THE KING ROOSTER
A: ‘Snake Bait’ / B: ‘Stickin’ It’
7” vinyl single / 45 Live Records / Cat. No. 45L7011
Released: 7th January 2022
Available from https://45liverecords.bandcamp.com/album/snake-bait

OK, it’s taken us to get to our 11th release for some filthy organ funk to grace the label, and who better than The King Rooster.

Hailing from London, The King Rooster are a heavy funk quartet consisting of Ian Stevens on bass, Mark Claydon on drums (both from another heavy funk band - The Getup), Sam Montero on keys and James Forster on guitar.

Collectively the band have played, recorded and shared stages with the likes of Sir Joe Quaterman, JTQ, Gizelle Smith, Reuben Wilson, Speedometer Pee Wee Ellis and many more.

The band have released a clutch of heavy duty organ funk 45s on various labels over the last few years (Our Label, FNR, Dinked, Burning Soul) and a spectacular LP, also on Dinked. But it was when we heard ‘Snitchin’, Stitchin’ & Bitchin’ on Funk Night Records that we decided 45 Live needed some Rooster funk on the label!

It is entirely evident that the guys all have a deep love for raw funk, that gritty, slightly shambolic garage sound, punchy instrumentals designed to hit you in the gut, pure soul from the pure funk perspective. It’s all about the ‘nasty face’!

Here we have 2 hard hitting organ screamers kicking off with ‘Snake Bait’ on the A side, a raucous 144bpm dancefloor burner. Scratchy guitar, thumping bass and manic drums underpin a swirling and ever building Hammond Organ into a firey crescendo. Whilst over on the B ‘Stickin’ it’ takes some cues from The Meters sound with its trance like organ riffs and bluesy flavour. It’s a raw mid-tempo head nodder which, like the A side, keeps building and building into such a cookin’ groove.

Come get some!

‘Snake Bait’ written by Ian Stevens and Sam Montero
‘Stickin’ It’ written by Ian Stevens, Sam Montero, Mark Claydon and James Forster
Produced by Mark Claydon
Recorded at Big Noise Studios, London
Mastered by Optimum Mastering, Bristol
A&R by Pete Isaac
Artwork by Pete Isaac

Stickin' It

The King Rooster 'Stickin It' (45 Live Records)

The King Rooster 'Snake Bait' (45 Live Records)

“Rewind to 1990, the place was Bristol, and as a young musician playing in jazz/funk bands, I travelled up from Devon to go and see a live show by The James Taylor Quartet and The Brand New Heavies with support from Outlaw Posse. I was there primarily to see the funk bands but what I came away with that night was that Outlaw Posse stole the show! Their début LP ‘My Afros On Fire’ had just come out, and I was introduced to their unbelievably funky and jazz flavoured boom bap hip hop at the show, it really did blow my mind. After their fantastic set, the Brand New Heavies came on (still in their funk days rather than their later disco/pop flavour), and then after a number of songs, Outlaw Posse came back on to rap with them, and right there I experienced a life changing moment. The combination of Outlaw’s blistering set and then the BNH with MC Bello B pretty much drove me into the direction of DJing, hip hop, jazz, club promotion and a life being seriously involved in music. I picked up my copy of 'My Afros On Fire' at the show and it still remains one of my most favourite hip hop albums of all time, so to put this new record out some 28 years later is a personal joy of the greatest kind”
Pete Isaac - 45 Live Records

The early 90’s is generally referred to as The Golden Era when it comes to hip hop, and rightly so. It was a time where sublime creativity - fuelled by the limitless sampling opportunities before the lawyers gathered steam - fused with positive attitudes to produce hip hop music that was rich in musical gravitas whilst enforcing messages of love, political empowerment, social commentary and above all fun! Over in the USA, groups like De La Soul, Gang Starr, ATCQ and the like brought jazz firmly into the fast evolving hip hop stew, mostly grabbing all the headlines, but over in the UK there were some trailblazing crews too with Outlaw Posse definitely up there as one of the pioneering few. Outlaw Posse’s début album ‘My Afros On Fire’ (1990) dropped in the same years as Gang Starr’s masterpiece ‘Step In The Arena’ and ATCQ’s phenomenal ‘People's Instinctive Travels And The Paths Of Rhythm’, with all of them achieving spectacular results with their clever and intricate use of use of samples and positivity in their raps, it was indeed the original dope.

