There's an argument to be made that, in 2010, the world doesn't need DJs like Michael Mayer. The man takes pride in the fact that he does little mixing. He picks tracks for his mix CDs that were released months—or even years—ago. And he rarely surprises all that much either. When you pick up a Michael Mayer mix CD, you know generally what you're going to get: Kompakt's vision of pop and dance, vocals, a little bit of drama. Immer 3? Why was there even an Immer 2?
Fine arguments, all. But they're also exactly why Mayer is just as relevant (if not more so) as any other DJ working today. In a world suffused with choice, institutions are paramount, and a carefully curated mix series like Immer is an increasing rarity. Mayer doesn't do anything new with Immer 3, but the first edition wasn't all that revolutionary either. (And look what happened with that one.) The new entry into the series is what you think it is—one of the best melodic techno mixtapes you'll hear all year—and that's pretty damn great.
The feel of Mayer's sets clearly hasn't budged much in the years since the first Immer. The sound has. There are far more vocals on Immer 3 than its predecessors, most notably on a Superpitcher remix of Charlotte Gainsbourg, and most atmospherically with Ewan Pearson's ambient version of a Cortney Tidwell track. The latter eases you slowly into the mix, the former is the relative calm before the tribal storm of Culoe de Song's "Bright Forest." Culoe's track is the undoubted peak of Mayer's slow build, one constructed with characteristically distinctive tunes. Immer 3 is all killer. Killer warm-ups, killer mid-set placeholders that subtly ratchet things further, killer South African deep house epics.
Despite Mayer's claims to the contrary, it's also mixed impeccably. Anyone can play nearly the length of each track and mix out at the last moment, but few hold tight to this as an ideal with such fervor. In listening to the way each track effortlessly melts into the other via similar beats or melodic timbre, you realize that the time spent thinking about the next track is time well-spent. Mayer knows that patience is a virtue. Hopefully listeners in 2010 will feel the same way.
Buy Michael Mayer - Immer 3 at
Tracklist: Michael Mayer - Immer 3
 01. Courtney Tidwell - Don't Let the Stars Keep Us Tangled Up (Ewan Pearson's Ambient Mix)
02. Closer Musik - Departures
03. Ben Watt - Guinea Pig (DJ Koze Remix)
04. Tim Paris - Edges of Corrosion
05. Smith N Hack - Falling Stars
06. Raudive - Slave
07. Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Gui Boratto Remix)
08. Popnoname - Hello Gorgeous (Terranova Remix)
09. Charlotte Gainsbourg - The Operation (Superpitcher Remix)
10. Culoe de Song - The Bright Forest
11. Kinky Justice - New Day
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