"I don't think they can hear it!" exclaims Mathias Kaden. We're talking about producers sampling other music poorly. "When I hear bad sampling, I freak out. Some of these young guys sample from old tracks, but you can still hear the kick drum. And with the new drum, you can often hear how it doesn't fix properly. They just don't know what they're doing. Some like Motor City Drum Ensemble are great, you can tell. Others..."

It's hard to regard the nearly 30 year-old Kaden as some sort of elder statesman, especially considering he's by far the youngest of the Freude Am Tanzen crew from Jena, where he first got his start in the production world in collaboration with Marek Hemmann. But nowadays he's the oldest in his other family, the one that goes by the name Vakant, and he has plenty of knowledge to impart.

Like any middle child, though, there's a healthy mix of bravado and humility to the DJ/producer. Secure in what he likes, but always looking to learn more, his 2009 debut full-length Studio 10 saw him exploring sides of his musical personality that many didn't even know existed. "It was very important for me to choose another approach to create music—one closer to a classic song production and composition," he said at the time. As his DJ sets over the past few years have proven, however, he has clearly not lost sight of the dance floor in the slightest. In advance of his undoubtedly up-tempo gig at this year's Sunday School for Degenerates in Miami—as well as for the good folks at Resolute—we caught up with Kaden to find out what's been doing the business for him of late.

Soulphiction & Missing Linkx – Who to Call [Philpot]

I love to play a bit more groovy, a bit more up. But this record is so into the groove. I tend to pitch it up into the plus, it gets quite rocking. But then when you pitch it down, it grooves more. It surprised me a lot, but these are the kinds of records that I love. Ones that are versatile, where you can play them slow or fast. If you play it at the beginning of the night, people will ask you what it is. And the same people will come up to you later on in the night if you play it again faster because they won't recognize it. This kind of thing is very rare these days, even though it used to be all around in the past. I often try to do it in my own productions too.

Luca Bachetti – It's Jazzy [Ovum]

Since I've been a DJ, I've always had my eye on Ovum. It's one of my favorite labels. I don't play every record, because sometimes the records get lost in the groove, they're too minimal. But I still respect every record they put out. And when I heard the Luca record, I knew I would play it. I often play quite a few tracks in my sets, so I like songs that have vocals. It keeps things open. It's a record that you have to play almost from the beginning because the break in the middle is so long. A great mix between a house vibe and a techno groove.

Dario & Marco Zenker – 92 / Think Twice [Harry Klein Records]

I know Marco and Dario quite well, but I was struck the first time I heard this at how brothers could fix so well together. Both tracks have a dark sound, but also an old-school vibe. But you can tell they didn't get it through sampling. I play both tracks together, so I remember spinning a CD of Marco's track at Harry Klein one night. I could see that Marco was quite happy, but then I looked at Dario and he didn't seem so happy that I had picked Marco. And then I brought in Dario's track underneath, and they looked at each other and were really surprised—each time there was a break, one fit exactly into the other. [laughs]

Guillaume & The Coutu Dumonts – The Pussy Shepherd [Musique Risquée]

Guillaume always surprises me. He's an inspiration production-wise. He's the master of percussion. He spent a few months in Africa learning this stuff, and you can tell when he plays live. It's amazing how fast he plays, and without breaking a sweat. I had the good luck of playing with him a lot in 2009, and it was inspiring to see how varied he could play, fast or slow, big or small. For me, "The Pussy Shepherd" has very interesting harmonies that he brings together with a great groove. Often when I listen to something like this, I think about how someone puts something together. With Guillaume, I have no idea how he does it.

Daniel Stefanik – In Days Of Old Pt. 1 [Kann Records]

I met Daniel about five years ago, and he often made tracks in the same way. Very dubby, but for the dance floor. Now, he goes a lot of different ways. I think you can hear Daniel in every track though. This Kann record is among his most melodic. You can hear him in it, but also a bit of Kann. Everybody is trying to make loop records right now, but I was really surprised at how deep Daniel was able to make it, but still have it work for the dance floor. I love the filters that he uses.

Loco Dice – Definition [Desolat]

It's quite a hit, right?

Actually not. It was part of that Desolat compilation, and for sure Loco Dice is the most well known producer on it. But even though it sounds like a hit, I don't think it is. He goes in a very underground way with this record. It's a record that a lot of people like, but not everyone can play because he goes so deep with it. For me, personally, it was a big hit. But I don't think it's one for the big room, there's no melody hook line. It's just really groovy in that American way that he often goes.

Nico Purman – Rhapsodies [Vakant]

This is a Vakant record. But I have to say that I was really surprised when I heard it. The last time that I heard Nico play as a DJ, he played totally different than the first time. He played deep techno the first time, then the last time it was quite funky—but not in the way that everyone is trying to do it right now. In this record, I can hear that set. I really like it when there are records on Vakant that aren't so dark, because I think people think that it's quite a dark label. My first records for the label were very dark, but I always tried to put a little bit of light in them. This does that too.

Michael Melchner – Four to the Floor [Cargo Edition]

I've known this track for a long time. Michael sent it to me before all this loop house became so big. I was—and am—playing it a lot because it has a freshness that some of the other tracks in this genre don't have for me. I could hear that he wasn't sampling something, which is something that I respect. When I hear bad sampling, I don't like it. With guys like DJ Sneak, you can hear that they're sampling old records, but they did it well. And the kick drum fixes perfectly. Often you'll hear a new, young producer who has kept the old kick drum in their sample and you can hear how it isn't fixed properly.

Wareika – Formation [Tartelet]

Organic music. I know Florian [Schirmacher], because he helped me with my full-length on Vakant. They have a lot interesting machines that they use. And I'm quite a big collector of analogue stuff as well. Some instruments I don't use very much, but I love to have them because I know when I get older that I will come to them and want to use them. I'm not a computer nerd, and when I have an analogue machine I have less possibilities. But I like that. I only use software often only to record, and nothing else. As an analogue nerd, I listen to things here and can really enjoy it in a different way.

Josh Wink – When a Banana Was Just a Banana - Remixed & Peeled [Ovum]

The Agoria and Tanzmann mixes are the ones that I have played out quite a bit. I have quite a few Agoria tracks that I've bought, but I've never really played them in my sets much. This one, though, has a weird beginning, but comes to the dance floor very soon after. It has less sounds than usual for him, and it works very well because of that. Matthias, on the other hand, is someone that I play all the time. I trust him. We have a nice connection. If I sent him something of mine, he would just burn it and play it without having to hear it. I'm the same way with his tracks.