An extended live set, recorded during the last concert tour that Bob Marley ever gave the planet – material from a German concert in 1980, which also includes a bit of brief opening work from I Three too! Marley is at the top of his game here – really growing into that messianic role of global superstar as he stands strong on the stage – delivering material from the Uprising album, plus other classics too – in a lineup that includes "War/No More Trouble", "Zion Train", "Exodus", "Could You Be Loved", "Redemption Song", "Natty Dread", "Work", "Get Up Stand Up", "Lively Up Yourself", "Coming In From The Cold", "Steppin Out Of Babylon", and "Slave Queen". LP, Vinyl record album

The last studio album issued by Bob Marley during his too-short lifetime – and the kind of record that continued to keep him at the top of the global scene – not just a reggae star, but a worldwide superstar who would have kept the fire burning for decades! The group is rock-solid – backing from the I Threes, lead guitar from Junior Murvin, and great rhythms from Aston and Carlton Barrett. There's no letting up for Marley here – either in his political stance or fiery songwriting and titles include classic takes of "Redemption Song", "Could You Be Loved", "Bad Card", "We & Dem", and "Coming In From the Cold". CD

The last studio album issued by Bob Marley during his too-short lifetime – and the kind of record that continued to keep him at the top of the global scene – not just a reggae star, but a worldwide superstar who would have kept the fire burning for decades! The group is rock-solid – backing from the I Threes, lead guitar from Junior Murvin, and great rhythms from Aston and Carlton Barrett. There's no letting up for Marley here – either in his political stance or fiery songwriting and titles include classic takes of "Redemption Song", "Could You Be Loved", "Bad Card", "We & Dem", and "Coming In From the Cold". Includes the bonus tracks "Redemption Song (band version)" and "Could You Be Loved (12" mix)". CD

The last studio album issued by Bob Marley during his too-short lifetime – and the kind of record that continued to keep him at the top of the global scene – not just a reggae star, but a worldwide superstar who would have kept the fire burning for decades! The group is rock-solid – backing from the I Threes, lead guitar from Junior Murvin, and great rhythms from Aston and Carlton Barrett. There's no letting up for Marley here – either in his political stance or fiery songwriting and titles include classic takes of "Redemption Song", "Could You Be Loved", "Bad Card", "We & Dem", and "Coming In From the Cold". LP, Vinyl record album

Way more than you might expect from the title – not just a simple reggae band, but a Brazilian group affiliated with a social organization of the same name – dedicated to making change in the rough-edged culture of the favelas! Afroreggae certainly do have a bit of reggae in their groove, but their sounds are often warmer and more soulful too – in rhythms that don't always hit a Jamaican-styled mode, and which bring in some Brazilian elements as well. Titles include "Mais Uma Chance", "Partida", "Haiti", "Coisa De Negao", "A Parada E Outra", and "Aguas De Moloch". CD

Seminal work from one of the 70s greatest groups! The band had always been great at love songs and uptempo numbers – but this record has them moving into more righteous area, picking up on some of the more socially conscious soul of their generation that had been working its way up the charts. The album features excellent production by Chi-Lite Eugene Record, who also wrote a lot of the material – plus arrangements by Tom Tom and Sonny Sanders. Great stuff all around, with the righteous social tunes "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to The People", "Trouble's A Comin", and "We Are Neighbors" – plus classic love songs "Have You Seen Her" and "Love Uprising", which are still kind of the band's strongest point. Loads more great stuff on this one, the album that helped the second wave of Chicago soul break out into the international market! LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal work from one of the 70s greatest groups! The band had always been great at love songs and uptempo numbers – but this record has them moving into more righteous area, picking up on some of the more socially conscious soul of their generation that had been working its way up the charts. The album features excellent production by Chi-Lite Eugene Record, who also wrote a lot of the material – plus arrangements by Tom Tom and Sonny Sanders. Great stuff all around, with the righteous social tunes "(For God's Sake) Give More Power to The People", "Trouble's A Comin", and "We Are Neighbors" – plus classic love songs "Have You Seen Her" and "Love Uprising", which are still kind of the band's strongest point. Loads more great stuff on this one, the album that helped the second wave of Chicago soul break out into the international market! LP, Vinyl record album

A groundbreaking set of work from one of the musical giants of the 70s – not just a reggae star, but an artist who took the sound of Kingston to the rest of the globe with the crucial albums in this collection! Bob Marley had already been one of the reigning stars of Jamaican music when he started to record for Island Records – a member of the burning Wailers trio, stepping out here with a shifting version of that group that elevated him even further to stardom – with a soulful, spiritual vibe that managed to touch audiences far beyond reggae – and which continues to shine as one of the key musical guideposts of his generation. The package features every album that Marley recorded for Island Records during his too-short life – Catch A Fire, Burnin, Natty Dread, Live, Rastaman Vibrations, Exodus, Kaya, Babylon By Bus, Survival, Uprising, and Confrontation – all of them classics! CD