Skip forward to 1993, and Outlaw Posse record the equally brilliant ‘My Afros On Fire Vol. 2’on Gee St / Island Records which was due for release but after some difficulties with the label they decided to part ways, and the album was sadly shelved. Kgee then went on to produce All Saints whilst MC Bello B went on to write for the KLF as well as working with various groups like The Young Disciples, Mica Paris, Damage, Carl Thomas, Push, Nexus and many more, the guys sure weren't sitting around. And now in late July 2018, that lost album is finally coming out digitally directly from the guys via their Bandcamp page. As soon as we heard about it we immediately got in touch to show our respect and love and ask if we might be able to do a 7” single taken from it, and they said yes! So cue up 2 absolutely banging jazz soaked dancefloor bombs, pure boom bap, pure gold.

Written and produced by Written & Produced by Karl Gordon & Azat Bello

A&R: Pete Isaac
Artwork: Pete Isaac
Illustration: Paul Subtwo

Outlaw Posse - Living In Hackney

Outlaw Posse - Enforce The Positive

Crew member DJ Format has joined forces with MC Andy Cooper to produce a special little number for 45 Live Records. 'Get On That', taken from Andy's most recent LP has been completely re-worked into a brand new track with Matt Format adding his superb production skills. It's classic Format material, super funky, deftly arranged and aimed squarely at the dancefloor. Throw this donut on and watch the floor ignite!

Written and produced by Andy Cooper and DJ Format
A&R: Pete Isaac
Artwork: Pete Isaac

Andy Cooper & DJ Format - Get On That (Relayered)

The A side ‘Soul On Top’, is produced by Boca 45 and features New Zealander Louis Baker on vocals. Louis, based in Wellington, N.Z. has an emotive vocal tone that produces shades of Motown-era soul, which earned him a place at the prestigious Red Bull Music Academy in New York, when he was chosen out of 4000 applicants to take one of only 60 places. Currently gaining plaudits internationally for his sublime songwriting that has shades of J Dilla to Sly Stone, he has been touring in Europe as well as many shows and festivals down under. Boca 45 is a Bristolian legend who’s earned a mighty rep for his work with Andy Smith as Dynamo Productions, with Ben Salisbury as Dolman, with Gee Ealey as Malachai alongside his many solo records on various labels. Very much 2 talented artists that are successful in their own right who have found some common ground...

Louis was on tour in Europe in the spring of 2015 and played a show at The Sugar Factory in Amsterdam, whilst Boca was the guest DJ at the Wicked Jazz club night the same night. They end up meeting and get on brilliantly. The following day they reconvene on Red Light Radio, and having both been blown away with each others sets they decide that they must work together. A meeting of minds from different parts of the globe (UK-NZ) comes together in Amsterdam (that can't happen very often). Fast forward a couple of months and they start plotting Soul On Top - Scott makes the music / beats whilst Louis plays guitar, sings & plays bass. The result being an immediate slice of hip hop soul which will work as well on the dance floor as it will on the radio.

The B side features ‘Diegos Theme’, lifted from Boca's 2nd LP Vertigo Sounds which featured amongst other guest vocalists Kelvin Swaby from The Heavy.  D.T is a sampledelic slice of b-boy heaven - Boca say's that it's inspired by his football hero Diego Maradona - ‘I wanted to make a track which would suit his personality as well as being a soundtrack to his many breathtaking goals he scored throughout his career’. A classic slice of Boca and pressed on 45 for the very first time, it’s a lot more than just a lowly B side spin!

