This release from Jack Eject (yeh, I don’t know either) is the fourth release from excellent UK label Drifted. The Kids Klub EP serves up four tracks of lean, no-fat tech house, but before you move on to the next review, let’s remember that there are good records in every genre and that tech house in the ’90s was a wonderful, free and funky genre. That’s kind of what you’re getting here: heavy duty, funky basslines, stripped, taut house beats, a whiff of that cool, detached Detroit musical sensibility and a helping of Chicago jack: it’s like the best of ’90s-style tech house but re-tooled for the 21st century.

The title track is a fast-paced and slick production equipped with classic-house drums and austere strings, underpinned by a propulsive bassline just on the right side of over-busy which is so perfectly in the pocket that it drives the whole thing along as smoothly as a shark through water. “Rebirth” is built around a synth riff that happily recalls Booka Shade & M.A.N.D.Y.’s sleek, streamlined mid-2000s monster “Body Language” while “3.24AM” is all about the bubbling square wave b-line and shuffling house percussion combo.

The final tune is a Rob Amboule remix of “Rebirth” where he adds a pair of fluffy pad chords and produces a remix that to my ears has a similar sense of space, depth and impact as classic mid-’90s London house like Silverlining’s ’94 “Pearl Divers.”

It’s all proper underground, dance-floor targeted stuff: a DJ’s EP.

Jack Eject: Kids Klub EP (Drifted / 12″ Vinyl / October 2022)
A1. Jack Eject: “Kids Klub” (5:24)
A2. Jack Eject: “Rebirth” (6:09)
B1. Jack Eject: “3.24AM” (5:24)
B2. Jack Eject: “Rebirth” (Rob Amboule remix) (6:44)

⚪️ Disclosure Statement: This record was not submitted as a promo.

 

Originally published in 5 Mag issue 201 featuring the making of Detroit techno documentary God Said Give Em Drum Machines, 10 years of Heist with Dam Swindle, Nala on Mi Domina, Ultra Nate, Steve Mill, what Spotify is doing to dance music (and why it’s a bad thing) & more. Help support 5 Mag by becoming a member for just $1 per issue.


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