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2LP
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MT 009LP
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"I try to perform as honestly as possible" -- the soundbite borrowed from late dancer Dudley Williams for De La Planet's second track could have been uttered by The Mole himself. It's this candor that allows his listeners to bear witness to a very marked and very audible transition from his days as a producer in Montreal to becoming a part of the Berlin scene. And what is present here is one result of that very explicit sonic metamorphosis. De La Planet is The Mole's third studio album, one that stays true to his ethos of weird above all, in the best possible sense. And yet it feels like something distinctly new. Tapping his enormous reservoir of vinyl and sampling the odd film have acted as complement to the jaw-dropping arsenal of synthesizers at De La Planet's disposal -- a battery of machines he's been quietly improving his skills on during the past few years. Or not so quietly, perhaps. The man himself would probably say "I'm coming out of the woodshed", and go off on a tangent about Sonny Rollins and his saint of a wife. But that's a story for another sheet. While the days of Franco-Canadian dollar-record digging are behind him, this album is nothing if not quintessential Mole. And the opening "Harmony Day" lets you know you're in for a beautifully strange ride. But not without a dancefloor throwdown first -- by way of the symphony of pleas, bargains and one-line artist manifestos that is "Going With The Hat Man". From its own dizzying heights through to the sci-fi inflected thumps of "Braineater Returns", all the way to the earworm of a wonky cowbell in "He Frank", it's a charter through seldom explored lands. After "The Hat Man" gets the instrumental treatment, the album proceeds to "Sandwich Time Is Coming", which sounds like a sonic wink at the portrait of Prince presiding over Colin's turntables -- or is it the Klee illustration of a man expelling a smiling turd right next to it? "So What Don't You" has and inarguable thick percussive groove. The cinematic ambiance of "Soft Translation" and esoteric ripples of "River Highways" round out the trip, before "Time Out" sends you on our way with an early-aughties beat to march along to.
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12"
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MT 008EP
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Maybe Tomorrow are back with a release from Colin La Plante, aka The Mole, aka half owner of this imprint. Spicy noodles are something Colin thinks everyone can love. Nothing too outlandish from The Mole, but the path he chose with the title and crowd favorite "Gelb Grun Blau" definitely has these tracks leaning towards the center of a DJ sets. Spiraling kick drums with a fine blend of digital synths, analog synths, drum machines, and the occasional sample. Vape-house anyone? "Back In The Studio Game" is a beatless one, created just for the sunrises.
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12"
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MT 006EP
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Split Secs are a Los Angeles based duo, Travis Kirschbaum and Alexandre Mouracade (aka Sonns). "Corduroy City" frolics like a drunken sailor who's lost at sea and finds himself cast ashore on a Balearic beach that just so happens to be raging full of sunshine dancers. "Tele Tone" is one of those lost on the dancefloor moments, grabbing the nearest form of security and holding it tight for the duration. The Mole owns Maybe Tomorrow so he decided to step in for remix duties on the title track - his classy sway is only a tear away from your heart.
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CD
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MT 003CD
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Canada-born, Berlin-based Colin de la Plante aka The Mole remains low-key but loved by many. He thrives off of long, late DJ sets and does his best to keep record stores in business with what he earns. The Mole's passion for music speaks through his own -- a smoke-hazed world without constraint or care for genre but cemented in a foundation built in house music. You can hear him thanks to releases for Perlon, Ostgut Ton, Slices Of Life, Haunt, New Kanada, Internasjonal and his long-time home, Wagon Repair, who released his track that still receives plenty of plays, "Baby, Your the One." He's remixed many of the finest, including Michael Mayer, Imugem Orihasam, Pole and Gui Boratto, to name a few. He continues to record and on occasion perform live with his buddies Cobblestone Jazz that happens to feature Mathew Jonson. So late in 2012 with Kompakt's Jon Berry, they came up with Maybe Tomorrow. Inspired by a conversation about their favorite childhood (Canadian) hero "The Littlest Hobo" -- a TV show about a German Shepherd that had no home and roamed around Canada helping people out. Makes sense, right? And now The Mole is back -- it's been four years since we heard his Wagon Repair debut High as the Sky. The beat played on through his many 12" releases, but between then and now he's back with album #2. Caregiver was recorded in the now-defunct Berlin Wagon Repair studio A(rkona) -- a psychedelic caravan roaming a disco-laced cosmos that seeks to go beyond any specific niche or sound. In his own words. "Caregiver is supposed to be listenable all the way through. So hopefully that unifying thread has something pleasing within it."
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