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Kaiser Chiefs - Duck - Polygram Rec - LP/CD

There has been insistent talk of the now abused "return to the origins" for the new, seventh studio job of the Kaiser Chiefs. Probably the cold reception reserved for the (for long unlikely stretches) pop dance breakthrough of the previous "Stay Together" has left its mark, and here we are talking about an album that, according to frontman Ricky Wilson, has a hundredth soul for one hundred Kaiser Chiefs. The mission is, it must be said, perfectly successful: "Duck" (this is the title) is a record in all respects at KC, with all the merits and defects of the case, only this time the former far exceed by far the latter, unlike the work of three years ago. Merit also of the producer Ben H. Allen, already director of the resounding resurrection of the band in 2014 with the undervalued "Education ... And War", which relaunched the band after the heavy thud of "Off With Their Heads". Allen helps the former prodigy boys to focus on their best talent: an innate skill and naturalness in building the right melody at the right time. They come out really convincing and effective pieces, such as the joyous and racy opening "People Know How To Love One Another", or like the single "Record Collection", the only piece of the new work to hybridize funk dance elements of the previous release with the typical Kaiser Chiefs sound of the early 2000s. The delicious "The Only Ones" also deviates a bit from the track, which with its typically eighties breath is full and gives the umpteenth melody to be remembered. Wilson and his companions are a little less convincing when the pace slows down ("Target Market", a perhaps too bland rock yacht, and "Lucky Shirt", even if the refrain in this case is really irresistible), while they enjoy it to death when the rhythms rise and jump out of unexpected fusions of different elements, for example the horns seasoned with light electronics of the frenetic "Wait" and the almost flamenco guitar of "Northern Holiday". By the way, the guitars are back, even if they are no longer central and harsh like in the first two albums, but they act as a frame to a picture with strong pop hues: "Golden Oldies" and the beautiful conclusion "Kurt vs Frasier (The Battle For Seattle) "in this sense they are made and finished British pieces, which in the refrain recall the pimps' choruses of the" Employment "era. "Don’t Just Stand There, Do Something" is instead a welcome tribute to the more mature Arctic Monkeys of the last records. A great return to this "Duck", not the return to the origins tout court trumpeted by the rooftops, but the finding of a new balance for the Leeds five and their best album for years now.

Scasso  16/12/2019

D.O.V.E. (Drum, Organ, Vibes, Ensemble) - Here We Are! - Cat Sound Rec. - LP

D.O.V.E. (Drums, Organ ,Vibes Ensemble) was born in 2015 and has become over the years one of the most interesting realities in the contemporary jazz scene thanks to the sought-after sound combination of the three unique instruments, vibraphone, Hammond organ and drums, until now not yet used together in the European music scene. The Ensemble, which ranges from the energetic sounds of soul jazz to the most refined hard bop, presents refined original compositions that revisit the 60s and 70s in an innovative way. The first work, titled "Where are you?" (Statale 11, 2017), is a concept album released exclusively in vinyl and digital, with very particular graphics born from the collaboration with the graphic designer and illustrator Tommaso Ciato. The disc is in fact a musical goose, whose protagonists are the instruments of the group and is sold together with the playing dice. Back on two-road concerts for Italy and Europe for two years, passing through important locations such as the Vicenza Jazz Festival, Imago Jazz Festival (Slovenia), the Le Clean Cut festival in Barcelona, ​​La Casa del Jazz in Rome, Teramo Jazz, the Vatican Museums ... the trio shut themselves up in the studio to give life to the second work entitled "Here We Are!" (Cat Sound Record, 2019) The cover, also signed by Tommaso Ciato, refers to the Enigmistica Week: in fact the game is present join the dots in the front, while, in the back, we find a crossword with the protagonists of the great jazz.

