In 2002, the German DJ Gerd Janson borrowed the football term “running back” for his new label because, he has said, he liked the way it expressed the idea of “going back and simultaneously rushing forward.” On of Running Back Mastermix, a mix album celebrating 15 years of the label, he apparently takes “rushing” to mean something more like “ambling in a slow, groovy fashion.” This is a mix of unashamedly classic, disco-inflected house that, for all its positives, doesn’t exactly sharpen electronic music’s cutting edge.
Choosing the distinguished New York DJ Tony Humphries to mix the album may have something to do with this. A legend in the clubbing world, Humphries is a masterful DJ of soulful house and garage known for his wonderfully smooth mixing skills. It is little surprise, then, that he highlights the parts of the Running Back catalogue that pay homage to classic disco and house, from Todd Terje’s celestial nu-disco number “Ragysh” to Tiger & Woods’ French touch-inspired “Time.” In doing so, he arguably smoothes out some of the appealing wrinkles in Running Back’s history. This is, after all, the label that unleashed the nightmarish techno thump of Theo Parrish’s “Black Mist” on an unsuspecting public, and once reissued an obscure Japanese sound-effects record pretty much on a whim.
What Humphries brings to the mix, however, far outweighs any possible gripes about conservative track selection. Reflecting a DJ career of more than 35 years, Humphries’ mixing and sequencing are second to none. There’s little flashy or choppy here: He may play with the EQ and filters, but Humphries mostly leaves the songs alone, favoring long, smooth transitions that might join two given tracks for a minute or more, creating something new in the process. Early in the mix, he transitions from the electro-boogie of Tiger & Woods’ “Don’t Hesitate” into the same duo’s “Time,” layering the wonderful string rush of the latter under the former’s nagging vocal hook in a perfect example of harmonic mixing. Later on he introduces the eerie, atmospheric tapestry of Paul Woolford’s “Forevermore” into Matthew Styles’ “Hot!,” helpfully dirtying up the latter’s rather-too-straightforward acid blips.
The sequencing here is key. Rather than rushing into endless sugary drops, Humphries builds in peaks and troughs that gently guide the dancer up and down. The tough filters of Tiger & Woods’ “Time” give way to the wandering, Balearic synths of Jex’s “La Casa,” which in turn cedes the floor to Tiger & Woods’ club stomper “No More Talking,” a song that brings to mind the brilliantly effective sample cut-ups on Daft Punk associate DJ Falcon’s 1999 EP Hello My Name Is DJ Falcon. The track selection, while limited in musical palette, works well as an introduction to Running Back, with songs from the label’s established names (Todd Terje, Leon Vynehall, Paul Woolford) mixed up with the work of newer producers (Roy Comanchero, Jex, and and hugely promising Shan). The individual track highlights are legion, too, including Mr. G’s minimalist Latin masterpiece “Ben & Gerd (Killin It M Day),” the taut, Mood II Swing-like bounce of Vynehall’s “Beau Sovereign,” and Shan’s fizzing rave throwback “Work It (Piano Mix).”
Weighed against these are a couple of songs that start to drag in a home-listening context, notably Redshape’s “Dogz,” which could have lost a minute in the mix, and Matthew Styles’ “Hot!,” which ends up sailing too close to Pepe Bradock’s 1999 track “Burning Hot” for comfort. And Shan’s “Bassline Party,” while a great track in itself, closes the mix on an anticlimactic note, as if Humphries had a further four hours to give. The limitations of the single CD format mean this isn’t the case. Running Back Mastermix may not be the definitive story of the label, but it succeeds as a finely tuned celebration of joyful, disco-infused house. In an age of digital abundance, being left wanting more feels refreshing.
