Live! is an album recorded in 1971 by Fela Kuti's band Africa '70, with the addition of former Cream drummer Ginger Baker on two songs.

Given the pace of Michael Jackson's post-Thriller release schedule, it's striking that off the wall appeared between two albums with his brothers, Destiny (1978) and Triumph (1980), on which the twenty something phenomenon was also fully engaged.

The album has cemented its place in hip-hop history and has since gone on to achieve 6x platinum certification in the US, selling over 3.5 million copies, and has achieved platinum status in the UK as well.

Caught at the beginning of her career in 1985, Sade's cool vocals and exotic looks grabbed everyone's attention. But equally as important to Diamond Life's success was the velvet muscle of the band's accompaniment, a sinewy after-hours groove, laden with minimalist funk. Eight of the nine tracks are self-penned. Straddling R&B and pop, this album lays out the hooks and sultry allure that became Sade's soulful standard - intelligent and sexy at the same time.

Marc Moulin’s Top Secret is a mixed bag of downtempo jazz treats and sweet-sounding rhythmic forays into the dark of night

Four-time GRAMMY Award-nominated global superstar RAYE, is releasing her highly anticipated sophomore album THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE. The album, set in 4 “seasons” with each side of the vinyl being a different season, takes listeners on a sonic journey that begins with darkness and ends with light.

Carole King brought the fledgling singer / songwriter phenomenon to the masses with Tapestry, one of the most successful albums in pop music history. A remarkably expressive and intimate record, it's a work of consummate craftsmanship.

In a career laden with highlights and hallmarks in the annals of soul history, Just As I Am is rather overlooked as one of the best soul debuts ever issued.

Khruangbin’s fourth studio album, A La Sala (“To the Room” in Spanish), is an exercise in returning in order to go further, and doing so on your own terms.

Dorothy Ashby was an American jazz harpist, one of the very few who used her instrument to play credible jazz and bebop.

The xx producer and percussionist Jamie Smith takes a stab at recontextualizing Gil Scott-Heron's excellent 2010 album, I'm New Here.

On Alligator Bites Never Heal, Doechii is equal parts her Tampa roots and Los Angeles, where she’s currently based, she is then and now and also tomorrow, she is countless genres and movements and eras and ideas laid out before us in less than an hour of song.

Soundway Records present a new compilation of twenty rare and mostly unavailable tracks from the slick and sassy world of Nigerian pop music and club culture of the early 1980s.

De La Soul returns with Cabin in The Sky, a deeply personal and emotionally charged album.

Following his recent studio album with Afrobeat Academy, 'Love And Death', his first international release, Ghanaian highlife guitar legend Ebo Taylor teams up again with Strut for a long overdue definitive compilation of his seminal 1970s recordings, 'Life Stories'.

Space 1.8 is Nala Sinephro’s debut album; each contributing piece is part of a connected, collaborative and deeply personal body of music.

The definitive female singer songwriter album of the 70's 1971's Blue is just about as perfect as an album can be.

Island Records presents Nick Drake's second album 'Bryter Layter' in the Back To Black format.

Although Simone covers songs by Bob Dylan and The Beatles, among others, most of the versions feature arrangements substantially different from the original recordings.

All in all, a rare treat composed of, er, rare treats. Thoroughly recommended.

Compiled by legendary producer Arthur Baker, ‘Breakers Revenge’ is a neardefinitive collection of original funk, soul, latin, disco and electro classic tracks from 1970 to 1984.

By 1994 the Beasties had settled into their cultural role as the grand arbiters of cool, and 'Ill Communication' is pretty much a catalog of coolness

The Bristol-based trip-hop pioneers had, potentially, a huge task on their hands to follow up the hugely influential 1991 debut album ‘Blue Lines.’ But they managed it with apparent ease, delivering a record that would end up in a Rolling Stone list of the ten coolest albums of all time. Co-producing with Nellee Hooper, the Massive Attack collective delivered another masterstroke by utilising guest musicians and vocalists throughout the album, as they had on ‘Blue Lines.’ This time, without Shara Nelson, they included Nigerian singer-songwriter Nicolette, Jamaican reggae veteran Horace Andy and, perhaps most memorably, Tracey Thorn of Everything But The Girl on the title track, which became a UK top 15 single. Credit: udiscovermusic

Following on almost exactly a year to the day from the release of their acclaimed debut “For the first time”, the band have harnessed the momentum from that record and run full pelt into their second, with “Ants From Up There”.

