World Music

NCT 127’s 2nd full-length album has been repackaged for ‘Neo Zone: The Final Round’, available on June 12th. Features 17 songs, with the 13 tracks from the original album plus four brand-new tracks. ‘The Final Round’ delivers NCT 127’s ambitious message and music color while bringing high expectations. Both repackaged versions include unique components – one photobook, one folded poster, a postcard (random 1 of 9), a circle card (random 1 of 9) and a photocard (random 1 of 9).

Vinyl LP pressing in gatefold jacket. Includes booklet. 2020 release. Rejoice is a very special collaboration between Tony Allen, the co-founder of Afrobeat, and Hugh Masekela, the master of South African jazz. Having first met in the '70s thanks to their respective close associations with Fela Kuti, the two world-renowned musicians talked for decades about making an afrobeat album together. When, in 2010, their touring schedules coincided in the UK, the moment presented itself and producer Nick Gold took the opportunity to record their encounter. The unfinished sessions, consisting of all original compositions by the pair, lay in archive until after Hugh passed away in 2018. With renewed resolution, Tony Allen and Nick Gold, with the blessing and participation of Hugh's estate, unearthed the original tapes and finished recording the album in summer 2019 at the same London studio where the original sessions had taken place. Rejoice can be seen as the long overdue confluence of two mighty African musical rivers - a union of two free-flowing souls for whom borders, whether physical or stylistic, are things to pass through or ignore completely. According to Allen, the album deals in "a kind of South African-Nigerian swing-jazz stew", with it's roots firmly in afrobeat.

The Ripple Effect is a follow up to the award-winning, critically acclaimed Throw Down Your Heart sessions, recorded during the duo's 2009 tour. Throw Down Your Heart was produced and recorded by world-renowned banjoist Béla Fleck, documenting his journey across Africa to research the origins of the banjo. This new The Ripple Effect collection offers previously unreleased recordings from Fleck and virtuoso kora player Toumani Diabaté.

The award-winning documentary and recordings, Throw Down Your Heart, were produced and recorded by Béla Fleck, documenting his journey across Africa to research the origins of the banjo. This deluxe edition offers a complete disc of previously unreleased material from Fleck performing with virtuoso kora player Toumani Diabaté. The DVD includes 1-hour of bonus video material with 14 never-before-heard performances, new commentary by Fleck and director Sascha Paladino with behind-the-scenes insights. The set also offers an expanded essay by Fleck and new notes by Paladino.

NCT 127's 2nd full length album `NCT #127 Neo Zone' will be released on March 6th with 13 tracks expressing NCT 127's unique music color. The album's exclusive title `Neo Zone' builds high expectation while implying a brand-new introduction to NCT 127's music world. The album includes a photo book, lyric book, postcard, a folded poster (initial run only), 1 sticker, 1 circle card (random 1 of every 9), and 1 photo card (random 1 of every 9).

Photo Book (4 versions), Lyric Book (4 versions), CD, Mini Book (4 versions), Photo Card (4 versions, Random), Postcard, Sticker, Coloring Paper (4 versions), Poster (4 versions, Limited).

All sales count towards Soundscan and the US Billboard Charts, as well as the Korean Hanteo and Gaon charts.

Packing details:
Package (224*295mm)
Photobook (206*277mm)
LYRIC & thanks to BOOK (140* 185mm)
CD 1ea
MINI BOOK(THE NOTE) - 4 Version (90*127mm)
PHOTOCARD 4 Version / Random / 1ea of 32ea (54*86mm) 
POSTCARD - 1 Version (120*80mm)
STICKER PACK - 1 Version
COLORING PAGES - 1 Version (140* 185mm)
POSTER - 4 Version / 1ea
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Over the years, different members have traded production and composition duties from album to album. On the new album''Fu Chronicles''Amayo leads us through a thrilling sonic journey of kung fu meets Afrobeat, weaving together the strands of Edo and Yoruba cultural memory from Nigeria with his training and study in Chinese martial arts. Recorded in the Summer of 2018, over seventeen musicians and singers crammed into the storied Daptone House of Soul in Bushwick to record the massive body of work. With live versions and arrangements stretching up to thirty minutes, Perna, Amayo, and Roth worked tirelessly to preserve the hypnotic power of the long-form live arrangements into six concise and powerful album tracks.

‘NCT #127 WE ARE SUPERHUMAN’ is NCT 127’s 4th mini album. The single “Superhuman” is a complextro genre with various elements of EDM. Among 6 songs in total, track number 6 “OUTRO : WE ARE 127” shows their universe of being connected in a dream and becoming a whole through music. In this album, “Social House” who produced Ariana Grande’s 7 Rings and Thank U, Next participated. Also, the collaboration with TAK and Adrian Mckinnon elevated the completion of the album with new, fresh sounds. 

