Jim Coles (born c. 1980), professionally known as Om Unit, is an English,
Bristol
Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
-based electronic producer and
DJ, known for his work in
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroac ...
and
drum and bass
Drum and bass (also written as drum & bass or drum'n'bass and commonly abbreviated as D&B, DnB, or D'n'B) is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by fast breakbeats (typically 165–185 beats per minute) with heavy bass and sub-ba ...
.
Career
Originally producing
jungle
A jungle is land covered with dense forest and tangled vegetation, usually in tropical climates. Application of the term has varied greatly during the past recent century.
Etymology
The word ''jungle'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''jaá ...
as a teenager in the 1990s, he then turned to
turntablism
Turntablism is the art of manipulating sounds and creating new music, sound effects, mixes and other creative sounds and beats, typically by using two or more turntables and a cross fader-equipped DJ mixer. The mixer is plugged into a PA system ...
under the name 2tall
">/sup> and released several Albums under this moniker in the 2000s. It was not until 2009 that the Om Unit alias came about with his debut release on a compilation for Fabric entitled ''encoder'', which was swiftly followed by a white-label remix of Joker's "Digidesign" and an EP called ''The Corridor EP'' on Plastician
Chris Reed (born 30 October 1982), also known as Plastician (formerly Plasticman), is an electronic musician from Thornton Heath in the London Borough of Croydon.
History
Plastician, real name Chris Reed is a DJ from Croydon in South London. H ...
's label Terrorhythm.
In 2011 he found a more permanent home, with the record label Civil Music taking up release and management duties, releasing three EPs namely, ''The Timps'', ''Transport'' and ''Aeolian'', followed by an album ''Threads''. During this time he worked on a one-off EP with Machinedrum entitled 'Reworkz' under the alias 'dream continuum' for Planet Mu. and arguably was one of the first people to fuse the style of Chicago footwork with classic jungle music under the alias 'Philip D Kick'.
In parallel to these ventures, Om Unit started his own record label Cosmic Bridge in 2011 which has since released music from Kromestar
Rajpal Singh Kalsi, better known as Kromestar, is a British Sikh dubstep and grime record producer from South London.
Biography
He is well regarded in both dubstep and the broader UK dance scene. Kromestar is most well known for his first album, ...
, DJ Madd, Boxcutter
A utility knife is any type of knife used for general manual work purposes.Peterson, Harold L., ''Daggers and Fighting Knives of the Western World'', London: Herbert Jenkins Ltd., , p. 1 Such knives were originally fixed-blade knives with du ...
, TMSV, Graphs
Graph may refer to:
Mathematics
*Graph (discrete mathematics), a structure made of vertices and edges
**Graph theory, the study of such graphs and their properties
*Graph (topology), a topological space resembling a graph in the sense of discre ...
, Danny Scrilla, J(ay) A.D. Neuropol, Moresounds and J:Kenzo as well as himself with his own 'Torchlight' series of EP's and his series of 'Cosmology' compilations featuring exclusive tracks and remixes from artists from the label.
Following on from the exploration of his Jungle roots with projects like Philip D Kick, Om Unit set about working with seminal Drum N Bass label Metalheadz
Metalheadz is a drum and bass record label based in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1994 by Kemistry & Storm and Goldie.
History
Origins
Goldie's early experiences of the rave scene, especially the club ''Rage'' had a profound effect on ...
and releasing one EP and a full-length LP in 2014 entitled ''Inversions'' which came about through a creative relationship with Goldie
Clifford Joseph Price MBE (born 19 September 1965), better known as Goldie, is a British music producer and DJ.
Initially gaining exposure for his work as a graffiti artist, Goldie became well known for his pioneering role as a musician in t ...
, who allowed him access to original DAT tapes containing samples from his personal archive. Alongside this he has also released three EPs with fellow Bristolian Sam Binga, the first of which was released on DBridge
dBridge, also known as Velvit (born Darren White), is an English drum and bass record producer whose career began during the genre's conception in the early 1990s.IMO Records"dBridge Biography", ''IMO Records'', 17 October 2011. Retrieved 27 Oc ...
's label Exit Records.
in 2016 he was involved with a group project for Exit under the alias "Richie Brains", with an LP of works from himself, Sam Binga, Alix Perez
Alix Depauw, better known by the stage name Alix Perez, is a drum and bass DJ and producer, originally from Charleroi, Belgium. Based in New Zealand, his music is sometimes characterised as liquid funk amongst other labels, and released on l ...
, Chimpo, Fixate, Fracture, and Stray who collaborated over a series of sessions to put together a collection of works that became the full album.
Discography
Releases
Remixes
*Joker - Digidesign (Om Unit's Pop Lock Remix) (2010)
*Foreign Beggars
Foreign Beggars were an English hip hop and dubstep group. Since their formation in 2002, the group's trajectory had seen them evolve from an underground hip hop group to an electronic crossover act. The group consisted of four artists individ ...
- No More (Om Unit's Andromedan Battlemix) (2010)
*Foreign Beggars - Higher (Om Unit's Spacial Awareness Dub) (2010)
*Adam Freeland - How To Fake Your Own Life (Om Unit Remix) (2010)
*Kidkanevil - Tintinnabuli (Om Unit's Drexciyan Meditation Remix) (2010)
*Freddy Todd - Can't Fathom This (Om Unit Remix) (2010)
*V.I.V.E.K - Over My Head (Om Unit Remix) (2013)
*Congo Natty - Get Ready VIP (Om Unit Remix) (2013)
*Above & Beyond - Sticky Fingers (Om Unit Remix) (2014)
*UZ & 12th Planet - Trap Shit V21 (Om Unit Remix) (2015)
*Machinedrum - Gunshotta (Om Unit's Rollers VIP) (2015)
*J:Kenzo - Ruffhouse (Om Unit Remix) (2016)
*Nomine - Blind Man (Om Unit Remix) (2016)
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Om Unit
1980 births
Living people
English DJs
English record producers
Musicians_from_Bristol