Germany

The official 40-year anniversary issue of Imagination’s debut album Shake It.Remastered from original tapes, this deluxe edition is a double vinyl LP with gatefold sleeve, featuring a newly available lyric insert.Shake It covers a diverse spectrum of styles and sounds, all combining to a unique soulful amalgam that ranges from sunshine AOR funk (“Mornin’ Lights”) and leftfield disco (“Strawberry Wine”) to psychy, epic, downtempo, vocoder grooves (“Can’t Stand Without You”) and more.Originally released in 1980, it fast became one of Germany's most collectible privately-pressed LPs. Shake It was the creation of young thoroughbreds working hard on becoming professional musicians, trying to take their next big step in the music business. Starting out as a pure jazz-rock combo in the mid '70s (as we hear on the recently released lost studio tapes, I'm Always Right (The WDR Tapes 1977)) Imagination left behind their instrumental roots, incorporating new musical trends and styles.Uwe Ziss, their saxophonist and flutist, became one of two lead singers in Imagination. He would be joined by the younger Roger Mork, a student of original guitarist Willi Hövelmann, around 1979. Roger's voice would best be heard on the aforementioned "Mornin’ Lights", one of the various standout tracks on Shake It. However, there is much more that this album offers.There are soulful soft rock ballads like “Clouds Flee Before The Wind” and “Waitin for your Call” or the catchy “California” song that switches from a dreamy Westcoast sound (as the title implies) to danceable rhythm & blues with equal ease. Last but not least, there's three unissued bonus cuts. On one, the demo take of “Clouds Flee Before The Wind”, we hear, for the first time ever, the original refrain of this song, which, for some strange reason, was taken out from the final mix on Shake It.When all eight original songs were recorded and mastered in June, at the well-equipped West Aix-La-Chapelle studio, the stage was set for Imagination’s long-desired career push. They'd initially press about 2500 copies of Shake It selling it mainly, locally, directly to their hometown fanbase in Düsseldorf. Meanwhile, their manager would attempt to arrange a record deal with a music label. Unfortunately, this became more difficult than expected. Negotiations with a smaller publishing company were made by Imagination, and Shake It was repressed on Nash Records in 1981 without their consent, under the false promises of a nationwide promotional tour which would never come to fruition. At the same time, the group would face a UK band under the same name achieving mainstream success, making it difficult (not to say entirely impossible) to perform as "Imagination". Though the band would remain active after Shake It, they'd split shortly after Nash's duplicitous reissue hit store shelves.Luckily, through time, Shake It itself has remained worthwhile, creatively, for those who stumbled upon it and financially, too, becoming quite the sought after gem in record collecting circles. This deluxe anniversary double vinyl issue makes the LP available once again at a far more reasonable price, featuring the original, illustrious, eye-catching, Roy Lichtenstein-influenced banana art, as well as previously unavailable presspictures and more.

Upstairs, a band from Frankfurt, Germany was active from 1977 to 1983. Though considering themselves mainly a rock group, the band incorporated elements of funk, jazz rock and disco into their music. On their rare and privately released debut album “It’s Hard To Get In The Showbiz” from 1980 they created something that could be called Germany’s definite answer to AOR, yet still with an edgy and unique krautrock flavor.The album starts with "Wontcha Try," a track where core songwriter, guitarist and lead singer Helmer Sauer is telling the story about being dismissed from his job: "They tried to tell me in a fucking gentle way, that the time had come to kick me…". Sauer serves more personal, hard-edged lyrics on the album as well. On "Happy Hooker," for example, he tells the story of a working girl in the red light milieu: "The job is as hard that you really can never imagine, she serves for the money, degradin' herself in a way - if you'd know how she's feelin' you wouldn't laugh at all". An empathetic view on the subject of prostitution rarely heard at that time.But aside from the profound lyrics and songwriting, the album has a lot to offer on the groovy side of things. With catchy bass lines, rhythm guitar, Fender Rhodes, Moog synthesizer, Clavinet and swift crisp drumming "It's Hard To Get In The Showbiz" is one of the best examples of late 70s flavored funky rock from Germany. Additional to the aforementioned "Wontcha Try" another DJ delight should be "Make Your Steps On Better Lines" which showcases a superb synth line and disco funk flavors. We also get the slick mellow latinesque AOR grooves of "Get On A Plane" as well as the now-classic "You're Just Yourself", which marks the most soulful track of the LP. As followers of our label are already well aware, "You're Just Yourself" was featured on the compilation, "Boogie On The Mainline – A Collection Of Rare Disco, Funk And Boogie From Germany 1980-1987" from 2018.The band mainly performed locally and never really had ambitions to release their music on a bigger label. Too bad that Upstairs only released this one album. Of course, the highly sought-after original pressing is almost impossible to find nowadays. Therefore, we are proud to finally make this record available again after 40 years for a reasonable, regular LP price. Only 300 copies of the carefully re-mastered repress have been produced, and included is a printed lyrics insert identical to the original.As this is already the 10th release on our label we want to thank you for your support! Stay tuned for more hidden gems unearthed by The Artless Cuckoo.

