2011–2015 was a strong period for Mac's Berlin School albums, with several standout works. Among the highlights: "Secluded," featuring one of his finest sequences, and "The River and the Railroad," a tribute to Tangerine Dream's '90s-era music, built around a wonderful cover by Uncle Sem (his first for the Classic EM series).
Another worth mentioning is "Wasted," an album Mac recorded twice. As he put it in the inner cover notes at the time:
"It had been quite a while since my previous Berlin School album, so I thought it was time I recorded another one. When it was almost finished, I listened to it and realized [...] it hadn't come from an inner need to make music [...] it had stemmed from a sterile decision. I don't care if my music is good or bad, but it must be honest, and that album wasn't. [...] I deleted those recordings, and started all over again, but this time listening to my soul."