Scasso  29/11/2019

Temples - Hot Motion - ATO Rec. - LP/CD

Being named by Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher as the best new band in the United Kingdom is a title that has brought the Temples the burden of great expectations and also some headaches. Formally reduced to a trio, after dropping out of drummer Samuel Toms, the group took the time to focus on the weight of a responsibility that wasn't really very light, choosing to manage the processing of new ideas in a completely fluid way. Hidden for ten months in the country house of the curly-haired frontman James Bagshaw, the young British psych-rockers have lived, recorded and celebrated their overflowing bravado, to the point of leaving room for an unprecedented compositional freedom that has come to characterize the whole album, usually full of references to the past. In "Hot Motion", therefore, not only old and new references to the phantasmagoric Sixties were merged, but also a greater attention to that shrewd and direct side that the formation of Northamptonshire had so far preferred to sediment between Baroque music and melodic artifices. What surprises is in fact the lightning-up immediacy of all the tracks, with smooth arrangements that pay homage to both the Kinks and the more meditative Beatles of George Harrison. The trio, setting aside the most bizarre superstructures, defined its own oblique trajectory of circular textures and reverberations from the usual lysergic soul. The same title track "Hot motion", launched as a single trailblazer, offers that swing of liquid fantasy and rhythmic explosion that represents the ideal visiting card of the band's efforts to realize a quotationist and catchy work, sometimes dense, but from the pop balances weighed with the sling. Not only polished but modern, because despite an overabundance of mannerisms that often ends up winning over the songs themselves, the Temples complete an ingeniously intricate tapestry of sounds - in their own way - essential, a vintage alchemy that is at times almost esoteric, dark and poetic that, while remaining focused on the almost maniacal reconstruction of an era already impressed in the collective imagination, manages to cast doubt on a by now proven language. From the military march of "The Howl" to the epic frenzies for orchestra and hard sparks of "Atomise", "Hot Motion" turns out to be an oneiric and magniloquent album, compact and even rather bragging with its strange rambling between dreams, desires and nightmares, however, capable of transmitting that pathos of lights and shadows of a band safe in a time bubble that turns out to be not only saving but also hindering. If "Context" appears as a hymn to contemptuous narcissism, the closure entrusted to the spirited refrain of "Monuments" provokes a further split of moods in the group's bombastic pop freak, which in the end seems to want to take on an affably glossy patina, without too much desire to innovate a field already traced, nowadays as much by the Tame Impalas as by the Muses. "Hot Motion" could be considered a progression of technical rather than artistic abilities, but not for this reason it is less thrilling.

Scasso  28/11/2019

Giuda - E.V.A. - Rise Above Rec. - LP/CD

One of the so-called "Italian excellences" exportable and exported abroad are the Giuda, Capitoline band in action since 2010 and come not long to the finish line of the fourth album - which was also released on vinyl and for the label by none less than His Eminence Lee Dorrian (Cathedral, Napalm Death). The glam rock with hard and punk inflections of the previous records (characterized each time by a different weight, in the mix, of the single components) the Judas this time add an unexpected touch: a soul that they themselves define protodisco and that helps to shape a sound that the band likes to think radically different from what was proposed previously. It is so up to a certain point, in fact: the Judas remain energetic, punk and rocker, but with a robust dose of vintage synth and dancefloor bass that look at certain hybrids between muscular rock and danceable sounds. Disco rock? So it is ... if you like. The songs that stand out most are the opener Overdrive (with a nice shot - as befits the first piece of an album), Cosmic Love with its totally seventies disco mood and the coarse rock Ravers Rock (a semi-instrumental that blends rock and vibration from Studio 84). A pleasant job that will consolidate the fan base of the Judas, but surely it will also earn new adepts eager to go wild under the stage, singing the refrains.

