music

Get Rich or Die Tryin' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. After signing with Eminem, 50 Cent also worked heavily with Dr. Dre, with the duo acting as the album's executive producers, who worked to combine the gangsta rap and R&B combo prevalent in New York hip hop. Additional production is provided by Mike Elizondo, Sha Money XL, Mr. Porter, Rockwilder, Dirty Swift, Megahertz, and more. Get Rich or Die Tryin' was ranked by several publications as one of the best albums of the 2000s. In 2020, it was certified 9× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was the best-selling album of 2003 in the US, and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 46th Grammy Awards. It won Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album at 2003 American Music Awards and Top Billboard 200 Album at the 2003 Billboard Music Awards. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked the album number 280 on their updated 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

Since 1934, Disco Fuentes (Fuentes Records) has acted as the largest record label in Colombia, a country where it is impossible to escape music. This collection of tracks delves into the golden years of 1960-76 and is hand picked from the enormous Fuentes record catalogue comprising various tropical music styles. Cumbia, Gaita, Fandango, Salsa and Champeta all feature in the selection from one of the worlds best Latin music archives. “Blistering tracks that draw you deep into the jungle with their percussive mayhem [...] this is a scene to explore, and this album’s 28-page booklet of liner notes will provide plenty to ponder after your party” - Songlines Magazine

4th solo album from the enigmatic rocker who influenced the vocal styles of David Bowie & Bryan Ferry, formerly of the British Invasion act the Walker Brothers he started his career as a teen idol who recorded under the name Scotty Engel. Standard jewelcase.

A very special concert experience on vinyl: "Leonard Cohen: Live In London" is the recording of his great 2008 stage comeback.

Evolving around Ackamoor's intricate compositions, the album takes us effortlessly across moods and emotions through a series of expansive, extended pieces. Starting with ritual, soul-searching, and masculine vulnerability on the title track, the band explores timeless existence on ‘Eternity’ and mourns the sudden loss of loved ones in the prescient ‘When Will I See You Again?’, a track which gains new relevance amidst the current COVID-19 crisis. Ackamoor pays tribute to his mentor Cecil Taylor on the angular ‘Theme For Cecil’ and renders homage to the ancestors on ‘Salvation’ and ‘The Last Slave Ship’, recalling the last ship to bring slaves to the US from Africa, the Clotilda. The superb ‘Virgin’ is an anthem of forgiveness, new beginnings and self-healing. ‘Shaman!’ marks another significant landmark in The Pyramids' discography with the band at the peak of their powers. It is produced by Malcolm Catto at his analogue HQ, Quatermass Studio, in London. Cover artwork features an exclusive new painting by Japanese artist Tokio Aoyama. 

The third release from Night Dreamer’s essential “Direct-to-Disc” sessions sees an incredible meeting between legendary US saxophonist Gary Bartz and leading UK spiritual jazz ensemble, Maisha, featuring two Bartz classics and three brand new joint songs written by both Bartz & Maisha in close collaboration. This record really is an event, in and of itself, a meeting of talents, minds, generations and zeitgeist moments, captured in a unique and pure manner. The music does not disappoint, as Maisha have been inspired to reach new heights whilst we find Bartz truly reinvigorated, and both artists in tune to the spirit of the other.

Taken from live improvisation to live sampling and amp; recomposition to borderdefying beat collage – a new jazz mixtape tells a many-splendored tale of Trans-Atlantic collaboration in constant cadence. Over the course of 3 days in London, drummer / producer Makaya McCraven connected with first time collaborators (Theon Cross, Nubya Garcia, Joe Armon-Jones, Soweto Kinch, Ashley Henry, Daniel Casimir and Kamaal Williams) and did 2 improvised performances as part of a 2-night showcase called CHICAGOxLONDON at legendary UK Jazz hub Total Refreshment Centre (TRC). The following Sunday afternoon five producers (LeFtO, Ben LaMar Gay, Quiet Dawn, Earl Jeffers and Don Leisure of the Darkhouse Family) were invited to TRC to participate in an event called Fresh Roasted: Live Beat-Making ad Battle, where they did live remixes of the recordings from Makaya and cos CHICAGOxLONDON performances.

Captured during two sunny afternoons in September 2017, The fourth LP by the much respected and collected duo, Hampshire and Foat, takes us to a new level of direct performance. Recorded live, with no overdubs, in two churches situated in Saint Lawrence on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, and mixed direct live onto a vintage stereo Nagra IV-S and AKG C24 Stereo microphone, every nuance of the performance is laid bare. Only the ambience of the room and the artists' skill make the recording what it is.

As with many of the classic Ramsey Lewis cuts this album was recorded live, capturing the rich inter-relationship between the players and leaving in some of that chunky room noise, lending the album a sound that’s as thick as a steak and raw as a carrot. Recorded over an intense two-day session by the band of the same name, “The Lewis Express” is a nod to the classic soul jazz recordings of The Young Holt Trio / Young Holt Unlimited and Ramsey Lewis, from who this group take their name. But, delivered with a distinctly European feel.