Da “soulgeneration.co.uk”
The Link Quartet ‘Italian Playboys’ Hammond BeatHammond Beat is a name synonymous with excellence in its niche genre, they nurture and present the cream of the crop in the Hammond music scene from around the world. So with that said it’s always a real pleasure to hear whatthey issue. The Link Quartet is not a disappointment, its almost as if The Brand New Heavies never happened and the spirit of acid Jazz had remained pure. If you were like me and wanted more of that wailing RnB Jazz and pounding Hammond madness and less candy floss then you’ll love this!
The Link Quartet produce the kind of organ madness that you’d expect to find more in a compilation of Library music dug up by Luke Vibert or Barry – 7, it transcends the normal mod purist sound that so many of their peers striveto perfect, a track ‘Milwaukee Hunter’ is more hip hop than even John Murtaugh’s ‘Slinky’, but having said that there are some top notch straight ahead floor fillers here such as ‘Rubber Monkey’ which I can see being spun in every decent freakbeat room around the world.
Featuring Eddie Roberts from the UK’s The New Mastersounds and Doug Roberts from The Diplomats Of Solid Sound, there are some killer funk moments which will get some of the pre 66 obsessive folk skipping a track here and thereand the more open minded of us turning the volume up, not your usual all-the-same-pace Hammond LP this one has more up and downs than a ride on John Holmes lap, there’s a whole spectrum of sound and emotion from blistering ‘The Champ’ on acid freak outs to cheeky mod jazz pop to heavy guitar soaked grooves. Eddie Roberts’s sitar on ‘Spider Baby’ will get the mod jet set, young and old, wetting themselves when they hear it. An essential soundtrack for very groovy times indeed.