Scasso  28/11/2019

VV/AA - Soul On The Corner - Acid Jazz Rec. - 2LP/CD

After the critically acclaimed Jazz On The Corner compilation last year 2019, Martin Freeman joins again with the famous leader of Acid Jazz, Eddie Piller, to present a true and personal collection of songs. Compiled with the couple's personal and favorite singles, whether it's listening on the radio, word of mouth or Dj-ing - Soul On The Corner represents the entire range of soul from the sixties and seventies to the present, as illustrated by artists of the caliber by Tommy McGhee and the recent signer Acid Jazz Laville. Opening with the inimitable Bobby Womack and How Can You Break My Heart, as Piller explains; "I never tire of listening to this record and used it regularly to close my DJ set, it's a real hands-in-the-air moment." Further cuts from the renowned and less well-known complement each other perfectly: Laville's Thirty One sensual jam or the superb shade of progressive soul in the shape of Love Music by Sergio Mendes & Brasil 77. Piller's selection transcends the rock / soul gap with Never Gonna Give You Up by former Impression Jerry Butler, adding: "I decided to do it because I remembered the incredible response of the version of The Black Keys that I broadcast on the BBC Funk and Soul show. "No less varied is the choice of the soul fan Martin Freeman, who opens with '68 vintage soul with a touch of something more rock, A Raggedy Ride by Barbara Ack that professes; "It's an unexpected gem that was my favorite forever." Other choices come in the form of the cover of Georgie Fame of Bobby Womack's daylight that thrilled Freeman; "The original is a beauty. This is better. "Further inclusions come from The Supremes and The Wisdom Of Time, which represent the contemporary soul scene of the mid-nineties is Lewis Taylor with Lucky as stated by Freeman; "An epic melody". Meanwhile, taken from their first self-titled album Earth Wind & Fire, it embodies the inovative nature of one of the most successful authors of all time and adds Freeman; "This is a funky-hellish cry for peace and love. Good God, they were so good.

Scasso  12/11/2019

Alfa 9 - My sweet movida - Blow Up Rec. - LP/CD

For the Newcastle band "My Sweet Movida" is the third album in twelve years of activity, a new chapter destined to dissolve the doubts put in place by the most pop temptations of the previous "Gone To Ground". The reference coordinates remain the Byrds, the Beatles, the Pretty Things and the first Pink Floyd, but also the glories of the Paisley Underground (Long Ryders in particular) or the stylistic updates of bands like the Church, the Coral or the Cosmic Rough Rider. With a cover that evokes arid American landscapes, there is very little room for imagination. Perhaps the same psychedelic pop term will weaken expectations, but for Alfa 9 the primary purpose is not to amaze, but to comfort the listener with a solid and inspired writing, which pays homage to the declared influences without making the nose turn upside down. To be honest, "My Sweet Movida" is the most convincing album in English, the most calibrated formula between the rawest psychedelia of "Then We Begin" and the jangle-pop of "Gone To Ground" is dressed in more sonorous cured and polychrome, even if they are shades that differentiate the eleven tracks. The enthralling jangle-pop at Byrds of "Different Corner" and "When I Think Of You" captures the spirit of times gone by with brio and refreshing harmonic progressions, but it is up to the delicious spaghetti western à-la Morricone of the mysterious "Movida" and the more atypical "Darkest Sea" defeat the predictability of the formula. The quotations of the 60s and 70s are many, including wah wah sounds that make their beautiful appearance in "Smile Dog", refrain chamber-pop that infuse a fluid romance in "Cinema Of Thunder" and pop-psych variations that evoke the very first Pink Floyd in the more elaborate "Coincidence Flies". The new Alfa 9 confirms once again the existence of a common thread between England and America, renews the graces of the quotationism of the Shack ("When The Lights Go Out") and of the already mentioned Coral ("Rise") avoiding the shoals of the nostalgia thanks to a compact writing. The British band concentrates everything on writing, preferring the grace of the Teenage Fanclub to the determination of the Long Ryders. Even the lyrics have a more convincing depth, finding the definitive seal in the seven minutes of the final "Fly", which for a moment he mentions the enveloping charm of the Manassas, validating the pleasant sensation of authentic admiration for a sound that seems to have not yet exhausted its creative potential.