Blue Note Re:imagined is a brand-new collection of classic Blue Note tracks, reworked and newly recorded by a selection of the UK scene’s most exciting young talents.

For most artists who are discovered behind the mixing boards, making the transfer from producer to MC proves a daunting task. Fortunately for Kanye West, his verbal skills more than rise to the challenge of his consistently superior beats.

The slo-beat pioneers Kruder and Dorfmeister of Vienna are among the hottest producers in the dance universe.

Music That Inspired Buena Vista Social Club

Released in 1988, the album has somewhat grown in cult status to frequently appear on a number of greatest albums of all time lists.

Witch was the first band in Zambia to release a commercial album — 1973’s Introduction.

without 'rubber soul,' there would be no psychedelia.

The double album is Lamar's first studio album release since Damn (2017), his first album release under his creative collective PGLang, and his final project with TDE (under which he previously released four albums and was one of their flagship artists).

Mysteries Of The World is the stunning final studio album from legendary Philly supergroup MFSB. 

Van Morrison went a long way towards defining his wild Irish heart with his first two classic albums: the brooding, introspective Astral Weeks (1968), and the expansive, swinging Moondance.

Often cited as one of the best hip-hop albums of the '90s, 'Illmatic' is the undisputed classic upon which Nas' reputation rests.

The 4th Led Zeppelin album, untitled but commonly known as "Led Zeppelin IV" or "Four Symbols". Originally released in 1971 it became their biggest seller and one of the biggest selling albums of all-time.

This collection features sixteen of the most renowned salsa and Latin soul singles released on Fania Records, and its subsidiaries, between 1964-1978, making it the perfect introduction to the legendary catalog.

Recorded live at the Village Vanguard on June 25, 1961, the same night as Sunday At The Village Vanguard, this set rounded out what became known as an early "full" portrait of Bill Evans.

It is with great joy that we present the Mr Bongo edition of Marcos Valle's 1983 self-titled masterpiece. A pure vintage that features the ultimate Brazilian-boogie cult-classic 'Estrelar' and iconic 80s cover art that sees a gloriously sun-drenched Marcos dressed in a pink v-neck t-shirt surrounded by a generous selection of deadly-looking neon cocktails.

Females have never figured strongly in the ranks of blues and rock guitar players, but the woman featured on this LP can claim to be one of the formative influences on modern rock ‘n’ roll guitar.

Donald Byrd’s 1975 album Places and Spaces featuring the hits “Wind Parade” and “Dominoes” was the culmination of the great trumpeter’s fusion period.

Reissue of seminal ’90s house LP Super Discount from Étienne de Crécy, a founding classic of the French touch sound feat. Air, Alex Gopher and more.

Little Simz is a boundary-breaking musician and cultural curator, recognised as one of the UK’s most captivating and visionary artists.

Following the critical and commercial success of their debut album last year and 18 months' extensive touring and festival appearances, Public Service Broadcasting release their eagerly anticipated second album, 'The Race For Space'.

The Electric Warrior album effectively buried the psychedelic folk rock of Tyrannosaurus Rex and immortalised the trashy hard rock of T Rex.

Kiwanuka is the follow-up to Michael’s number 1 album, Love and Hate, released back in July 2016 that resonated broadly both critically and in the public’s affections, netting the British musician his second Mercury Prize nomination and his second and third Brit nominations too.

In this collection, we have curated new finds alongside old, treasured tracks that hold a special place in our hearts, selecting music inspiring us from the Brazilian, Latin, soul, disco, gospel, cosmic, dancehall and downtempo genres.

Second only to Kind of Blue by Miles and Jazz Samba by Stan Getz, as the most commercially successful jazz record of all time (it even contained a single for the pop charts, Paul Desmond's magnificent Take Five'), Brubeck brilliantly popularised jazz and offered it as a palatable alternative to Bobby Vee

Four decades have failed to dull the album’s power and awe-inspiring scope. It’s been cited as a favorite by figures like Prince, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey – and Wonder himself. “Of all the albums, Songs in the Key of Life I’m most happy about,” he told Q magazine in 1995. “Just the time, being alive then. To be a father and then letting go and letting God give me the energy and strength I needed.” Credit: Rolling Stone

Having grown out of the amiable but derivative styles captured on the long-circulating series of bootleg home recordings, Drake imbues his tunes with just enough drama -- world-weariness in the vocals, carefully paced playing, and more -- to make it all work.

DJ and producer David Holmes is welcomed to the Late Night Tales fraternity with an evocative collection of personal songs and music, peppered with exclusive new material and rare gems.