Amazing Bossa Nova LP.. Subtle arrangements, pure, honest and beautifully crafted Brazilian music!The list of musicians born or raised in the Tijuca district of Rio de Janeiro is long and illustrious and includes names that have shaped Brazilian music: Tom Jobim, Roberto Carlos, Tim Maia, Milton Nascimento, Jorge Ben or Erasmo Carlos – to mention but a few. We can now add to that list another name: Werther. In 1970, a man by that name recorded an album unique in its personality, its honesty, and its lack of pretense. In a time when Bossa Nova had become a global phenomenon and its main characters were already household names in Brazil, Werther assembled a collection of songs that uncannily – almost naively – remind us of the time when Bossa Nova was just a group of youngsters making music. His songs are about simple things: bohemian life, the sea, love.Despite Werther and his friends being only in their teens, without any previous experience recording music, those working behind the scenes were not equally amateur. Producer Peter Keller had already worked with Aloysio De Oliveira in the quintessential Bossa Nova label Elenco, and was also an initial partner in Roberto Quartin’s cult label Forma. Studio owner Bill Horne was a very loved character in the Rio jazz scene who had regularly taken part in the legendary meetings in Nara Leão’s apartment and befriended some of Brazil’s most respected musicians. Some of these musicians were, for example, Naná Vasconcelos and Edison Machado, who provided small contributions to Werther’s album.It was only in the 1990’s that Werther’s album was rediscovered by a handful of collectors and Brazilian music enthusiasts, who recognized in it a purity that had already vanished from the mainstream Bossa Nova recordings. But due to the haziness around the original release and the relative anonymity of its instigators, many questions surrounding these recordings were left unanswered. Today we are finally able to disclose the full story behind Werther’s short-lived contribution to Brazilian music.

Debut album by prize-winning recording artist, composer & arranger NATALIE GREFFEL out of Berlin.Natalie was born in post-colonial Mozambique and raised in Denmark from infancy. After moving to Berlin in 2010 to attend a music conservatory, and while engaged in various projects – RADIO CITIZEN, KARL HECTOR & THE MALCOUNS, ONOM AGEMO & THE DISCO JUMPERS - that exercised her stylistic flexibility. She was introduced to the pianist of Brazilian star Ed Motta; he encouraged her to record a demo. Inspired anew by the harmonic structures of Antonio Carlos Jobim, Hermeto Pascoal, Noel Rosa, Nelson Cavaquinho, Milton Nascimento, Elza Soares, Elis Regina, Gilberto Gil and Chico Buarque - architects of Brazilian music - Natalie began to interpret these blueprints in her own unique lexicon.

