Album Review: Jape, 9K HI, VOL.1

On the marvellous, cryptically titled 9K HI, Vol 1., Jape invites you to step inside his DeLorean and sets the dial for mid-90s Dublin and a dance scene where white label 12 inches were spun in full-blooded venues across the city - The Temple of Sound, The Pod, The Red Box, Colombia Mills, The Asylum and The Kitchen – to name a few.

Jape, working off Millennium Falcon era synth samplers, including Underworld and 2 Live Crew favourite - the Casio FZ1, creates a blasting mix worthy of Sunset FM. The accompanying video to lead single ‘EUGH’, harks back to wild Bassbin and Quadrophonic nights, when Dublin was red hot in the clubbing universe.

From depicting wistful heavy metal gigs on ‘Phil Lynott’, to falling in love in Leonard’s Corner pub on ‘Harrington Street’, Jape has always artfully mapped Dublin. And who can forget his capturing the wonderful sensation of dancing at a rave on mega hit ‘Floating’? Combining the two on 9K HI, Vol 1., is perhaps something of a clarion call for the Dublin underground regaining Saturday night, when the new licensing laws come into effect next summer.

Self-described as music that you found on the floor of a rave, that about sums up the record’s sound – a stripped back, fuggy sound reminiscent of Richie Hawtin’s minimal techno Plastikman or the ambient fuzz of Aphex Twin. Jape, the only artist who has bagged two Choice Music Awards, continues to metamorphose magnificently.

Listen: 'Secret Area'
Score: 8/10

Out now via Faction Records.