DEEP JAZZUAL HOUSE MIX FROM UK LEGENDS KING KOOBA
Long time Omie Max Sedgley and Tasita D’Mour join forces with King Kooba on the first from the forthcoming Shedonism Remixes collection. Deep house beats blend with jazz funk in fine form. Let the vibes flow as we prepare for more mixes in 2024.
Long time Omie Max Sedgley (Roni Size / King Kooba) is back with a brilliant new LP.
His first single Gotta Get Up sets the stage with a positive jazz funk banger featuring the vocal talents of Tasita D’Mour. Recorded as a pick me up entirely in his garden shed, Max summoned the influences of George Duke, Mighty Ryeders, Ronnie Laws and Roy Ayers mixed with the funky synth work of Greg Phillinganes and Larry Williams to create a dancefloor concoction complete with a solid beat with big Latin style tom fills. It’s all in there.
His second single Get Together is an absolute heavyweight banger featuring the vocal talents of Tasita D’Mour. It’s a funky warning that we have to get together and change the way we treat our planet before it’s too late.
His third single Some Kind Of Love is a heavyweight soul smash featuring Tasita D’Mour’s uplifting, poignant, full of yearning and powerful vocal talents. Sedgley’s solid groove and funky b-lines with some tasty chord progressions let Tasita shine. Stay tuned for more!
His fourth single Too Big to Fail channels Gil-Scott Heron and Brian Jackson for a protest song featuring Tasita D’Mour. Max explains the message is “why do the big players get away with murder while the man in the street doesn’t even get a second chance?” Stay tuned for more!
The featured track on the LP, Lie to Me, locks in right from the start and permeates throughout. Tasita D'Mour's longing vocal slinks through Max's live breakbeats and synth lines to create a beautiful downtempo performance.
MAX TALKS ABOUT THE PROCESS OF MAKING HIS NEW ALBUM
'When I moved to my new house in Walthamstow, East London a few years ago, I found I had a tool shed in my back garden, just sitting there empty. 'That'll be my man cave' I thought, and after a bit of negotiation and a lot of DIY, the studio was ready. I put carpet all-round the walls to deaden any sound and found I had enough space for my 2 drum kits, my keyboards, a lot of percussion, all my studio gear and me, comfortably. Obviously surround sound was also installed for that man-cave touch. I also had to store a LOT of other stuff from the house, as per negotiations, but that was OK, it was my space!
In order to justify my studio's existence though, and my new life in it, I knew I had to write an album dedicated to the shed that brought it to life.
I didn't know where to start writing so I got on with trying to make my drums sound as fat as possible in their new space. I'd cobbled together enough cheap mics for the kit and played around with loads of different set-ups. This meant that I was recording a lot of drum tracks and listening back to get the best results for the room - eventually I had a pretty good sound and I had plenty of solid beats and grooves to start building new ideas for tracks on. I'm no bass player so I knew there was going to be a lot of synth bass lines coming. Add to that my love of the playing around with the Rhodes / clavinet combo and it would be no surprise what genre of music started pouring out of the shed.
So It became clear pretty early on that with those sounds and the kind of drum grooves I had recorded, I was coming up with songs that were very reminiscent of the style of Chaka Khan from about '79 to '82. I knew Chaka wouldn't necessarily be available for a few shed sessions round mine, but I also knew my old friend Tasita, who I'd worked with many times before, had a really similar voice and style and so I was thinking of her from an early stage.
There followed many months of writing and a lot of inspirational 'shed sessions' - basically all my friends coming round to hang out in the shed - some of whom found it very hard to leave. There were lots of 'creative writing sessions' where I'd try out ideas and gauge the responses, not to mention a lot of late nights but by February of 2020 I had maybe 6 or 7 tracks I thought were strong and a lot of other 'nearly' ideas.
It was time to give Tasita a call...
We arranged a two-day session as T had moved a few hours away from London but I wasn't worried about time pressure as I knew how easy it was working with T and how quickly she nailed ideas and brought her own style to any recordings. Sure enough, that was the case, we had a blast and had seven tracks done, complete with all BVs after just two days' work. Foolishly, I thought I'd only need one more day recording with Tasita to finish the album, and I was right, but I hadn't allowed for the global pandemic that was about to strike. A week after our first recording session the whole country was put into lockdown.