Boca 45 feat. Louis Baker - Soul On Top (Instr)

Boca 45 - Diegos Theme

Boca 45 feat. Louis Baker - Soul On Top (Vocal)

45 Live DJ Team member Aeon Seven from northern France drops his first single 'Seven Breaks' on the label, a straight up BBoy jam aimed squarely at the Dancelfoor. A driving uptempo funk/breaks joint, all written by Aeon with heavy bassline, organ riffs, badass breakdown and tasty cuts and scratches. A peak time cut that any block rockin' DJ needs in their crates!

The flip features an instrumental version plus a little 'cuts' track so can add their own flourishes if buying doubles, or for use as an intro cut before dropping the main track.

Aeon Seven is a well seasoned DJ and producer with skills in abundance, from his early productions like the amazing 'Funky Furious ep', to the series of 45's DJ mixes he's been doing recently - 'Love Beams Defender', 'Lowdown Spectrum', 'Cosmic Thrill' and 'Funk-Time Continuum' - Aeon Seven is building an archive of seriously good music, produced and mixed with soul and flair.

Aeon Seven - Seven Breaks (Instr)

Aeon Seven - Seven Breaks

Deadly styles we’ve got many, deadly vibes we’ve got plenty…

45 Live is proud to welcome the new record ‘Ready’, a masterclass to mash up yer dance from club dub doyens The Nextmen, featuring badass Bristol babe Eva Lazarus (Mungo’s HiFi/Gentlemen’s Dub Club), the goddess with the golden pipes. 

‘Ready’ is a sweet slice of dancehall that feels tightly sprung, with songbird Eva Lazarus rolling on the rhythms’ rise from sweaty and soulful to saucy, priapic pop. You will want to wiggle. This joint feels infectious.   

Much loved music makers The Nextmen have been busy twiddling knobs and working wires purely for people’s pleasure over two decades deep, having worked with everyone from Public Enemy, Wilkinson, The Pharcyde, Ms Dynamite, Groove Armada, Plan B, Chali 2na, Tippa Irie, Cutty Ranks and a million more. 

Good. Grooves.

Crate diggers quickly quickly, make it snappy to make Daddy happy, this limited edition 45 release is exclusively vinyl only.

Pressed loud on 45.

‘Ready’. The whole room knows it’s on…

The Nextmen feat. Eva Lazarus - Ready (Nextmen Dub)

The Nextmen feat. Eva Lazarus - Ready

M-Tri & DJ Leecy T digitally released their fantastic boom-bap hip hop album ‘Monday Morning Music’ in September of 2015, and it enjoys a cult following for its old school flavour. In fact, it probably was under the radar of many, including us! But when we heard ‘She’s The DJ, He’s The MC’ on a DJ mix by UK DJ Paul Bloomfield, we immediately got in touch with M-TRI to see if we could press a 45. Music this good has to be on vinyl, and this 45 sees an extended mix for 2018. The record perfectly shows the versatility of this talented hip-hop duo, with them swapping roles on each side, tight cuts, sweet raps, boom-bap party beats and a whole lot of NYC flavour!

M-Tri & DJ Leecy T - Trading Places

M-Tri & DJ Leecy T - She's The DJ, He's The MC (extended Mix)

The 7th release on 45 Live Records obviously had to be by Aeon Seven with his 2nd recording for the label. This French producer/DJ/animator
from Rouen in northern France is quite simply a mighty talent, excelling at everything he touches. Whether it be a blistering turntablist DJ set, an expertly crafted mixtape, an eye-popping video animation or indeed some beautifully arranged and produced dancefloor cuts, as we have right here on this new release.

