Their masterful sixth LP, from 1975, produced and arranged by Charles Stepney.
This is sheer class all the way but highlights include the perfectly tooled funk of Shining Star, the ravishing mid-tempo title-track, Philip Bailey in full-flight on the killer ballad Reasons, the Janus-faced Africano shunting Chicagoan antecedents like Phil Cohran into hot jazz-funk…
Start here if you don’t own any Earth Wind & Fire.
‘Gathers revelatory unheard material from this prolific period including the fabled Electric Nebraska sessions with the E Street Band and solo home and studio recordings, joined by a 2025 remaster of the original album, plus a new performance film of all ten Nebraska songs played in sequence.
‘Springsteen’s 1982 acoustic masterwork is augmented by seventeen contemporary recordings (fifteen previously unreleased) that were part of the groundswell of inspiration that shaped Nebraska and share its haunting themes.’
Mono LP from Music On Vinyl.
This is a great way into Partch, revisiting with gusto three well-known, relatively-compact works — a highly rhythmic dance piece, a cross-cutting film score, and Barstow, with HP intoning hitchhiker graffiti.
This is the sublime, eleven-minute version, featuring vocalist Gavin Christopher.
Big Theo Parrish record.
Backed with the promo-only disco mix of Saturday Night, lavished with percussion by Sheila E.
Murders.
His neglected 1970 masterpiece.
The first side brings into focus the best things about Bitches Brew, with lethal menace; the second lays out a blueprint for Ambient and Fourth World.
Hotly recommended.
Illmatic cultists mithered about this 1996 follow-up, but it’s aged magnificently (and they were wrong).
‘Amidst production from heavy hitters like Dr. Dre, Havoc of Mobb Deep and DJ Premier, Nas weaves evocative narratives of gang warfare, downtrodden neighborhoods, drug deals gone awry, and gangsta triumph, against a backdrop of samples from Sam Cooke, Etta James, the Isley Brothers, and even Chuck Mangione. With guest turns from Lauryn Hill, AZ, Foxy Brown, and Mobb Deep; classics like Street Dreams and If I Ruled The World.’
LP from Music On Vinyl.