Scasso  11/11/2019

Liam Gallagher - Why Me? Why Not. - Warner Music UK - CD/LP/LP lim. ed

This time Liam Gallagher also asks for it in the title. Because he? But yes, why not. And in the end it's hard to blame him. A career that seemed to be in a free dive (indeed, practically still) suddenly relieved by a solo album of a resounding success (in the first week in the UK it sold more than all the top ten put together), a newfound visibility and (above all) a proposal finally again qualitative. The acceptance of one's own limits was the first step towards rebirth: Liam, accused by many as arrogant and opinionated, took a step back and agreed to work with co-authors (and co-authors, led by Greg Kurstin, in the last few years a hen with endless golden eggs), becoming aware of her role as frontman and exceptional interpreter but with qualities of songwriter certainly not enough (although, some of the best things about the debut "As You Were" were flour exclusively of his bag). A young Gallagher's album is always approached in the same way: Liam is extremely derivative, and he is proud of it. When he describes a song, he always refers to a classic inspiration (the omnipresent Lennon in the head), and compared to the excellent debut this time something more was needed. Set aside the initial ambitions of a more raw and punk rock album with Stooges orientation, Gallagher threw everything away and started all over again together with the same team of co-authors and producers of the first work. And the result is amazing. "Why Me? Why Not. "(Titles inspired by two paintings by John Lennon that Yoko Ono gave to the former Oasis frontman) is a record clearly superior to the inspired predecessor, and in general one of the most beautiful rock records of recent months. And sometimes even manages to displace. Of course, the somatic traits are those (in the blues rock of the single "Shockwave" and in the '70s split of "The River" there is so much of the very latest Oasis, as well as "Once" is a crazy ballad that cannot fail to make you think to Lennon), but when one dares one dares with intelligence (the work of Andrew Wyatt in this sense is mammoth, always choosing the right dress for the voice of a Liam never so fit) and it happens to fall from the chair when a low pounding in smell of Depeche Mode (!) in the bonus track "Invisible Sun", or when a guitar in full Morricone (!!) leads to a spoken word (!!!) in the torrential "Gone", placed in closing. half, much classic Gallagher: "Now That I Found You" (probably next hit) is crisp and carefree and rejuvenates the mancunian of at least twenty years, offering a very fresh melody, a solar and intelligent guitar and a refrain to send to memory after half I listen. "Halo" and the other "Glimmer" bonus refer to the time of Beady Eye, the first even to the disastrous "Bring The Light" (but with a development ten times higher). "Be Still" and the titletrack are the rock heart of the album, "Alright Now" (again Lennon) and "Meadow" (George Harrison) the psychedelic (crazy Kurstin's arrangement for the latter), "Misunderstood" ( other bonus) brings Liam to height Robbie Williams (the surprising one of "Escapology", not the last big solo attempts). "Why Me? Why Not. ”Returns to Liam Gallagher a strong role in rock music that counts, helping to definitively reconstruct his artistic credibility.

Scasso  14/10/2019

Four by Art - Inner Sounds - Area Pirata Rec. - CD

They return from the mists of mythical times but in reality not even so far away are the Four By Art: the Milanese group was one of the protagonists of the neopsichedelica season in Italy. Strongly influenced by garage and R&B sounds, Four By Art, before breaking up, released 2 LPs, respectively "Four By Art" in 1985 and "Everybody An Artist with ... Four By Art" in 1986 in addition to an overwhelming series of live performances. In any case, all the Four By Art material was reprinted in 2008 by the meritorious Pirate Area of ​​Pisa in the double CD "The Early Years @ which also includes the single and live tracks. In 2002 Four By Art reformed and now, again by Area Pirata, their new album entitled "Inner Sounds" is released. The CD looks immediately good in virtue of a nice colorful and psychedelic cover - it is a 3-door digipack - work of the Mexican artist "Grace" who perfectly captured the spirit and essence of their universe. The first impression one gets from listening to "Inner Sounds" is that time has never stopped for Four By Art: the band formed by Filippo Boniello (vocals, bass, guitar, clavinet, synths), Stefano Cecchi (drums) ), Giorgio Jon Darmin (organ), Storteaux (rhythm guitar and soloist), Dario Frasca (electric piano, synths) and Ilaria Bonetti and Massimo Silva (choirs) manages to be gritty and overwhelming as in the old days. Those who love the crudest but psychedelia-sounded 60's sounds will only be able to get involved with the disruptive sound of the Four By Art. The whole record sounds fresh and essential since the initial "Alive" while the keyboards give an unmistakable psych touch to the whole: listening to "Inner Sounds" is like getting on a time machine set for a journey in the 60s. The average quality is very good and the record is never boring, there are no moments of fatigue and indeed the involvement increases more and more. Impossible to remain insensitive to pieces like the gritty "I Ask You", the overwhelming "Allora I remember" (the only piece sung in Italian) or the dazzling "Home" just to name a few titles. "Inner Sounds" is a great job that confirms the vitality of the groups that ignited the greyness of the 80s with their sounds.

