Max Sedgley – From The Roots To The Shoots

“From The Roots To The Shoots” is a joyous listen; an album enthralled by the possibilities of sound and an album that’s bought the party hats and the jelly and ice cream. From the unpretentious and updated synth-pop of I’ve Been Waiting to the fractured funk and broken electro of ‘Déjà Vu’ by way of the deep, Joe Claussell-like, rhythms of ‘Ego Spiritual’, this is the album George Clinton would have made if he had been a white South Londoner with a disco fixation. Funky to the core, ‘Celebrity’ – a commentary on sections of contemporary society – gives a clue to what electroclash could have sounded like if it hadn’t lost its rhythmical roots, and ‘Slowly’, with it’s mood enhancing orchestral strings, makes the prospect of a trip hop revival not such a hideous vision. Live it sounds like the best disco workout. Max and his band popped their cherry at this year’s Bestival and next year will see more Funkadelic-inspired groove-ins.