World Music

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
QR code

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**

'Following the huge success of it's digital release, BTS' Face Yourself is getting a physical release. Originally released in April, Face Yourself made history as the highest-ranked, and only, Japanese album by a Korean group to ever appear on the Billboard 200. It peaked at No. 43 on the chart dated April 14 through it's digital release with more than 27 million streams in just 48 hours after dropped. Along with Japanese versions of several of BTS' prior-released songs, Face Yourself features four original tracks: "Intro: Ringwanderung," "Don't Leave Me," "Let Go" and "Outro: Crack." To date, they have more than 220 million views on YouTube for the music video of their single "Fake Love" from their previous release LOVE YOURSELF: Tear which debuted #1 on the Billboard 200 Chart and has sold more than 1.75 million albums worldwide.

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.

2018 release. Since it's debut, Grammy-nominated global musical sensation Celtic Woman's concerts continue to touch the hearts of a huge audience that spans the globe. Both an accomplished recording ensemble and a one-of-a-kind live act, Celtic Woman combines the country's finest musical talents with epic stage production to present a uniquely inspiring live experience. Filmed in Dublin, Ireland in September 2017, Homecoming: Live From Ireland represents the next chapter of their extraordinary musical journey

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.

There was something in the air in the urban corners of late ‘60s Japan. Student protests and a rising youth culture gave way to the angura (short for “underground) movement that thrived on subverting traditions of the post-war years. Rejection of the Beatlemania-inspired Group Sounds and the squeaky clean College Folk movements led the rise of what came to be known in Japan as “New Music,” where authenticity mattered more than replicating the sounds of their idols.

Some of the most influential figures in Japanese pop music emerged from this vital period, yet very little of their work has ever been released or heard outside of Japan, until now. Light In The Attic is thrilled to present Even a Tree Can Shed Tears, the inaugural release in the label’s Japan Archival Series. This is the first-ever, fully licensed collection of essential Japanese folk and rock songs from the peak years of the angura movement to reach Western audiences.

In mid-to-late 1960s Tokyo, young musicians and college students were drawn to Shibuya’s Dogenzaka district for the jazz and rock kissas, or cafes, that dotted its winding hilly streets. Some of these spaces doubled as performance venues, providing a stage for local regulars like Hachimitsu Pie with their The Band-like ragged Americana, Tetsuo Saito with his spacey philosophical folk, and the influential Happy End, who successfully married the unique cadences of the Japanese language to the rhythms of the American West Coast. For many years Dogenzaka remained a center of the city’s “New Music” scene.

Meanwhile a different kind of music subculture was beginning to emerge in the Kansai region around Osaka, Kyoto, and Kobe. Far more political than their eastern counterparts, many of the Kansai-based “underground” artists began in the realm of protest folk music. They include Takashi Nishioka and his progressive folk collective Itsutsu No Akai Fuusen, the “Japanese Joni Mitchell” Sachiko Kanenobu, and The Dylan II, whose members ran The Dylan cafe in Osaka, which became a hub for the scene.

Even a Tree Can Shed Tears also includes the bluesy avant-garde stylings of Maki Asakawa, future Sadistic Mika Band founder Kazuhiko Kato with his fuzzy, progressive psychedelia, the beatnik acid folk of Masato Minami, and the intimate living room folk of Kenji Endo.

Nearly 50 years on, this “New Music” is born anew.

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.

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.

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.

Bob Marley & the Wailers' classic Exodus album, the ninth studio album of the band, was released on June 3, 1977, featuring a new backing band including brothers Carlton and Aston 'Family Man' Barrett on drums and bass, Tyrone Downie on keyboards, Alvin 'Seeco' Patterson on percussion, and the I Threes, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths and Rita Marley on backing vocals, and newest member Julian 'Junior Marvin' on guitar. The album was released on June 3, 1977, just six months after an assassination attempt was made on Bob Marley's life in Jamaica in December, forcing him to flee to London, where Exodus was recorded. This June marks the 40th anniversary of Exodus named the 'Best Album of the 20th Century' by Time magazine in 1999 with a series of four separate reissues, three of which will feature Exodus 40 - The Movement Continues, son Ziggy Marley's newly curated 'restatement' of the original album. As part of the celebration, Ziggy Marley has intimately revisited the original session recordings, uncovering unused and never-before-heard vocals, lyric phrasing and instrumentation, incorporating and transforming these various elements into brand-new session takes. The 2CD softpack edition contains the original album and the Ziggy Marley 'restatement.'

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.

For the last five years, Tinariwen have been busy criss-crossing the globe bringing their triumpant tours to all five continents and expanding their audience. During this time their beloved homeland in the Adrar des Ifoghas, a Saharan mountain range that straddles the border between north-eastern Mali and southern Algeria has, in effect, been transformed into a conflict zone, a place where nobody can venture without putting themselves in danger. These conflicts have forced the band into exile to record their 8th album, Elwan. Elwan means ‘the elephants ‘ - an animal metaphor to describe those ‘beasts’, whether militias or multinational consortiums, who have trampled everything in their path: in the desert, where both the human and ecological equilibriums are extremely fragile. Tinariwen chose to record this album is several locations around the world, including for 4 days at the desert hideaway of Rancho De La Luna studio in Joshua Tree, CA, the studio known as a favored refuge for many an eclectic artist from Queens of the Stone Age to Daniel Lanios to Arctic Monkeys to Iggy Pop and more. For Tinariwen, the geographical location of the studio proved to be particularly propitious in terms of creativity. And the human climate was just as favorable. A few friends dropped in during the sessions to add some magic to a few tracks including, Kurt Vile (electric guitar), Mark Lanegan ( Vocals on ‘Nànnuflày’), Matt Sweeney (electric guitar) and producer/guitarist, Alain Johannes (Cigarbox guitar). Sessions were also recorded in Morocco, where the band were accompanied by local musicians, in a land where they are considered musical legends. Lovers of those sensual yet abrasive riffs that are Tinariwen’s signature won’t be disappointed. But neither will those who love their funky, danceable side, which comes through loud and clear. All that potential has been wonderfully honed by the album’s mixing engineer Andrew Schepps, known well for his work with the Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Johnny Cash, and Jay Z.