Scasso  12/09/2019

Smodati - Adesso che ti ho perso - Milano Reietta Rec. - CD rec (lim. 100 copies)

The third record of the Smodati is released for this new record label dedicated to streetpunk and powerpop sounds. By now posthumously, given that the band broke up several years ago and with a series of songs, to be precise 23, taken from old demos or masters that the "Ragazzi Gloriosi" have not recorded or, if they did, are difficult to find. but before we talk about the record we give a quick story of who they were: The Smodati: band dedicated to British pop / punk inspired power pop. From Milan, with the passion for style and culture mod, the Sixties, the British pop. They have produced several underground productions (vinyl EPs, CDs, albums and participation in Italian and international compilations) and have trod on Italian and European stages (Spain, Czech Republic, Hungary and England). They play a personal version of power pop / mod '79, Italian in the lyrics but with the ear turned to the sounds of Oltremanica. Important participation, the first and only Italian band, at the Camber Sands Scooter Rally 2009 and 2010 (3-6 July 2009 and 2010, Camber Sands, East Sussex, England), where they played with historic British bands such as Purple Hearts, Moment, Lambrettas . With this latest work they leave us the last testimony of a sound that will remain indelible over time and will always be reproduced by all the bands that are born in metropolitan suburbs, with the desire to emerge and to express their disappointment for the society in which they live criticizing it openly through the lyrics of their songs. well, let's say that in the case of the Smodati, the recurring themes were more a cross-section of their lives told through love disappointments, "full speed" weekends outlining their lifestyle / mod powerpop.

Scasso  03/05/2019

Art School - Oxford Stones - Family Spree Rec. - LP

After a gap of almost 20 years since their first "recording" in which this band exploded with a powerpop sound to say no mod revival 79, now the Art Schools are back with a new record and a completely renewed sound: more pop / folk and songwriting. There are 13 songs with a very Manchester sound to put it all therefore a more indie hold; whose texts almost always deal with personal or rather introspective themes or views on the landscape. By now of the old formation that was a trio there is only the good Jordi Petit on the rhythmic or acoustic guitar that after his wandering between Murcia and Catalonia has conceived this new and very fresh LP in Barcelona recording it to the Railroad Track of Molins de Rei. In composing his "Opera sonor" he used the experience of musicians such as: Sergio Bastel on bass, Carlos Campoy on Hammond organ, Josep Pons on drums, Joan Calduch on guitar and percussion and finally Jordi Montero on violin and viola, which have brought a remarkable progress and rejuvenation of the original sound of the old Art Schools, making it take a leap forward in a truly masterly manner. I personally recommend the sound to those who love the Mod sounds that look at the U.K. and you will see that you will be positively impressed.

Scasso  19/04/2019

Paul "Smiler" Anderson - MODART music and graphics, fashion and art, mod design, from the 1950's to 1990's - Omnibus Press - Book

Examining and illustrating the artistic scene surrounding the birth of Modernism and its simultaneous rise between the thriving Mod scene of the working class of the 1960s, Paul Anderson's book is the definitive work on the visual culture of Modernism. With interviews of key artists, members of the scene and a rich understanding of how the collision between high-level art and mass culture formed, the work is aimed at fans of history, music, fashion and art. Beautifully illustrated with a treasure trove of hundreds of color photographs of famous, rediscovered and rare images of the era, the book will be read and reread for years to come. Paul Anderson, who previously also wrote "Mods: The New Religion", was one of the best writers on this subject and was considered by critics to be a very detailed work that has well delineated our subculture. Paul "Smiler" Anderson fell in love with Modernism in 1979. Since the 80s he has been involved in organizing numerous Mod events, publishing fanzines and organizing DJ nights in 60's / Mod clubs. He was also co-curator of the biggest exhibition on the original Mods of the Sixties, and wrote many articles in magazines and related to many back cover in compilations of records dealing with Soul and R'n'B music.