It would be another 18 months before I'd get to have that last day recording with T, thanks to covid-19.
The less said about that 18 months the better. So much of the joy and inspiration in music comes from other people sharing and communicating that it was really difficult to go for that long without a proper 'shed session'. And that's just from the perspective of writing the type of music I do. But eventually it was over and Tasita came back for her final day's work on the album, finishing all the songs I'd waited so long to hear.
It's hard to say what effect that 18 months had on the album, a lot of things were changed, re-written, probably played around with too much. But then new tracks came about that probably wouldn't have done, so rough with the smooth I guess. I think lyrically it developed more than it maybe would have done and there was a lot more social commentary going on, with more thoughts about mental health issues, loneliness, social injustice - I suppose generally all a bit darker - but at the end of it I felt like I'd explored things a bit more deeply than I would have done and I still had an uplifting, positive feeling listening to it all, so I'm grateful for that.
I always thought funk and soul music was a product of its time in the 60s,70s and early 80s - a time of great social upheaval and change, a time for protest and a need for positivity to lift humanity out of the darkness. It seems those times are here again so I'm hopingmy nod to the music I grew up loving won't seem entirely out of place right now. And a bit of 'shedonism' is definitely no bad thing.
For fans of: 70’s & 80’s Jazz - Funk / Breaks / Soul / Downtempo / Electronic
Long time Omie Max Sedgley (Roni Size / King Kooba) is back with a brilliant new LP Shedonism coming this Fall. His fourth single Too Big to Fail channels Gil-Scott Heron and Brian Jackson for a protest song featuring Tasita D’Mour. Max explains the message is “why do the big players get away with murder while the man in the street doesn’t even get a second chance?” Stay tuned for more!
Abstract chill beats lovers and dubbed out deep house heads join forces with the mighty Rocket Empire for their first ever remixes collection. Kicking things off is Ukrainian born electronic artist Waveskania with her rework of Birmingham. Waveskania’s production never fails to impress in consistency, textural variety and stylistic gamut. Next up is Seattle’s own Jeromy Nail who delivers not one but two mixes for the collection. Both are deep dubbed out house versions with a huge helping of old school electro influences. Also, on deck for two mixes is Portland’s abstract beats technician Hologram Pacific. Check out those cat purrs on his mix of New Brunswick. Closing things out is South Africa’s Jus Funo with his Mood Mix of Astoria, a fitting ambient closing to a fantastically eclectic collection.
Long time Omie Max Sedgley (Roni Size / King Kooba) is back with a brilliant new LP Shedonism coming this Fall. His third single Some Kind Of Love is a heavyweight soul smash featuring Tasita D’Mour’s uplifting, poignant, full of yearning and powerful vocal talents. Sedgley’s solid groove and funky b-lines with some tasty chord progressions let Tasita shine. Stay tuned for more!
Abstract dreamy downtempo beat lovers rejoice! Portland’s own Hologram Pacific returns to deliver a vibed out chill beats mix of New Brunswick (from Rocket Empire’s sixth studio LP Todas Partes).
The second batch of Rocket Empire remixes are in from Seattle and South Africa!
Rocket Empire returns with a new batch of remixes for Astoria (from their sixth studio LP Todas Partes). Enlisting longtime Seattle Omie Jeromy Nail with a deep 80’s electro inspired lofi house mix and South African newcomer Jus Funo, whose dreamy broken beat mix is an inspiring fit for the dubbed out original.
Jeromy Nail / Jus Funo Photo(s): Themselves
Rocket Empire Photo: Cece Cates
Long time Omie Max Sedgley (Roni Size / King Kooba) is back with a brilliant new LP Shedonism coming this Fall. His first single Gotta Get Up sets the stage with a positive jazz funk banger featuring the vocal talents of Tasita D’Mour. Recorded as a pick me up entirely in his garden shed, Max summoned the influences of George Duke, Mighty Ryeders, Ronnie Laws and Roy Ayers mixed with the funky synth work of Greg Phillinganes and Larry Williams to create a dancefloor concoction complete with a solid beat with big Latin style tom fills. It’s all in there.