No matter how controversial, it remains one of the greatest and most influential hip-hop albums of all time.

For this classic encounter, the only collaboration ever between Duke Ellington and John Coltrane, Duke sat in with the John Coltrane Quartet for a set dominated by Ellington's songs

Aretha Franklin disproved the notion that once you leave the church, you can't go back. She returned in triumph on this 1972 double album, making what might be her greatest release ever in any style.

It’s a deeply personal oering about her trek to falling back in love with musical composition over the past four years.

Lou Reed's second solo album Transformer is an album that everyone should own. 

Barry’s Late Night Tales mix brings together disparate styles and forms them into a coherent narrative.

'Tokyo Dreaming' is a superb selection picked from the highly collectible Nippon Columbia label and its Better Days sub-label. For the occasion, we've teamed up with journalist and Japanese music expert Nick Luscombe who was granted rare access to the much-guarded Nippon Columbia's vaults for a masterful selection encapsulating the fascinating sound of Tokyo in the late 70s and 80s. 

A Grand Don’t Come For Free emerged two years after their breakthrough debut album and The Streets had already become an international phenomenon.

Fragments is the most emotionally intense record that he - aka Simon Green - has ever had to make. It’s no surprise that it’s also his masterpiece.

Many great singers passed through the hands of late great soul/R&B producer Jerry Wexler, from Aretha Franklin to Dusty Springfield, but Etta James was a singer he willingly waited 20 long years to work with.

Elevating, uplifting and beautifully arranged.

This disc is an overt response to the consistent harassment afflicting Fela Kuti's Kalakuta Republic in the early '70s under the oppressive Lagos authorities.

Collaboration is stimulating, it's in my blood.' Thus speaks Brian Jackson and his philosophy for making music and it's indeed collaboration that runs through this amazing album of reimagined and revisited songs from his artistic past.

Selected Ambient Works 85-92 is a record that quietly reshaped electronic music yet still feels modern decades later. What makes it important is how it broadened the idea of what electronic music could be. It sits somewhere between ambient & techno and opened a door for electronic music to be...

Chet Baker had a long and complicated relationship with Italy. It was a country where he was both imprisoned and adored. 

If you love Marvin Gaye, Al Green and Prince - this is up there.

Find a Way' is the new album from Manchester-based pianist, composer, and producer Matt Wilde, released via his own imprint Hello World Records. The album serves as a reminder that creativity should be accessible and the importance of opening yourself to the unexpected as you 'Find a Way' through all endeavours. Digging into improvisation and jazz harmony on the LP, he crafts a sound that bridges jazz, hip hop, and electronic music, adding: "The creative act is not a matter of waiting for the perfect conditions, but of moving gently, insistently, through the imperfect".

Tom Misch releases his highly anticipated debut album Geography via his own label Beyond The Groove / Kobalt Music Recordings.

"Backed By Jimmy Bond And Albert 'Tootie' Heath, This Album Showcases Her (Nina Simone) Ballad Voice As One Of Mystery And Sensuality And Her Up-Tempo Jazz Style With Authority And An Enigmatic Down- Home Feel That Is Nonetheless Elegant. The Album Also Introduced A Fine Jazz Pianist. Simone Was A Solid Improviser Who Never Strayed Far From The Blues." - Thom Jurek, AllMusic

Written and produced by Kieran Hebden.

36 Chambers, an insular and weird album by design, arrived not a moment too soon in a decade where insular and weird music found unexpected traction in the mainstream.

Truly original and a definite must.

Circles is the sixth and final studio album by Mac Miller. Conceived as a sister album to 2018's full length Swimming, the album was completed with the assistance of Jon Brion, with whom Miller worked on Swimming and had been working together on Circles at the time of his passing.

Timepeace was recorded in 1998 after a 15 year long career break and won the United Nations's Time For Peace award for outstanding artistic achievement contributing to world peace.

Jamie xx releases a remastered version of his debut album In Colour on Young Turks.

Long before the likes of Daft Punk and Air, Ludovic Navarre, better known as St Germain, was breaking new ground as one of the original french dance artists.

2000 Blacks Got To Be Free is a musical collaboration between the African American vibraphone player Roy Ayers and Fela.

Get out! Fight!” The Lijadu Sisters’ Horizon Unlimited is the insurgent afrofunk their second cousin Fela strived to create.

Small Changes is the eagerly anticipated follow-up to Michael’s eponymous third LP, the Mercury Prize winning, and Grammy Award nominated Kiwanuka.