The inaugural edition of Collectors Series of the Popular Songs mix series features Jörg Burger (aka The Modernist), who has constantly been at the forefront of the Cologne electronic music scene since its infancy. The Modernist opens with what is arguably one of the best songs in the history of the Kompakt family, Closer Musik's classic "1-2-3 No Gravity," and works his way through several previously unreleased tracks (including one from his own Triola project), remixes and familiar tunes; peaking with the one-two punch of Superpitcher's remix of Dntel and Erlend Øye's "Ghost Train." The Modernist also brilliantly resurrects Round 2 (aka Ron Trent and Chez Damier)'s "New Day," which is a sorely underrated tune in the Basic Channel catalog. The mix ends somewhat abruptly with a new track from '80s icons Scritti Politti. While the tunes on Collectors Series, Pt. 1: Popular Songs are wonderful slices of techno-pop individually, at points the mixing and transitions between songs is a bit jarring. Mild complaints aside, this is a solid disc documenting some wonderful moments in a scene chock-full of them.