Recorded from 2020-2022 in Portland, Oregon - Rocket Empire are back with their 6th studio album “Todas Partes” translated from Spanish to English “Everywhere”. The meaning behind the album title is based on where music ends up and is listened to, and cities that have a special meaning to each band member.
Having worked through the entire Covid pandemic, Jon and Dave would meet up every two weeks for 2 years to work on the album: This album has pre and post pandemic songs, and it really captures a unique time the entire world experienced. The tracks are what you can expect from Rocket Empire, lush & deep atmospheric sounds, chilled house, downtempo, dub, and bass heavy ear candy.
Lima is the perfect lead off to the new album setting the stage for the journey. Booming bass fires up the engines as we prepare for take-off!.
Astoria takes us on a journey of exploration, the waves of sound lapping at the shore as the distant night sky beckons.
St. Louis cascades through a sonic dreamscape of dark deep sounds, weaving in and out of intricate arrangements that hypnotize and captivate.
New Brunswick whisks us away on a journey of discovery. Its melodic tapestry of sound envelops us in a gentle haze, like a cozy daydream.
Mexico City teases the senses with its tribal rhythms and organic soundscapes, creating an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation.
Heidelberg turns up the heat launching into the broken beat deep end as the layers of sound envelop like a blanket of stars.
Tokyo's deep soundscapes take us on a journey of discovery, the mysterious melodies guiding us to unknown places.
Birmingham is a vibrant rhythm rollercoaster filled with twists and turns. Its dynamic energy will get your heart pumping and your feet moving.
Dublin takes us to the heart of the unknown, the melodic landscape of the city opening up a world of wonder.
Photo: Cece Cates
LP #5 FROM THE MUSHROOM JAZZ LEGEND
One of Om Records most longstanding producers Charlie Tate continues to expand on his legendary repertoire with Curvlinear (LP #5 from The Jazzual Suspects). The 14 tracks expand into a beautiful Mushroom Jazz concoction complete with live instrumentation (Rhodes, guitar, jazz breaks, funky bass, cuts and more).
Tate began his musical journey in the 90’s with breakbeat pioneers King Kooba and has released over 13 full length albums under monikers Colossus, Boswick Gates, Grande Synthe and countless remixes for the likes of Bob Marley, Kaskade, Dub Pistols & many more.
Support for The Jazzual Suspects comes from KCRW’s Anne Litt, Raul Campos, Valida, LeRoy Downs and mixologists Mark Farina, Laurent Garnier, Osunlade, Horse Meat Disco and Moodymanc. Stay tuned for more!
Astoria takes us on a journey of exploration, the waves of sound lapping at the shore as the distant night sky beckons.
Birmingham is a vibrant rhythm rollercoaster filled with twists and turns. Its dynamic energy will get your heart pumping and your feet moving.
Recorded from 2020-2022 in Portland, Oregon - Rocket Empire are back with their 6th studio album “Todas Partes” translated from Spanish to English “Everywhere”. The meaning behind the album title is based on where music ends up and is listened to, and cities that have a special meaning to each band member.
Having worked through the entire Covid pandemic, Jon and Dave would meet up every two weeks for 2 years to work on the album: This album has pre and post pandemic songs, and it really captures a unique time the entire world experienced. The tracks are what you can expect from Rocket Empire, lush & deep atmospheric sounds, chilled house, downtempo, dub, and bass heavy ear candy.
One of Om Records most longstanding producers Charlie Tate returns with Con Dem, the third single from his forthcoming Curvlinear LP (coming 4/14/2023). Con Dem is a beautiful smoky bar room piano and breaks composition complete with gorgeous guitar work and horns.
Tate began his musical journey in the 90’s with breakbeat pioneers King Kooba and has released over 13 full length albums under monikers Colossus, Boswick Gates, Grande Synthe and countless remixes for the likes of Bob Marley, Kaskade, Dub Pistols & many more.
Support for The Jazzual Suspects comes from KCRW’s Anne Litt, Raul Campos, Valida, LeRoy Downs and mixologists Mark Farina, Laurent Garnier, Osunlade, Horse Meat Disco and Moodymanc. Stay tuned for more!
The first batch of Rocket Empire remixes are in from the Pacific Northwest!