Scasso  13/02/2019

The Creation - Creation Theory - Edsel Rec. - CD/ LP

The recent departure of Bob Garner should have permanently dispelled any chance of yet another reunion, so that Creation Theory, the beautiful box that rained at home directly from the workshops Edsel has all the air of the definitive document of the Creation, wonderful creature of the Mod / era freakbeat English author of a handful of singles and a single album several of which were printed at the time only in Germany and two late "back on stage" that would not have scratched the myth but not revived the glories. The Creations as we know them are officially born in April 1966, when the manager Tony Stratton-Smith imposes to the band a sudden change of bass player, a more modern and evocative name and a look in line with the rebellious elegance of the mods. Until then, the Creations are nothing more than one of the many bands that play six days a week for London clubs, carrying a small repertoire of American songs. They are called Mark Four and between one concert and another they have the time to record four singles and publish them on three labels like Mercury, Decca and Fontana. The first two are even more interesting, the remaining ones are more interesting as the band decides to abandon the covers to dedicate themselves to an autochthonous repertoire and to launch the first "purple flashes" for which they will become famous and which are due to the exhilarating guitar style of Eddie Phillips. The change of course forced by Strat, however, requires a very rapid steering, so that when in June of '66 the single Making Time / Try and Stop is released, the Creations are really a band with an explosive sound. The creative use of feedback and the violin bow rubbed on the guitar strings makes Making Time a very strong impact piece, exasperated by the skilful production of Shel Talmy, the man who ignited pre-punk fury songs like You Really Got Me, My Generation, All Day and Night, I Can not Explain. It is a song with a rebellious, savage, recalcitrant and unruly look, enough to please young people. And the young are the market. Strat had seen right. The reply is not long in coming and in October the second single overcomes in arrogance and beauty what was done four months before. Painter Man uses the same tricks of Making Time, with Eddie Phillips maneuvering the bow as if it were a whip on the flesh of a wild horse while Biff, Bang, Pow is an obstacle course between the then famous onomatopoeic writings of the classic Batman TV series colored by a boogie plane and supported by a relentless rhythm. Things, however, precipitate at great speed, in the microcosm of the Creations. Stratton-Smith and Kenny Pickett leave the band one after another, forcing bassist Bob Garner to take the lead singer and look for luck in Germany where they pull up at their best, with some cover a bit 'sack of other people's pieces, their only album. The style of the group at that point fits Bob's soul tone producing songs like If I Stay Too Long and Cool Jerk before going up on the track of the upright psychedelic phenomenon with pieces like How Does It Feel to Feel and Through My Eyes. The production continues throughout 1968 with continuous defections and inputs (including for a couple of singles, the future Rolling Stone Ron Wood) before stopping altogether. Almost. Because almost two decades later, the Creation shut down the ranks recruiting Mick Avory of the Kinks to make a modest log book of wind instruments, keyboards and FM rhythms that even the Electric Light Orchestra would not use. So bad or otherwise so out of the "canons" Creation to be printed only in 2004. The return to the official scene is instead of 1994, with the old line-up now riappacificato and a new contract with the label founded by Alan McGee inspired to them in the choice of the name and in part of the contents. The initial idea, that is to publish a single that has the same title of the band and the label is not only created (and published with the curious title Creation by Creation for Creation) but surpassed in the race by recording an entire new album titled Power Surge. Alan McGee himself takes care of the production, gassed by the idea of ​​having his idols in his hands, but the result is obviously a very pale reflection of the Creation of thirty years ago and memorable songs, not even the shadow. The full-bodied audio section of this box obviously collects all three albums and singles of the formation, including those in the primitive setting of Mark Four even if the real news is built by re-editions in stereo that occupy a good part of the second album (however identical to those simultaneous releases on the Action Painting anthology published by the Numero Group). The DVD that occupies the fifth disc instead puts together the historical appearances to Beat Beat Be

