In a recent interview with Electronic Beats, Colin de la Plante, AKA The Mole, was asked to pass comment on how he would describe his music: "Me? No...that's not my job, that's your job. I did the hard part—I made the fucking shit!" It's perhaps not the most encouraging statement to digest prior to a 30 minute chat on the intricacies of the man's currently favoured releases, but when we called up Berlin to converse with a somewhat groggy sounding de la Plante, the Canadian DJ/producer/Santa theologist seemed more than content to discuss other people's music.

It has been a relatively relaxed 2009 for de la Plante, who, after the apogee that was 2008's peachy debut As High As The Sky, has put out a solitary single to date this year—the ridiculously infectious For The Lost on Prins Thomas' Internasjonal imprint. The Mole is in fact working on an album project, but don't expect to see his name up in lights upon its arrival. "I joined Cobblestone Jazz but only in the studio," he reveals. "They're old friends and we've been playing together for years so we're just finishing up the second album which should be done at some point next month."

Danuel Tate - Doesn't Like You Back [Wagon Repair]

The test press of this just got done but I had a dubplate in my bag. Mat (Jonson) has got into the habit of making dubplates before he does the test pressing. Dan's the keyboard player from Cobblestone Jazz, of course. This new thing is totally far out and just like his last record it's really cool. It doesn't sound like Cobblestone at all, it sounds like Dan all by himself. There's a heavy jazz influence on it but it slams away at 130BPM with him singing on it.

I get most of the things from the label as whites. I think the one which people really slept on recently, and has really been a winner in my bag, is Dinky. Every time I play the last single from her people come check and trainspot me every time.

Unknown Artist - Shimmy Sham Sham [Shimmy Sham Sham]

This is an illegal one. I don't know if I'm allowed to say who it's by actually [laughs]. I know what the sample is from—it's an old Fela Kuti track. Actually the guy who did it plays it in his set all the time, so you'll hear it. He's another Canadian, that's all I can say. If you hear him play you'll hear this groove for sure, he's been playing this for the last year and half. The track is pure party. It's got all the great Fela horn arrangements and the group singing but still with this very current rhythm and production behind it; it's a shit load of fun.

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Flipside [Honest Jon's Records]

I just found the second 10-inch from these guys. Actually I'm not sure if it's their second 10-inch but I brought their first ten-inch which they put-out themselves two or three years ago…I think it was called "War." Honest Jon's put this out which I was really excited about. I think I actually brought three copies because I was so excited about it, just to give them away. I think the group is two brothers and some buddies of theirs. It has this incredible tuba bass. They have a really heavy hip-hop influence and I think they were playing with Mos Def as his horn section, which you can hear in the groove. The A-side is pretty up-tempo soul, but the B-side is a jazz thing for sure. I wouldn't play this type of thing in a club too much. Maybe at Club Der Visionaere or some place like that where I can stretch out, or perhaps if I'm making a mix. But this is on at home all the time.

High Five - Moxie Heart MJ [Moxie]

I think just after Michael died they did this. It's a beautiful edit. It's the B-side I'm playing, the second cut. I'm not sure of the original actually, the Internet would know better than me. They just loop it and let the intro roll and then they open it up; it's just such a pretty song with really lush strings and Michael singing… maybe with his brothers? This is just a really pretty song actually, a smooth groove.

Do you tend to play many of these types of edits?

I do now and then. I see them the same way I see country music: if it's good, it's good, if not screw it—the same as any music really.

The Revenge - Night Flight [Jiscomusic]

For me they (Jiscomusic) have been super hot ever since the "Baby I'm Scared Of You" edit that Mark E did—that was super, super heavy. And the Revenge… I don't know where this guy is from, or if it's a guy or a girl even.

He's a Scottish guy named Graeme Clark. He did a podcast for us a couple of months back.

The records he's putting out right now are stellar. I'm loving all these remixes and things he's doing. He's got a real touch. I can't remember the original right now, but this is Stevie (Wonder). He did a bunch of additional production to it with the drums and synths. It's super catchy and when Stevie kicks in after five minutes it's just happy days. I'm not sure what Stevie would think though...

6th Borough Project - Just a Memory [Instruments Of Rapture]

[I mention this is another track by The Revenge.]

So this is him too, right? I'm giving him (The Revenge) a lot of love here. This is a beautiful song again. It does sound exactly like him, I was wondering if it was just another name. It's got that same super heavy intro where it locks into this solid groove and just sticks to it.

The original was a track by Hi-Gloss called "You'll Never Know"—are you familiar with it?

No, but I do love this stuff when I have no clue what it is. Again this is a really slow tune. He's got a sense of locking a groove and sticking to it; it's very mature actually.

Is this the kind of tempo you would always play at?

It really depends. In Italy, no way. On a big floor, no, but if the vibe is right like at Robert Jonson—that's a perfect place to do this kind of thing—or at Prins Thomas' night in Oslo, you can do almost anything. I'd get lynched if I tried to play something like this in Italy though.

Murr feat. Rosina - Fables And Fairytales [Kuji]

This is a funny one that Adam Marshall handed to me. I heard him play it a bunch of times, and pretty much every time I said, "What the hell is this?" I think Murr is a Canadian and I think Kuji is one of Adam's labels. This is great tune; it takes almost forever for this kind of punk sounding girl to come in on vocals. It almost reminds me of old techno in the way it sinks into this heavy bass line for a really long time and then flips into this vocal. This is a really cool tune so thank god he handed it to me. I guess I asked him enough times what it was. This record was actually somewhat of a failure on sales and disappeared, which is too bad for Adam, but great for anyone who picked it up.

Karizma - A Mind Of Its Own V2.0 [R2]

There's something about his productions; there's some crazy beats on there. He does this kind of gospel thing and the offbeat claps. It's not a four-to-the-floor kick. He did a single a few months back called "Necessary Madness" and again it was just one that I could play anywhere. This one has super interesting drum programming, which is all over the place. There's just something about the drum programming which I'm really attracted to.

Do you ever consider trying to break out of the straight four-four patterns with your own productions?

It happens to me sometimes that I'll start a song without it, but so often it just pops back in again… Jesus, do all my records have that? I should think about that...

Mina Jackson and The Children - Pray (Mike Dunn's Blackball Vocal Mix) [Clone Club Series]

What a stellar record. Clone and Rush Hour have been doing these—well, Rush Hour have been doing them for ages—little labels with limited releases. There's a vocal on this and an instrumental, but Mike Dunn's production is incredible; it's a solid tune. The first time I played it here in Berlin it was like, "Oh here's all the guys from the back of the club and the corners coming out now," or, "There's a couple of record store jockeys,"—everyone just suddenly showed up. It's a hot tune for sure, and perhaps quite understated as well—not the vocal version, but the Mike Dunn mix.

Do you tend to drop many of the original Chicago house records?

Yeah, sure. I'm not afraid of that. Why not? I play a lot of old stuff with new stuff. I'm a bit of a schizophrenic that way. I'll play disco with the current minimal hits—I don't mind.

Precious System - The Voice From Planet Love [Running Back]

I've heard this a few times here in Berlin, so it must be big. This has got the big sample in there. I keep hearing this out so that's part of why I like it. Gerd just keeps putting out great records. He's so humble about it, saying he'll only put out a couple of releases a year and is quiet about it, but they're fuckin' great records. This track is a good example of one that does both: It's like a disco edit with all the samples and stuff, but it feels totally new and fresh. It is perhaps a little much for me in breakdown when it goes into the Dr. Buzzard's [Original Savannah Band] thing; it takes a little off for me, but that's OK, it's kinda fun anyway.