Echo Club is the name given to the duo project by Kompakt elder statesmen Reinhard Voigt and Jorg 'The Modernist' Burger, but those expecting gallons of reverb and dub quaking had better think again, as this is a nostalgic trip into the lush tech-house sound of the Cologne of yore.
The pair have appeared together on numerous Speicher releases but this is - I think – their first collaboration. The results are as you might expect: Burger's buoyant pop hues ricocheting with Voigt's macho hammer blows, but it's more watered down soup than rich stew. 'Senor Pasajero' pairs looped melodic pulses with an insistent, snaking bassline, throwing in the kind of snappy drums that made Kompakt's name as well as a few other whooshes and clicks before calling it a day. A crackly P.A. announcement in Spanish breaks things up and adds colour, but this is - albeit slick - techno-by-numbers. 'Falter' opens in a very Modernist-ic vein, ping-pong tones skipping like a karaoke cursor beside lightly reverbed shakers and pings and a screeching, insect-like buzz. It opens out near the end as a Jesse Somfay gaseous hiss seeps in, hinting at a trance overhaul but, alas, things fade away inconsequentially.
Both tracks here are serviceable examples of trademark Kompakt tech-house, impeccably produced but lacklustre. We should expect more from these producers.
Tracklist: Echo Club - Welcome to Echo Club
A Señor Pasajero
B Falter
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