!)
RA