Maria Callas - Bizet: Carmen - VINYL LP

This 1960 Norma represents Maria Callas's final complete documented version of her signature role. Seven recordings of the opera exist with Callas (1950-60), plus numerous snippets and scenes captured between 1949 and 1965. With 89 performances, Norma is Callas's most performed part; certainly no other 20th-century diva is more closely associated with the role, and no one since has even remotely eclipsed Callas in the perception of opera lovers.Countless moments, too numerous to catalogue here, raise this Callas Norma to the level of genius. From a haunting 'Casta Diva' to a final scene of incomparable grandeur and sweep, in every startlingly brilliant detail, Callas is Norma.

180gm vinyl LP pressing. I.T.T. International Thief Thief (1980) was recorded following Afrika 70's disintegration and the formation of Egypt 80. It is one of a quartet of courageous 1979/80 albums completed by V.I.P. (Vagabonds In Power), Authority Stealing and Coffin For Head Of State. In InchInternational Thief Thief,Inch Fela makes highly insulting, personal attacks on former Nigerian president General Obasanjo, and Moshood Abiola, the local chief executive of the multi-national corporations Internal Telephone & Telegraph (ITT) and Decca Records. Obasanjo Fela regarded as a crook, an incompetent and a thug, and held him responsible for the death of his mother following the 1977 sack of Kalakuta. Abiola, he believed, had both cheated him out of royalties and conspired with Decca's London bosses to silence him after the 1977 attack, in order to maintain favourable relations with Obasanjo's regime. Both men, Fela says, are Inchthieves,Inch InchratsInch and of Inchlow mentality.Inch

Backwoodz Studioz is excited to announce the of Crayola Circles, a collaboration between rapper Fatboi Sharif and producer Child Actor. While both artists have long standing connections to Backwoodz, this album marks their first collaboration of any kind and breaks new artistic ground for all parties. Sharif's previous album, Decay, released on Backwoodz in 2023, was a haunting experimental rap masterpiece, an acid trip in a mental hospital. On Crayola Circles Sharif trades menacing psychedelia for a simmering stew of blacklight expressionism, his verses slipping effortlessly through the swells and tides of Child Actor's masterful production. No matter how uneasy the waves grow, Sharif is at ease, a truth teller whispering anti-riddles in your ear. This album feels like a new chamber for Child Actor, as well. The producer has been on an impressive run since dropping CINE- a collaboration with rapper Cavalier- on Backwoodz in late 2024. Child Actor has shown up in the liner notes of everyone from Navy Blue (The Sword & The Soaring) to Earl Sweatshirt (Live, Laugh, Love) to ELUCID (Revelator) to Open Mike Eagle (Neighborhood Gods Unlimited), to Ghais Guevara (A Quest to Self-Mythologize), amongst others. On Crayola Circles Child Actor's production is dynamic, shifting and sliding into new phases and movements in an instant. The beats are full and knotty, leaning into jazz and folk, while remaining tethered to the tender minimalism that is his signature. It's a difficult balance for any producer, and here it is executed perfectly, placing us in a world of wood and brass, cowhide and undersea piano. On any other record, this soundscape would steal the show - and it very nearly does - but Sharif's command never wavers, ever in control; a lucid dreamer in an induced coma. There are no guests, no skits, and no interludes. There might not even be songs, instead Crayola Circ