Scasso  08/02/2019

The Action - Shadows and Reflections (the complete recordings 1964/66) - Cherry Red Rec. - Box 4 CD

One must say something about the original Mods, not everyone loved going to see concerts of their own peers who made covers of the singers of soul, rhythm'n'blues or jazz. Actually we can say that the Action was created in the right way to climb the rankings of those times - in Reg King they had a great Soul singer, among the best in the UK along with Steve Marriott. The musicians, Alan "Bam" King and Pete Watson on the guitars and a rhythm section composed by Roger Powell and Mike "Ace" Evans, were very skilled at emulating the latest dance sounds on the other side of the barricade with a punch Mod added . Of course, they also really played the part, cool but with a strange wild air. Despite a parenthesis with the Parlophone and Fabs producer George Martin and Abbey Road at their disposal, they never managed to make a leap in the standings. Nothing to do with the quality of their efforts, that blow would not come. As for the Mods, perhaps what is strange enough worked in their favor, keeping the band like Ace face on the scene. Part of the reason why the Action may not have upset the rankings is that they were based rather on the cover versions. Of the five singles released by Parlophone (a French-only EP was released in 1967), only Never Ever was self-signed. It is a refined melody and one wonders why they did not have the head to write more, but many bands of the time have focused on a familiar song from the United States to initially establish a feeling with their audience. This simply did not happen in the Action. They were still great performers of the songs, in particular their extraordinary version of: "I'll Keep Holding On" by Marvelettes, a true classic. The first part of this collection presents the Action in their full-blown Mod Soul phase. All singles include the two sides, with the debut of the beautiful: "Land of One Thousand Dances" a very lively version with some nice guitar riffs (actually guitarists Bam King and Pete Watson are often a neglected joy in the first recordings of the Action) and never really would have been a success - playing the guitar was like driving the real pop sound in the band - they had a lot of charisma. The last single: "Shadows And Reflections" showed that they could be cut during the Flower Power stage and "Come On, Come With Me" is bright and bouncy, with alternating acoustic and tinkling touches. I will say that sometimes it seems that there is a little too much going on, the over-processing grafted by production is not always able to be the target naturally focused by the band. The 1980 compilation The Ultimate Action reintroduced the band in the Mod revival years, but this new collection is more deserving of that title. The format of the book is exceptional, including a long and informative story of David Wells' Action with the input of the band and a detailed division of the recording sessions. Carefully designed also with many vintage photographs. All this adds to a very well developed and complete Action story, which is more than ever an invigorating listening. A box with real style, love and attention to detail, is exactly what they wanted those ultra sharp blades that called the Action.

Scasso  23/01/2019

Claire Mahoney - Welsh Mod - Gomer Press - Libro

A self-produced book printed professionally and hardcover, introduces us to what was or is the scene in Wales Mod. I must say that the personal stories of about a 30 of Mods are hilarious and really lead you to reflect on how the scene was flourishing in the 80s and early 90s and how today like all the British subcultural movements, even the Welsh alive of people we all say "grandicelle" and with a fair difficulty in the generational turnover. The book starts naturally from the boom of the revival of the '80s up to the present day, in short 3 generations of boys who have taken turns and have carried forward the Mod culture in those lands quite peripheral not to say harsh. With their joys and disappointments and also their experiences of life these "boys" try to transmit all their cultural baggage and leave a clear trace in the Mod European scene. The book is written in a flowing way, full of photos and has excellent graphics. Recommended for those who want to know also this facet of modernism across the Channel. To request it, write or go to their website: www.welshmod.co.uk the cost is 25 pounds.

Scasso  22/01/2019