Despite my lack of religion, I’m an honest believer in the notion that pretty much everything happens for a reason (the result of a long, tragic, occasionally hilarious story definitely not appropriate for this review). A few years back, Colin De La Plante moved from the west coast to Montreal with a couple friends who collectively formed The Modern Deep Left Quartet. Then a studio robbery sent his buddies running back to Vancouver, leaving him lonely and poor in a strange place. On the surface, that turn of events appears to suck, but time has now proven this to be a good thing.

Last year, Colin’s former pals joined forces with Mathew Jonson to release a stellar exploration of jazz-informed techno under the banner of Cobblestone Jazz, and now the same label is treating to De La Plante’s own solo debut full-length. It’s a quality double dose as As High as the Sky is itself a matchless collection of downtempo minimal techno and disco flavored deep house. Though it’s thoroughly loop based and mildly repetitive as such, The Mole has an impressive ability to make essentially stagnant sound freshly pulsating and motivated, which is harder than it sounds. It’s not a groundbreaking record per say, but it will age well and thoroughly impress a lot of Germans along the way. Cheers, karma.