Limited 180gm vinyl LP pressing using DMM (Direct to Metal Mastering) from the high-resolution masters. 2018 release. Hot reggae singer, Alborosie's acoustic sessions recorded live from Shengen Studio, Kingston, Jamaica. "This album is about my livity, and my spiritual guide which is Haile Selassie so I want to be faithful to that. We're all one family, one love, one heart, one destination" - Alborosie. These acoustic sessions include his classic songs 'Kingston Town', 'Still Blazing', 'Herbalist', 'Diversity', and a new recording of 'Johhny B. Goode'.

Now in 180 gram Vinyl! The Soul Pirate album was the result of Alborosie’s 6 years at Geejam studios in Jamaica and in partnership with local artists. The album was recorded for the Forward Recordings label.

2018 marks the 40th Anniversary of Bob Marley & The Wailers’ KAYA. Recorded in part during Marley’s and the band’s 1977 exile in London, KAYA is very much the sibling record to EXODUS. Fittingly, as Ziggy Marley revisited the original session recordings for last year’s EXODUS 40 celebration, this year sibling Stephen Marley revisits the original session recordings to commemorate KAYA, bringing a fresh perspective to this suite that’s quietly referred to as the ‘Peace Treaty’ album.

2 CDs with Photobook (Special Package) / 4 Kinds (S,E,L,F version) / Random Photocard / Special poster for pre-order / This release will count toward the Billboard / Hanteo / Gaon Charts

**Shipments of each version are random with no guarantee of obtaining each version with multiple purchases**

2018 release from 7-member South Korean superstars BTS (AKA the Bangtan Boys) by BIGHIT ENTERTAINMENT. 1CD / Photobook (1 for each version) / Photocard (1EA of 28EA / Random) / Special Photocard (Randomly added / First publish only) / Standing Photo / Poster (4 version / First publish only). LOVE YOURSELF: Tear is the follow up to LOVE YOURSELF: Her.

A Real Labour Of Love, a brand new studio album of 16 tracks from UB40 featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey. The band have chosen a mix of well-known & less well-known reggae songs to cover in true UB40 style. Tracks featured Barrington Levy’s Here I Come, Ken Boothe’s, Moving Away, Gregory Isaac’s Hush Darling & more. Cover art includes a bespoke painting by the respected American painter Mark T Smith & he has incorporated elements from the tracks to create art unique to the band.

The all-star Mama Earth lineup of Joss Stone (vocals), Nitin Sawhney (guitar), Jonathan Joseph (drums), Étienne M'Bappé (bass/guitar) and Jonathan Shorten (keyboards) will release their debut EP "Mama Earth" on November 10, 2017 on Mascot/Provogue. The project started when British soul singer Joss Stone and her former musical director Jonathan Joseph hit on the Mama Earth concept of an album driven by the dynamic rhythms of Africa. A band was assembled from all corners of the music world. Jonathan's compadre Étienne M'Bappé, the dazzling Cameroon-born multi-instrumentalist whose résumé spans from John McLaughlin to Robben Ford; Jonathan Shorten, who had produced much of Stone's studio catalogue between penning some of the biggest hits for acts including Gabrielle and (again) Joss Stone. Finally, there was Nitin Sawhney: the genre-slipping wildcard and one-man musical tidal wave whose collaborations take in Sting, Paul McCartney and the London Symphony Orchestra. The 5 musicians convened at Stone's house, where the musical squad didn't take long to feel each other out. Music was spontaneously written on the spot, without any preparation. In the meantime, Stone purposefully kept her own creative process separate from the four musicians. "I left them to do their own thing with the music in the studio," she reflects, "while I was cooking dinner in the kitchen. I deliberately didn't have any input in the music, because I didn't want to affect it – or it'd all come out hip-hop and R&B! Then they'd come across into the house, give me the track and I'd sit in the kitchen writing lyrics and melodies with my mum. So it was, like, 'You guys do you, and I'll do me – then we'll put it together'. And that's the way it worked. I also went down to the river on my own with a pen and paper and write in the grass by the river. Which was a good way to do it, actually, The whole project is about Mother Nature. It's supposed to be from her perspective." Just ten days after they came together – and following a powerful co-production from all five band members – the Mama Earth sessions were over. And yet, you sense that the story of this fascinating band is only just beginning. Impulsive, dynamic and sometimes downright dangerous, this is an album unlike anything else in the five musicians' respective CVs, unprecedented in the clinical modern music scene – and sure to make waves upon its November 10th release. "I guess this album is essentially how I think of music," considers Sawhney. "It was all about being open to the moment. I think that's really what I loved about this project. To me, Mama Earth is what music should be about, really..."

