- Oxia is back where it all began. Almost ten years ago, Oliver Raymond founded GoodLife with his friends The Hacker and Alexandre Reynaud, releasing a succession of cuts which culminated in a debut artist album, 24 Heures, in 2004. Then Oxia fled the nest, shedding his techno plumage for a new set of electro feathers on Kompakt and Tsuba among others. So is his return triumphant?
A-side ‘12 Years After’ does suggests that Oxia is looking back, but only twelve months back, unfortunately. This sounds very similar to his recent output, only without the creativity. Simple drums lead into a simple raindrop melody and a honking main electro riff, and while it’s all very easily digestible, it doesn’t do anything except build and fade until it finishes.
On the flip, ‘Lost Memory’ uses the same bleeping synth as the A-side but combines it with a more vigorous backbone. Thumping along like loose cargo down a highway, it has a great energy to it, but it’s another record that uses that tired ‘Freakside’ melody sound, and you can’t help feeling like you’ve heard it all before.
These tracks will go down great in clubs, because it’s a familiar sound, comparable to a lot of big records out recently. But music fanatics may find these a little stale. I’m a big fan of Oxia, but Lost Memory EP is perhaps best forgotten.
TracklistA 12 Years Later
B Lost Memory