When Jeff Derringer warned me that he really didn’t have time to start a record label, I admit I wasn’t really impressed. A 10 year old with a sugar rush could throw one together these days and probably run it better than half of the labels that wash up on Beatport with recycled logos and unimaginative loops and just as quickly wash out.
With the fourth release from Oktave Records, I got it. Oktave, the label, has turned out to be a reflection of Derringer’s own high standards; it’s included records of his own but also others, rooted in Chicago but with an international reach.
And this fourth release is a V/A entitled Visions 01, featuring five artists with “a personal connection to the label, and whose talents demand your ears.” They are Sophia Saze (Brooklyn), Chicago’s Jose Alberto Luna (aka Red Tail Hawk Luna), Motionen (Los Angeles/Madrid), Altstadt Echo (Detroit/Berlin) and Christian Gerlach (Berlin).
Motionen’s “Visitant” is a highlight here, as is the digital frenzy of Saze’s “Fear” and the chills of the high octane Carpenteresque “Cleveland Compression” by Luna.
Visions 01 is out now via bandcamp.
Artist: V/A
Title: Visions 01
Label: Oktave Records
CAT: OKR004
Release Date: Out Now (digital)