Knitting Factory Records is proud to release the next installment of the long-awaited vinyl reissues from the FELA KUTI catalog. The inimitable Erykah Badu personally selected the seven albums featured in this fourth box set, which have been remastered from their original vinyl pressings. The artwork for each album has been meticulously recreated from original album artwork, alongside vintage vinyl label artwork. This box set includes: • 7 LPs, Yellow Fever (1976), No Agreement (1977), JJD (1977), VIP (1979), Coffin for Head of State (1980), Army Arrangement (1984), and Underground System (1992). • 20-page full-color booklet featuring: seven personal essays written by Erykah Badu, seven in-depth commentaries by veteran music journalist and Afrobeat historian, Chris May; song lyrics; and never before published photos of Fela Kuti • 16x24” Poster designed by Nigerian artist Lemi Ghariokwu, the creative force behind 26 of Fela Kuti‘s album covers

On November 10th, legendary Grateful Dead drummer, solo artist and world music aficionado Mickey Hart will release his 14th solo album - RAMU - on Verve Forecast. RAMU was co-produced by Michal Menert, formerly of Pretty Lights, and features Avey Tare from Animal Collective, Tank from Tank and the Bangas as guest vocalists. In addition to their contributions, RAMU features the incredible Zakir Hussain on tabla, bassist Oteil Burbridge, talking drum master Sikiru Adepoju, guitarist Steve Kimock, multi-instrumentalist Charles Lloyd, and Jason Hann of String Cheese Incident. Recordings of the late Jerry Garcia, the late Babatunde Olatunji, and unreleased field recordings by Alan Lomax also appear on the album.

1 CD (Random) + 100P Photobook + 20p The Note of 'The Most Beautiful Moment In Life' + 1 Photocard (Random 1 out of 28 Photocard + 1 Special photocard in limited quantity) + Special Stickers // This is the official release and will be counted towards Billboard / Hanteo / Gaon Charts

French Touch brings together a delightful trove of sentimental pop favorites; all reimagined in Carla Bruni's intimate and moving acoustic style and chosen for their personal significance in her own words, songs that inspire the French term for love at first sight a coup de foudre. Coup de foudre more or less also describes what happened when Bruni met Grammy award winning producer, composer, and musician David Foster after an L.A. performance in 2014. Foster volunteered to produce Carla's next record on the spot, and the two began a transatlantic sharing of songs, which was then shaped during twin recording sessions in Paris and L.A.

French Touch is warm and familiar, and inimitably Carla. Richly melodic, warm yet minimal, and often slyly playful - all the arrangements in this collection have been given that French Touch, and still have all the universal appeal as their originals, albeit with a sultry flavor all their own.

Vancouver based, multi-platinum selling artist Wanting returns with new album LLL. “It stands for Love, Loss and Latitude,” says Wanting, “It’s about falling in love and facing all the good and the bad that love brings.When one can't save love and it becomes loss, you feel hurt, confused, sad and defeated. When you feel the world left you with nothing, remember you still have you, that feeling of latitude and freedom that you had when you only got to worry about yourself.” Produced by Justin Gray (John Legend, Mariah Carey, Miley Cyrus, Joss Stone) LLL releases on October 27, 2017 via Nettwerk Records

Producer, arranger and musician Jake Savona (pka Mista Savona) brought together a stellar assortment of Cuban and Jamaican musicians to create this collection of re-interpreted classics and original songs as a soundtrack to an upcoming documentary of the same title. Havana Meets Kingston is a tour through these two historic island nations highlighting the common ground between the two, through rhythm and culture.

SOJA, the internationally acclaimed GRAMMY-nominated eight-piece from Washington D.C., will release its new album 'Poetry in Motion' on October 27th via ATO Records.

SOJA's core sound an uplifting meld of reggae, go-go, D.C. hardcore, Latin, rock, and hip-hop is as tight and compelling as it's ever been in the group's 20 year history, but now the group digs deeper on its message of finding peace and understanding in the world caught in tribulation. For the band, having fun and social awareness can, and should, co-exist.

Lead singer Jacob Hemphill explains, 'Poetry in Motion is about us, the human race. We're beautiful. We're the caretakers of this earth and everything that lives here, calls it home. But something is wrong. Something in us is lost. That's the focus - how to get back to the beauty and away from... well, this.'

