Four By Art The Early Years ’82-’86

(Antologic CD gather their first home made E.P. “My mind in four sights” (1983), their first L.P. and “Everybody is an artist with Four by art” both produced by Claudio Sorge and his label “Electric Eye” + Three live bonus tracks!!) After 25 years we can listen again to the creamy 60′ sounds this band realese between 1982 and 1986!
Born as a Mod band but surrounded by various 60’s influences from Garage to R&B, through Stax, Motown ending with a strong psychedelic flavour, this antologic CD, we are proud to present, gather their first home made E.P. “My mind in four sights” (1983), strongly inspirated by 79′ band such Jam, Secret affair, Stiff little finger,”Four byArt”, their first L.P. and “Everybody is an artist with Four by art” both produced by Claudio Sorge and his label “Electric Eye”.
Three live bonus tracks makes this product a truly collectable item, three great live performance included a rare “Turn on your lovelight” cover version with Wes Montgomery nephew Mr Arthur Miles sharing the stage with Geppo, the first singer of the band. We try to make this digipack really accurate inside loaded with press credits, pictures, interwiew and flyers, a great nostalgic presentation open this cd, written by Mr. Luca Frazzi (Rumore Magazine)!

Four by Art are actually in Studio, recording for the forthcoming album and still on the road too, so check Area Pirata for their new realese!

TRACK LISTING:
01- My Mind In Four Sights
02- Future In The Past
03- Who Killed Snoopy
04- I Can’t Stand Your Love
05- Torpedo Woman
06- Hot Teardrops On The Floor
07- Lost In A Ghost Town
08- Don’t Call Me (On The Phone)
09- Do The Shimmy Shimmy Duck
10- Sleep All Day
11- I’m Having Fun
12- A Little Bit Of Ice
13- Mony Mony
14- One More Time
15- Just Feelin’ Alright
16- Don’t Mess Without Judas
17- Why People Are Standing?
18- Cold Sensation
19- I Can’t Wait Till Midnight
20- Nightime
21- The End Of Love
22- It’s So Hard
23- Turn On Your Lovelight
24- Psychotic Reaction
25- Why Do You Lie

REVIEW

Garwood Pickjon – Popism 03/08

The first thing on my mind, whenever stumbling upon another mod revival band, is : “In the name of Mod, please make this NOT to be another bunch of Jam soundalikes”.
Even though they do look the part, which IS a good thing, and is something that’s hard to avoid, along with the obligatory Rickenbacker, these Italian ragazzi seem to know better. In fact, they make it pretty much clear right from the very opening of the set, with the Syd-fronted Floyd-ish psychedelia of ‘My mind in four sights’ .
More than often, they also seem to lean towards the garage punk sounds of the mid’60s America, complete with fuzzed out riffs, screaming Farfisa and an occasional wailing harp ( ‘I can’t stand your love’, ‘Torpedo woman’, ‘Don’t calle me (On the phone)’, ‘Just feelin’ alright’ …), or minor-chord Zombie-moods as coveredby teen-punks. On the lighter side of psych, ‘Do the shimmy shimmy duck’ sounds alarmingly strawberry-flavoured, ‘The end of love’ is halfway between blue-eyed soul and Britpop, while ‘Not teardrops on the floor’ definitely takes it back to the British side of the approach to the same lysergic matter. However, it’s the freaky beat artistry that these Four (occasionally five) seem to find themselves the most comfortable at, as heard in ‘Sleep all day’, ‘One more time’ or ‘Why people are standing?’ , as well as in the more r’n’b based, but just as freaked out ‘I can’t wait till midnight’ (think The Small Faces’ ‘Watcha gonna do about it’), ‘It’s so hard’ (think The Downliners Sect’s Diddley beat), and my own pick of the bunch, is the jazzy r’n’b sound by way of Lindsay Muir’s Untamed of ‘Don’t mess without Judas’ .

They’re said to be back in the studio these days, so let’s wait and see if they’ve gotten more modern, or even more MODern.

Fuzz Overdose Webzine 10/09

Area Pirata are quickly turning into a very productive label and their latest release is a compilation of 80’s Milanese mods Four By Art. Included in this CD is their first two records, their first Ep, and three live tracks. Four By Art started as a mod band, but quickly turned into an eclectic Garage band, incorporating Garage, Beat, R&B, Soul even Psych into their sound. Boasting a distinctly European sound, Four By Art should commit a place in the Garage Revival history, but didn’t have the recognition they deserved outside of Italy, so hopefully this release should set things right. This CD comes with a fantastic booklet, full with great photos and press clippings, sadly only in Italian, which is a shame. Area Pirata did bother to translate the band’s history into English, so they could have translated all those vintage interviews, articles and reviews, for all of us non Italian speakers.
Apart from that this is a great document of 80’s Italian Garage and since these records are rare, this release is a must for mods and garage freaks alike.