Oaks Germany Vinilo y CD

Review: Hector Oaks is one of the most trusted stamps of authority in big, bashy techno, and his label is a natural extension of his knowledge and taste. As such, you're going to want to pay attention to this new release, which revolves around some ear-snagging samples chatting about players playing themselves. It's a hip-hop rooted attitude which extends into the funky cuts juicing up 'Player Three', while 'Player Twenty-Five' turns up the pressure with some loopy madness and then jacks 'Player Three' up by '8%' for those who like it faster. 'Ghetto Bootie' finishes the record off on an unmistakable Dance Mania tip, and it sounds absolutely deadly.

Review: New Zealand-based producer Keepsakes follows his appearance on a split Oaks 12" back in July 2023 with his first full release since early 2022, also his first EP for the label. "Definitely stepping into some new territory on this one," he told us, "with some tracks that are a bit on the funkier side and even a bit of euphoria too alongside the harder stuff I've usually been known for." The five tracks here are hard but definitely blessed with a muscular grooviness, the likes of 'Dog Anonymous Fluid', 'Funk The Influence' and 'Egotistic Horn' all tempering the robotic machinefunk with sampled up, tactile human voices. The latter of those three is our favourite of the five, the theoretical answer to the question 'what would Yello have sounded like if they'd recorded for Underground Resistance?' Definitely a Keeper.