The formula for a successful DJ-Kicks compilation isn’t always clear. The quality in the series remains consistently high, but the changes in approach is arguably what defines each mix from the next. The last three were particularly on-point. Moodymann’s variation was exceptional with classic soul and hip-hop giving way to house, Dam Funk’s trawl through the funk was as charming as you’d expect and Jackmaster’s rediscovery of his techno roots was a surprisingly upfront and astute selection.

The first and most immediate observation is this mix is not a thunderous trail through the latest panel-beating techno to grace the Berghain dancefloor, the stable from which Marcel Dettmann is most frequently associated. In his notes on the record, Dettmann said: “I was listening to a lot of music which is great, music that I hadn’t listened to for ages and certainly wouldn’t have played in a club set.” Though the stall is set out in typical foreboding fashion with his remix of Cybersonik’s 1990 classic Technarchy, it’s not until after his depthy exploration with Levon Vincent that the vision for this mix is opened wide up. His edit of Psychik Warrior’s 1989 acid track War Chant is primitive electronica at its finest and the explorations into 90s electro are rarities deep from any vault, Dun Curtin’s Paradise Lostand Sandbender’s Defekt being standouts. The blend veers into a particularly wavey course towards the end with electronic abstractions fitting the aforementioned anti-dancefloor mould, but in the main this feels like a very personal insight into what has gone into making one of techno’s heaviest weights the selector he is today.

Thomas Frost