A beautiful set of late 60s to early 70s Soweto township jive sounds – soulful, joyful and amazing numbers mostly only ever available on rare South African 45s – brought to the world at large by our friends at Strut Records! Most numbers are from the early 70s, with a couple from the last couple years of the 60s, material from local combos in the years before the Soweto uprising of 1976. It's wonderful music, and you'll want to jump up and dance to most of the numbers – most with exuberant vocals and wholly danceable guitar and percussion, a joyous mix jazz, soul, rumba and funk in the craft. Amazing! Includes "I Sivenoe" by Melotone Sisters With Amaqola Band, "Maphuti" by Mgababa Queens, "Kuya Hanjwa" by S Piliso & His Super Seven, "Wenzani Umoya" by The Big Four, "Inkonjane Jive" by Zed Nkabinde, "Take Off" by Tempo All Stars, "Enuva" by African Swingsters, "Sikhwele" by Aba-Lilizeli, "10 To 11" by Sammy Boy, "Iza Wena" by Happy Africa and more. 20 tracks on 2LPs. LP, Vinyl record album

A beautiful set of late 60s to early 70s Soweto township jive sounds – soulful, joyful and amazing numbers mostly only ever available on rare South African 45s – brought to the world at large by our friends at Strut Records! Most numbers are from the early 70s, with a couple from the last couple years of the 60s, material from local combos in the years before the Soweto uprising of 1976. It's wonderful music, and you'll want to jump up and dance to most of the numbers – most with exuberant vocals and wholly danceable guitar and percussion, a joyous mix jazz, soul, rumba and funk in the craft. Amazing! Includes "I Sivenoe" by Melotone Sisters With Amaqola Band, "Maphuti" by Mgababa Queens, "Kuya Hanjwa" by S Piliso & His Super Seven, "Wenzani Umoya" by The Big Four, "Inkonjane Jive" by Zed Nkabinde, "Take Off" by Tempo All Stars, "Enuva" by African Swingsters, "Sikhwele" by Aba-Lilizeli, "10 To 11" by Sammy Boy, "Iza Wena" by Happy Africa and more. CD

Trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith in his best sort of setting – working in an openly creative space for improvisation, one that has Smith not only shaping things majestically with his lines on trumpet – but also making some nice shifts to other instrumentation too! Drummer Sabu Toyozumi is a fantastic partner on the set – a sometimes-strong instrumentalist, but one who's also nicely focused too – so that he really finds a way to match all the many shifts and steps that Wadada makes over the course of the album's long, live, improvised performance. Smith also handles a bit of koto, bamboo flute, and percussion – and titles include "Don Cherry – A Silver Flute Song", "Lines", "Burning Meditation/Uprising", "There Are Human Rights Blues", and "Creative Music 1 – Red Mountain Garden Wild Arises & Glacier". LP, Vinyl record album

Brightly lit, breezily soulful grooves from Nicolay's globetrotting City Lights series – inspired by a +FE tour stop in South Africa – and it may be the best City Lights set yet! One thing we love about the series, and the Soweto entry in particular, is that Nicolay isn't out to copy the exact sounds you'd hear in classic or contemporary South African dance music, as much as he's doing his own distinct thing, as inspired by it. Some occasional vocals, especially the spoken narrative passages by Nomusa Nzima set the Soweto scene, and the South African rhythmic sensibility is a big part of the vibe, but it's got a broad, richly appealing vibe overall.. The keyboards walk the line between spacey and sophisticated, there's some great vocal contributions from Phonte, Carmen Rodgers and Tamisha Waden. Wonderful! Includes "Tomorrow", "It's In The Way That You Smile", "Aurora", "Sun Rings/Uprising", "Daydream", "Sawubona", "The Secret" and "There Is A Place For Us". CD

That Damon Albarn's a busy guy! When he's not busy being a rock star or mock rock star, he's off on holiday in some exotic locale – but making another record at the same time, like this one, recorded in Mali. We have to admit, though we were predisposed towards the bare field recordings – featuring Malians singing and playing guitar and kora – which sound great, the more produced numbers are suprisingly wonderful too, and though the CD's all over the map, it still plays like a beautiful journey from start to finish. As you may already know, music from Mali steers it's own course, quite different from most of the other Afrobeat and funky African grooves you'll find elsewhere on our page, with a light springy quality and unhurried openness. 16 tracks in all, including "Le relax", "Makelekele", "Tennessee Hotel", "Kela Village" and "Sunset Coming On". CD

That Damon Albarn's a busy guy! When he's not busy being a rock star or mock rock star, he's off on holiday in some exotic locale – but making another record at the same time, like this one, recorded in Mali. We have to admit, though we were predisposed towards the bare field recordings – featuring Malians singing and playing guitar and kora – which sound great, the more produced numbers are suprisingly wonderful too, and though the record's all over the map, it still plays like a beautiful journey from start to finish. As you may already know, music from Mali steers it's own course, quite different from most of the other Afrobeat and funky African grooves you'll find elsewhere on our page, with a light springy quality and unhurried openness. 16 tracks in all, including "Le Relax", "Makelekele", "Tennessee Hotel", "Kela Village" and "Sunset Coming On". LP, Vinyl record album