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.

Todas Partes

Dublin

Stream / Download

Rocket Empire - Dublin

KCRW's Summer Nights At The Hammer Pt. 1 (7-20-23)

Wow, so ok, so I fell in love with this DJ, she had the most amazing set every night on her show, Man on the Moon, and her music changed my frigging life, and oh my gosh, I fell in love with her radio voice too 😂 This is for you Liza R.

a man can dream

Under My Skin

Welcome to Hash it Out. Each week, your host, Ash Hollowell, a health and culture journalist, will delve deep into the world of podcasts, dissecting them in the context of now.
With the podcasting landscape constantly evolving, Ash will navigate through the latest trends, emerging voices, and groundbreaking stories that are shaping our culture and society today.

Welcome to week 1 episode 1: Bodies by award-winning narrative audio journalist and podcast producer, Allison Behringer. Bodies is hosted by KCRW a National Public Radio member station broadcasting from the campus of Santa Monica College in Santa Monica, California.

Special thanks to Venessa Armenta, introductory host of Hash It Out. 

Music: Lofi Whisper (instrumental) - VEED.io

Hash It Out

A kaleidoscopic sonic riot, Nandakke? is the hotly anticipated debut album from Japanese-Belgian duo Aili. Featuring 10 tracks of surreal electro-pop, joyful electronica, house music and more, Nandakke? is a euphoric album that sees Aili Maruyama and Orson Wouters more than fulfil the promise of their acclaimed debut EP. https://soundcloud.com/ailimakesmusic

Recorded over the course of six months in Orson's studio, packed full of vintage synths, Nandakke? captures the spontaneous spirit and creativity of those sessions. Exchanging riffs and rhythms, bouncing sounds and samples off each other, Aili and Orson would let the music take them where it wanted. The result, an album full of wild ideas and bold, playful experimentation.

More than anything an exhilarating feeling of discovery courses through Nandakke?, leaving you never sure where it will go next. One minute a pulsing electro-pop number featuring Aili's dad discussing his takoyaki (battered octopus) recipe, the next an explosive high energy workout song like Up & Down.

Certainly Aili was surprised to find herself singing in her own unique version of Japanese again.

"I thought that I was done with that after our debut EP, but apparently not as I speak even more Japanese on the album!" said Maruyama. "Every time we were in the studio these words would just tumble out. It's a complicated language but I just love to play with it.

“In many ways I'm an outsider, I left Tokyo aged 7, so there's a lot I notice as someone who is not a native speaker and it doesn't always make sense, there’s a lot of mistakes in it. But in a way that sums up the whole philosophy of the album and how Orson and I work together.”

That notion of duality, a sense of belonging but feeling apart, of being between two worlds and inventing your own captures the spirit of Nandakke?, itself a Japanese word that roughly translates to "Well, what was it?".

"It's something you say when you're looking for a word, like you know it but have forgotten how to say it. That's literally how I communicate with my dad the whole time," Maruyama explains. "The main feeling I have when I go to Japan is that I know the language, I can speak it, but part of me still feels like it doesn't have all the vocabulary. There’s a gap there that nandakke has always filled for me. All the lyrics come from that place, that seven-year old trying to speak Japanese."

Whether Aili’s singing about the language she invented with her father over the years to bridge the gap between them (Nandakke?), the idiosyncratic Japanese relationship to fashion (Fashion) or riffing on children’s playground songs (Yubikiri) the result is a remarkable album that defies easy categorisation.

Bursting onto the Belgian scene in 2021 with their acclaimed debut EP, Dansu, its lead track spent 8 consecutive weeks at the #1 spot of Radio 1’s VOX list and saw the band nominated for Studio Brussel’s De Nieuwe Lichting (‘New Generation’) award. Since then Aili have appeared playing live on the Belgian TV show Roomies, been tipped by the likes of Rolling Stone, become regulars on tastemaker stations like KEXP and KCRW in the US and Nova in France, toured across Europe and, just recently, played their first sell out shows in Japan.

TRACKLIST 
1. Aili - Nandakke?
2. Aili - Babychan
3. Aili - Yubikiri
4. Aili - Fashion
5. Aili - Ichibansen
6. Aili - Takoyaki
7. Aili - Up & Down
8. Aili - Gari Gari
9. Aili - Oyasumi
10. Aili - 東京 2023

Nandakke?

Buy / Streal

Aili - Ichibansen [Eskimo Recordings]

Aili - Yubikiri [Eskimo Recordings]

Omie Max Sedgley and Tasita D’Mour join forces with the legendary J Boogie’s Dubtronic Science on the fifth release from the forthcoming Shedonism (Remixes) collection. Bumpin’ basslines blend beautifully into a Lo-Fi House jam that takes the hit single into even funkier territory. Stay tuned for more remix goodies coming May 3rd.

Get Together (J Boogie's Dubtronic Science Remix)

Get Together feat. Tasita D'Mour (J Boogie's Dubtronic Science Remix)

Max Sedgley - Get Together Feat. Tasita D'Mour (J Boogie's Dubtronic Science Remix)

KCRW's Summer Nights at Union Station (excerpt) (07/20/24)

1.	Aaron Neville - Let's Live
2.	Aaron Neville - Tell It Like It Is
3.	Art Laboe - Baby I´M For Real
4.	Art Laboe - Smile Now, Cry Later
5.	Barbara Lewis - Hello Stranger
6.	Billy Stewart - I Do Love You
7.	Bloodstone - I Love You For All Seasons
8.	Bloodstone - Natural High
9.	Brenton Wood - Baby You Got It
10.	Brenton Wood - Give Me Some Kind Of Sign Girl
11.	Brenton Wood-Oogum Boogum
12.	James Brown - Try Me
13.	Power Of Tower - You're Still A Young Man
14.	Tommy James And The Shondells - Crystal Blue Persuasion


Eclectic Oldies Mix - Natural High

HIGHER

I am not a DJ nor pretend to be one.

I make "ruff cutz and mixes" for my own listening pleasure using a "Windows 7" desktop computer, mouse, and keyboard with "YOU.DJ" software.

For those wondering about the sometimes rough on the ears transitions, well, I don't use headphones either; just free-styling my way through the grooves. 

You are welcome to listen and enjoy!

I’m a nobody, and just figured that out!

“Afri-Cali,” a hearty cioppino of rock, blues, heavy rhythms and percussion of 1970s South African music, Drenched in Hip hop Roots topped with coastal-psych seasoning..

Om’s mission is to find, release and promote music that is refined, innovative and always pushing boundaries.

Eskimo Recordings is a label based in Ghent, Belgium, and was founded in 2000. Eskimo has always approached the divide between electronic and indie music with a reckless abandon that suggests that there is no divide at all. A mix of Indie Dance / Cosmic & Balearic Disco / Italo / EBM / House and more. Welcome!

New tracks tagged #KCRW