‘The A-side ’Soul Altitude’ sees Stéphane drop some snappy drums and an über phat fuzzy bass as a bed for guitar riffs, organ stabs and LIVE
horns to swirl around upon, complete with a tough breakdown and horn solo to end, it’s a deep mid-tempo dancefloor burner. Meanwhile the B
side ‘Preliminary Battle’ takes a super tight boom-bap drum sound and adds an even filthier bassline to underpin this heads-down organ-fueled
workout. The strings add extra urgency and mood to complete his fantastic 2nd release for 45 Live.

Written and produced by Stéphane Delplanque
Trumpet and Slide Trombone on ‘Soul Altitude’ by Axel Touron
A&R: Pete Isaac
Artwork: Pete Isaac

Preliminary Battle

Aeon Seven - Preliminary Battle

Soul Altitude

Aeon Seven - Soul Altitude

After the first M-Tri & DJ Leecy T release on 45 Live Records in January 2018 - which was snapped up and sold out within days of release - they return with a brand new 7 inch for the label. Staying true to their old school boom-bap flavour, ‘Palo Santo’ rocks along with tough crisp drums with M-Tri and Leecy T masterfully trading raps, all fused together with the sweetest of cuts and scratches. This is super solid dance-floor hip-hop, very funky and is sure to shift fast to their ever building fan-base.

The B side features a complete rework by fellow 45 Live artist Aeon Seven. The producer/DJ/artist extraordinaire from northern France ups the bass and drums, adds some wah-wah guitar, organ stabs and his own exceptionally tight cuts and scratches for a totally dope rework. This ain’t no remix, but a 100% from-the-ground-up rework!

Written and Produced by Max Triolo and Felice Triolo
Additional production on side B by Stefan Delplanque
A&R by Pete Isaac
Artwork by Pete Isaac

Buy All

M-Tri & DJ Leecy T - Palo Santo (Aeon Seven Rework)

M-Tri & DJ Leecy T - Palo Santo

Type-303
A: ‘Sticky Disko’
B: ‘Analog Acidbath’
7” vinyl single / 45 Live Records / Cat. No. 45L7010
Released: tbc 2020
Available from 45liverecords.bandcamp.com
Plus all good record stores and all digital platforms

The 10th release on 45 Live Records. For this, we’re going to surprise people with a hip house/acid house 45 from Finnish producer Dan Kaipio aka Type-303. Type-303 is a one-man project based in Tampere, Finland. He creates music for the love of acid and the classic Roland TB-303 sound mixed with various genres. The sound of Type-303 is inspired by various styles of music from classic 80s acid to 90s rave to the house sound of today. In addition to producing, he is an avid vinyl collector and DJ and can be found spinning vinyl at underground parties across Finland.

45 Live and Type-303 came together due to a post on Facebook about his last record by DJ Food (a fellow acid house collector), we got in touch and managed to buy the last copy of that particular release direct from Dan in Finland. In those communications we dropped the question “would you like to do a 45 for us?”, and he said, “sure, why not!”.  So with Dan on board to record for the label we decided that resurrecting the much loved yet fleeting hip-house sound tinged with ska was the way to go, along with a strictly heavyweight acid tune on the B side. For ‘Sticky Disko’, we wanted to create a classic late 80’s straight-up party cut, ska acid, a bouncy floor filler. Meanwhile, the B side ‘Analog Acidbath’ had one rule to follow, and that was “make it acid”. So cue up one seriously funky and heavily layered 303 workout aimed directly at the dancefloor, no holds barred.

DJ Food (Ninja Tune) “Analog Acidbath is proper acid, love the break-sy side to it and over-eager drum fills, well-80s”

The 7” vinyl will come in a full colour sleeve, plus there will also be a very limited run (50) pressed on splatter vinyl, these will only be available direct from the 45 Live Records store on Bandcamp.

All tracks written and produced by Dan Kaipio
A&R: Pete Isaac
Artwork: Pete Isaac

Sticky Disko

Type-303 'Sticky Disko'

Type-303 'Analog Acidbath'

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