Double vinyl LP pressing. 2017 release. Kiss, Cuddle & Torture Volume 1 is the debut album from London outfit The Hempolics. If variety is the spice of life then this album embodies it, taking a heavy reggae roots influence and mashing it with hip hop, electro, soul, rock and pop to provide an antidote to the attention-deficit generation. Some bands talk an 'all killer no filler' album, The Hempolics walk it. Over years of recording top international talent The Hempolics enigmatic leader, Grippa Laybourne, has been carefully honing his own masterpiece and selecting a gang armed and dangerous enough to execute it. Alongside mainstay vocalists Nubiya, Dandelion and Harry come other top talent including Maxi Jazz and Paolo Nutini. Singles off the album have already picked up massive support on BBC Radio. With a unique modern yet vintage sound and a serious punk DIY ethic this working class band is destined to have the rich kids and performance school drones dominating the industry quaking in their wake. This is the sound of the underdog coming to bite.

Antibalas new studio album, Where The Gods Are In Peace, is an epic Afro-Western Trilogy searching for solace from American political opportunism, greed and vengeance. Through its battle cry of resistance against exploitation and displacement, Antibalas long-form compositions investigate oppression in 1800s America that eerily mirror the current state of the country. Three explosive original arrangements cultivate an urgent call to heal a broken system. Ultimately, the sonic excursion lands on an island where love is our first instinct. A new ideology is born opening our hearts to the possibilities of living as one unified people, where all gods are equal and together we prevail.

True to traditional form, Where The Gods Are In Peace pays respect to the forefathers of Afrobeat with compositions spanning nine to 15 minutes in length. With a blessing from the Fela Kuti legacy early in the band s career, Antibalas has long been revered for re-popularizing the classic Afrobeat sound while adding their distinct New York City grit to the mix. Influences of punk rock, free jazz, and hip-hop seep into their expansive works to define a truly 21st century translation of the Afrobeat genre and beyond. Vinyl includes download code.

Damian 'Jr. Gong' Marley will be releasing Stony Hill from Republic Records. The album features new singles 'Medication,' 'R.O.A.R' & 'Speak Life.' Marley's previous album GRAMMY-Award winning Welcome To Jamrock is certified RIAA Gold, and won Best Reggae Album and Best Urban/Alternative Performance at the 2006 GRAMMYS.

Grammy Award nominated Mali Music's highly-anticipated new album The Transition of Mali is his sophomore release following his major label debut, Mali Is. The lead single "Gonna Be Alright" is already being met with praise by many critics and the track truly gives fans a glimpse into Mali's mind.

Snarky Puppy's Michael League leads Bokante on their debut album ''Strange Circles,'' out June 9th on GroundUP Music. For the newly-formed international music ensemble Bokante, connection is the foundation upon which all things are built. Rich in the sounds of both delta and desert, the unusual but evocative instrumentation on their debut album, ''Strange Circles,'' blends musical worlds to convey an urgent message of social awareness against the rising tide of exclusion and human indifference. The album goes from Zeppelin-esque blues stomp to folkloric Carribbean kaladja over the course of its ten tracks, blending the extensive and varied knowledge of the individual players with a strong, yet empathetic, lyrical approach. The band features 8 world-class musicians from 4 continents, each one accomplished in their own right and well versed in music far beyond that of their point of origin. Bokante (which means ''exchange'' in Creole comes together to create a diverse ensemble rich in groove, melody, and soul. ''Unity is paramount in the formation of this group,'' observed League. ''Though the ensemble is multi-lingual, mult-cultural, and mult-generation, we all feel connected as musicians and people. And in combining our different accents I feel that there is a strangely common and poignant sound, one that can reach and relate to listeners around the world.''

Syrian musician Omar Souleyman's new album, To Syria, With Love, is set for release June 2 via Mad Decent. The follow up to 2015's Bahdeni Nami marks Souleyman's third full-length studio record. In support of the new release, Souleyman will tour the U.S. in May, playing select dates including New York, Los Angeles, Detroit and Salt Lake City as well as festival performances at Form Arcosanti in Arizona and MoogFest in North Carolina. To Syria, With Love is a departure musically and lyrically from his previous material, with focus on more elaborate keyboard and techno elements. Completely setting politics aside, Souleyman consciously shares this personal ode to his native country with an emphasis on his emotional connection to the land and people but not without heartache in view of the nation's current state. "It's been six years I've been away, and I'm tired of looking for home and asking about my loved ones. My soul is wounded and it's like having dust in my eyes," Souleyman says.