First off is the percussive house remix of Lima from Portland’s own Hologram Pacific. Pumped up drums intertwine with abstract atmospherics to form a chill house meets glitched out robots mix on a rocket ship ride to deep space.
Up next, Seattle based DJ and producer Jeromy Nail presents his take on Heidelberg. He brings a jacking house flavor to the broken beat proceedings. Dirty bassline induced booty shaking bizness prevails.
Stay tuned for more remixes forthcoming.
THE SECOND SINGLE FROM THE GREAT SPACIOUS EP
Om Records wonder ace Rithma returns with his second single of auditory enjoyment from his forthcoming EP The Great Spacious. Time Shlime starts off in a slow and low build that drifts magically into a mellow downtempo groove. Time vanishes as the track rolls along. Stay tuned for the full new Rithma EP coming this Spring!
* Rithma – The Great Spacious (EP) coming in 2023 *
Photo: Luz Stehelin
FEATURING NEW SINGLES LIMA & HEIDELBERG
Recorded from 2020-2022 in Portland, Oregon - Rocket Empire are back with their 6th studio album “Todas Partes” translated from Spanish to English “Everywhere”. The meaning behind the album title is based on where music ends up and is listened to, and cities that have a special meaning to each band member.
Having worked through the entire Covid pandemic, Jon and Dave would meet up every two weeks for 2 years to work on the album: This album has pre and post pandemic songs, and it really captures a unique time the entire world experienced. The tracks are what you can expect from Rocket Empire, lush & deep atmospheric sounds, chilled house, downtempo, dub, and bass heavy ear candy.
Lima is the perfect lead off to the new album setting the stage for the journey. Booming bass fires up the engines as we prepare for take-off!
Heidelberg turns up the heat launching into the broken beat deep end as the layers of sound envelop like a blanket of stars.
THE SECOND SINGLE FROM THE NEW ALBUM CURVLINEAR
One of Om Records most longstanding producers Charlie Tate continues to expand on his legendary repertoire with Master of Ault (the second single from his new The Jazzual Suspects LP Curvlinear, due out in April, 2023). Bringing back the classic double bass licks and boom-bap beats of golden era hip-hop, The Jazzual Suspects evokes a smoke heavy vibe of head nodding bliss.
Tate began his musical journey in the 90’s with breakbeat pioneers King Kooba and has released over 13 full length albums under monikers Colossus, Boswick Gates, Grande Synthe and countless remixes for the likes of Bob Marley, Kaskade, Dub Pistols & many more.
Support for The Jazzual Suspects comes from KCRW’s Anne Litt, Raul Campos, Valida, LeRoy Downs and mixologists Mark Farina, Laurent Garnier, Osunlade, Horse Meat Disco and Moodymanc. Stay tuned for more!
Legendary producer Charlie Tate emerges from the lab to debut his first single Le Quosett from his new The Jazzual Suspects LP ‘Curvlinear’ (due out in April, 2023). Tate began his musical journey in the mid 90’s with breakbeat funk pioneers King Kooba and has gone on to release over 13 full length albums under monikers Colossus, Boswick Gates, Grande Synthe and countless singles and remixes for the likes of Bob Marley, Kaskade, Mark Farina, Dub Pistols & many more.
Fans of Tate’s production include such tastemakers as KCRW’s Anne Litt, Raul Campos, Valida, LeRoy Downs and experimental mixologists Osunlade, Horse Meat Disco and Moodymanc. Stay tuned for more in 2023.
THE TRIUMPHANT RETURN OF THE OM RECORDS WONDER ACE
Etienne Stehelin AKA Rithma returns with the first single from his upcoming new Om Records EP The Great Spacious. On the title track we’re taken on a road- trip out into a wide-open space. It starts out pretty ominous, as some trips do, not knowing quite what is going to happen or how things will turn out. The initial synth line started out as a little jam in the studio, but then it gets into a bit of resolve with a beautiful worn tape loop chord giving us the idea that things might turn out okay after all. Rithma closes it out with a nice jazzy guitar riff, played on the Rick Turner "magic guitar", which he reflects “I only pull out once every few years and it always seems to make something magic.”
* Rithma – The Great Spacious (EP) coming in 2023 *
Photos: Luz Stehelin
