The Link Quartet 'The Saint Tropez Heist' (Spinout Nuggets)
26th April 2021
The Link Quartet
'The Saint Tropez Heist' / 'Nizza Connection'
(Spinout Nuggets)
Long-time purveyors of the Hammond sound, The Link Quartet from Italy, are back with another kitschy beat that's naturally drenched in whirling Hammond, fuzzed-up guitar, and furious bongos. There's something about how Italians have mixed up R&B, jazz and soul and made it their own, from the multitude of library music that came out of 60s and 70s Italy, right through to when the Acid Jazz movement took a strong and lasting hold there, The Link Quartet represents la dolce vita in a musical sense particularly well.
Here on the A-side, 'The Saint Tropez Heist' is pure and peak acid jazz, if this was said to have been recorded in 1992 no one would dispute it. It's the kind of swinging affair that The Karminsky Experience would spin, and it would have been in every DJs box that was spinning at the (wild) Easy Listening nights that became a big thing in the mid-90s. Clocking in at 150bpm, it's a furious hip swinger that's packed with fun, featuring some seriously accomplished musicianship, and is most definitely a kitsch party platter of the highest order. Just think of what a 60s rave-up looks like, sharp suits, mini skirts, psychedelic colours, yeah, all of that immediately pops into my mind, especially after the first minute when it explodes into a spectacular organ solo.
Drop this at the right moment, and the joint will go nuts!