With her debut solo album Ya Nass (2013), Yasmine Hamdan introduced her personal, modern take on Arabic pop. In Al Jamilat ('The Beautiful Ones'), she pursues her musical exploration, while taking a look at the mutations at work within the Arab world.

2017 release. West Africa's most iconic dance-band is back. A decade on from their last album and almost half a century since their formation, Senegal's Orchestra Baobab return with a timeless set of classic, swaying tunes fusing Afro-Cuban rhythms and African tradition in the group's trademark style. Recorded locally in Moussa X's Dakar studio, the new recordings sound fresh and yet reassuringly familiar, retaining the ripeness of the sound that made Orchestra Baobab a legend but interpreted with a vigor and vibrancy, and with a few twists, that are vital and captivating. As enduring as the mighty African Baobab tree from which the group derives it's name, the veteran core of the band remains as strong and sturdy as ever. Vocalists Balla Sidibe and Rudy Gomis, saxophonists Issa Sissoko and Thierno Koite and the long-serving, rock steady rhythm section of Balla Sidibe, timbales, Charlie Ndiaye bass and Mountaga Koite on congas. Tribute To Ndiouga Dieng is dedicated to one of the bands original vocalists who sadly died in November 2016. His songs will continue to be sung with the band by his son Alpha. It represents the latest chapter in a long and storied career that started in 1970 when the newly-formed Orchestra Baobab helped forge Dakar into one of the world's most vital musical cities. Over the next decade the group dominated the local scene and produced countless hits before disbanding in the early '80s.

When the Country blues was first recorded in the mid-1920s, it was not only played and appreciated by African-Americans but also by white performers and audiences alike. During this time, it was common practice for record companies to separate the music of the American South into two categories: the ‘race’ series, aimed at a black audience; and the ‘hillbilly’ series, aimed at white audiences. This division along racial lines was in fact superficial, as black and white musicians shared much with respect to genre and repertoire and the separation of the two on commercial recordings grew out of the prejudices of record companies. Often overlooked is the fact that there was a huge amount of musical exchange and interaction between white and black musicians at this time. For many early country musicians the blues was liberating, as it freed them from the clichés of the sentimental songs and saccharine harmonies of mainstream radio singers of the day. In the same way that black sharecroppers found solace in the blues, the white working class – such as miners and mill workers ¬¬– were drawn to the blues as a way of expressing the hardships of daily life. One such performer was Frank Hutchison who came from a rough and isolated mountain community in West Virginia where both black and white miners worked side by side. Hutchison’s style was heavily influenced by local black performers and here he gives a classic rendition of the American folk song ‘Stackalee’. Dick Justice was also from West Virginia, and his version of ‘Cocaine’ is undoubtedly modelled on Luke Jordan’s 1927 race recording. Likewise, the enormous influence of the great Blind Lemon Jefferson is very much in evidence in mountain musician Larry Hensley’s stellar cover of Lemon’s ‘Match Box Blues’ as well as Clarence Greene’s nimble playing on ‘Johnson City Blues’. Known as the ‘Father Of Country Music’, Jimmie Rodgers was heavily influenced by the blues which became a prominent element of his music. In turn, black musicians listened to his records and were inspired by his famous ‘blue yodels’ which can be heard in the vocal delivery of two Delta legends Howlin' Wolf and Tommy Johnson. Cliff Carlisle was another who fell under the spell of Jimmie Rodgers’, and accompanied his yodelling with a Hawaiian-influenced slide guitar style to great effect. Among others who were inspired by the Hawaiian guitar craze popular in American mainstream culture were the Dixon Brothers as well as another country duo Darby And Tarleton, who had a large number of blues songs in their repertoire. Other featured early country music pioneers such as Charlie Poole and Doc Boggs were less directly influenced by black musicians and merely embellished their overall repertoires with blues derived songs. Often the word ‘blues’ was attached to a song even if it wasn’t a blues song in the strictest sense of the word. An area often overlooked and least understood in the development of the blues is the parlour guitar tradition which derives from Europe during the late 1700s when the middle class would play light classical pieces on the guitar. When the settlers and immigrants carried this tradition to America, it gradually filtered down to the lower classes. Many of these compositions required the guitar strings to be tuned to an open chord, and this along with the picking technique where the thumb was used to create a steady or alternating bass were absorbed into the blues tradition. Two classic examples of this at work are ‘Spanish Fandango’ and the opening ‘Guitar Rag’, both of which give further evidence of the incredible musical exchange between black and white musical cultures in the development of the blues.