The vinyl version of "Decks" which has three excerpts of the mix is all I need anymore. I got the cd right when it came out when I was 15 and it propelled me even further into techno than I was before and opened my ears to alot of other artists (like Nitzer Ebb for one). But the 12 inch has a 5:45mins excerpt where Richie mixes all of his "Orange" version into Nitzer Ebb's "Let Your Body Learn" creating an amazing remix/mash-up of the tracks that's better than any of the originals. It'd be great in a club, or for instance as much as I love Nitzer Ebb, the version here with the "Oranges" is better than the original, and here it's one concise track.

While I agree with Maroko: That segment is just sheer brutal brilliance in full effect, there is no way he did that live.

This is a guy who is definitely a studio head, and Hawtin excels there - No doubt - But his live performances are often lacklustre, and pale in comparison to what he pulled out of the bag with this mix.

His live Decks, EFX, and 909 performances never came anywhere near his nigh on biblical judgements on the album. Yeh, they were good and they made me dance,

But you can't tell tell me he did that album live - Euh, euh I don't belive.

Doesn't stop it from being awesome though...Even though he's got a right twattish hair style (blood Sven Vath).

While I don't find "Decks, EFX & 909" as nearly as entertaining or essential as Richie's other two sequels, I just have to drop a comment or two about the entire segment which consists of tracks 14 through 22. Starting with Call Of The Wild, a Jeff Mills track from his 1999 EP on Purpose Maker, Hawtin moves through other two numbers from the same 12", L8 and Scout, and then really does some mixing magic with his own Minus Orange/Minus Yellow and Nitzer Ebb's Let Your Body Learn! He scratches, cuts 'n' pastes, pulls tiny loops and segments in and out of the mix at the speed of sound, and lets the vocal from the old EBM track stomp over his Minus Orange. Genius.
That whole segment is about 11 minutes long, and I cannot help myself - I just love it, and find it worth the entire purchase.
It sounds even greater if you have the original, unmixed versions of the tracks lying around somewhere, as only then can you fully appreciate Richie's almost surgical DJ skill.
However, keep in mind that he only got better from here.

Of all Richie's dj mixes, this one is the most accurate reflection of Rich in full dancefloor mode. Most of his mixes are more of a reflection of something more suitable for something away from the dancefloor (yet equally funky) but for the number of times I've seen Rich play, this is the perfect reflection for how he can mix up a box of records and to that end, comparing this to my live experiences of seeing him do what he does best, this is the perfect time capsule to commemorate what Rich was like before he took dj'ing to a whole other realm. Whether it is for better or worse is a whole other debate.

This mix cd, when released, was definitely ahead of the game. The concept Richie Hawtin came up with was something no one even thought about doing.
As far as the music goes Richie goes through the whole techno spectrum. Starting off with loop based techno, then funky, tribal techno, some detroit(jeff mills), industrial(nitzer ebb) and ending with some dubby minimal techno(maurizio). All the while the mixing is exactly what techno is all about: using records to create your own music. Some highlights are the beginning of the cd which starts off with a basic loop based track (grain) which then gets layered with a driving funky treatment(g flame& mr. g) and finally layered in with good old sample based tribal funk(user). All throughout the cd you also get awesome efx like echoes, which increases the intensity during breakdowns. The standout mix to me personally is when Richie mixes all the versions of his own minus orange with Nitzer Ebb's "Let Your Body Learn". It goes perfectly with the Nitzer Ebb classic.
In conclusion if you're into Techno the way it should be mixed, this is a must have in your cd collection.