At this point, I suspect you'll have already made some sort of judgement, with most people in the 'like/don't mind' camp or the 'hate it' camp when it comes to this kind of late 60s dancefloor garage/psych. I'll presume, because you're reading it, you are one of the former. If not, let's just say this album doesn't depart from the previous three you didn't buy either. But for those of you still with me, I suspect those words are music to your ears.

20 tracks this time, culled (mainly) from the '67 to '72 period, the vast majority (if not all) small label obscurities currently getting spins on the late 60s circuit in the UK and Europe. Obviously we're at volume 4 here, which is often the point of no return for compilations. Let's be honest, three albums is usually good for covering most genres - after that it's incredibly hard to keep the quality up. Same problem here? Well, yes and no.

There's no denying that Le Beat Bespoke 4 has some good tunes within. For me, topping the pile are the rough 'n' ready garage fuzz of False Alarm Love by Peaceful Coalition, the funky rock of Ha Lese by The New Life, the poppy It's My Life by The Tages, Joy Unlimited's Feelin' (you'll swear it was a Julie Driscoll/Brian Auger tune), the laid back groove of Rod St James' Has Anybody Seen The Superstar, soul from Justine and the track Right Now, chunky Hammond-fed grooves from Simon Scott and I'm The Universe and The Persuaders' Burn and my favourite of the lot, Big Tom's No Thank You Mr Pusher, a nice bit of psych pop, with added brass. I do love some added brass.

Some tracks are just plain odd (I'm talking Chris Carpenter's This World and especially Paul St John's Spaceship Lover) and the rest, to be honest, are ok but ultimately forgettable. In fact for me, that's the problem here. Overall, it's a decent little compilation with some good tunes (outlined above), but there isn't a 'killer' track on here that makes it a must-buy. Packaging leaves a bit to be desired too - Circle stuff used to come with a hefty booklet, but this one just has the ever-more tired sleeve design and a 7-page book, three of which is taken up with promotion. Marks off for that too.

But that's me being overly harsh I suspect. Bottom line, if you've enjoyed any of the previous Le Beat Bespoke compilations, you'll certainly enjoy this. There are definitely more hits than misses. If you haven't purchased one before, get yourself on volume one and work your way up from there. The series overall is well worth checking out.

Find out more at the Amazon website
Reviewed by David Walker (review posted on 4th June 2010)

    More music reviews from Modculture