‘To Know Without Knowing’, Mulatu Astatke and Black Jesus Experience’s 2019 album is their second together. A grooving transcontinental gem, recorded in Melbourne, Australia and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Filled with the warmth of the mentorship and friendship of their creative partnership honed over a decade of performing together in Africa, Australia and UK/Europe. Mulatu Astatke is the Father of Ethio-Jazz and one of Africa's most influential and enduring musical figures. Black Jesus Experience is a community of artists, centred around a twelve piece global-funk-machine born of Australia's vibrant multiculturalism. Mulatu and Black Jesus Experience met in Addis Ababa in 2009, embarking on both a musical relationship and a friendship that has led Mulatu Astake to describe Black Jesus Experience as, "My favourite backing band" and, “...they’re family.” Mulatu's great contribution to music has been to to combine Jazz and funk grooves with Ethiopia's distinctive pentatonic scales. His musical genius is the sensuality and sophistication with which Mulatu contrasts these minimalist scales with richly chromatic harmony. But Mulatu’s equally great contribution has been to share both his enduringly unique modernity and Ethiopia’s timelessly spiritual music with the world. Black Jesus Experience treasure the special relationship of generosity, mentorship and collaboration they have been privileged to share with this master musician. ‘To Know Without Knowing’ is the product of this gift. Mulatu Astatke – To Know Without Knowing

Limited gatefold 10" LP + MP3 downloadIn 1976, seven Cabo Verdean musicians going by the name Voz Di Sanicolau gathered in a small recording studio in Rotterdam where they laid down an album of fearsome coladeira songs inspired by the music of their home island of São Nicolau.The album took only a few days to record, which may explain the unexpected urgency that fires each track. Treble-soaked electric guitar lines snake back and forth through percussion-and-cavaquinho driven rhythms rooted in the sound of the islands established by the previous generation of Cabo Verdean émigrés; subtle keyboards wash through the background, and the vocals, traded between Joana Do Rosario and Tô-Zé, alternately push the music forward and soar above it. The resulting album is both deeply felt and fiercely executed, and in its grooves one hears the sound of some of the finest Cabo Verdean musicians of their era locked in complete unity of purpose.It should have been the beginning of something extraordinary; but the pressures of making ends meet forced the musicians back to their day jobs, and Voz Di Sanicolau vanished as quickly as they had appeared, leaving their lone album, Fundo de Marê Palinha, as sole proof of their existence. Forty-four years later the album sounds as fresh as it did the day it was recorded. It is unknown if dutch sound engineer Frans Rolland, who oversaw the recordings, knew he was helping to make history: during these sessions, Joana Do Rosario, whose majestic vocals were crucial to the sound of Voz Di Sanicolau, became the first Cabo Verdean woman ever to appear on a long playing record.

Mamas Gun are a musically diverse five-piece Soul band fronted by singer/composer/producer Andy Platts. Andy is joined by keyboard player Dave Oliver who's musical education has embraced everything from barbershop singing to French horn and now includes jazz, soul and Cuban playing. Alongside stand out guitarist Terry Lewis who studied music in London and now resides on UK's south coast and who's musical journey has seen him work with legendary Marvin Gaye/Minnie Ripperton/Michael Jackson producer Leon Ware, Lewis Taylor, The Impressions, Jamie Woon, The Valentine Brothers, Jean Carne to name a few.Chris Boot took over the band's drum stool in 2016, bringing with him a career that's taken him everywhere from Abbey Road to Glastonbury and all over the world, with the likes of Lucy Rose & Lone. Bass player Cameron Dawson is the youngest but already an old soul in his musical capability and contributions to the energetic and memorable stage shows that Mamas Gun never fail to deliver. Cameron also performs as one third of the much-respected instrumental jazz trio Vels Trio."This Is The Day" is the soulful band version of the final track from the latest album "Golden Days", available in digital formats and a limited edition 7inch vinyl single.

Multi-talented producer, songwriter, musicians and artistic visionary Shawn Lee gets down to the nitty gritty. "Has self isolation made you lethargic? Are you drawn to the refrigerator like a moth to a proverbial flame? Are your favourite pyjamas getting a bit too tight?!" His new Incredible Leg Warmer Band will help.Shawn Lee's Incredible Leg Warmer Band is here with "The 37 Minute Workout" album to combat the battle of the bulge and get you through these crazy times and way beyond into an ever stretching future. So let's squeeze those cheeseburgers right out of your butt and "Stretch It Out" to the "Hi Intensity" sounds recorded in a fitness studio full of original equipment form the glorious era of Aerobics..Shawn Lee says: "This is the album nobody thought they wanted but now NEED!!!!"