The Action - Rolled Gold (1967-68)

The Action were a British band originally involved in the mod scene. They were discovered by the Beatles' producer George Martin, who signed the group to his EMI-based AIR Productions in 1965. They began to grow out of their mod roots and develop a more emotional, mildly psychedelic sound. Despite being signed and having successful club shows, the Action never managed to chart a hit. Their bad luck would continue to follow when EMI rejected the Rolled Gold demos and eventually dropped them from the label. Line-up changes ensued and led to the group transforming into Mighty Baby. The Action are still regarded as one of the greatest bands of the 60s to never catch a break and Rolled Gold proves this to be true. It's packed with sophisticated guitar pop that is consistently engaging. It's a downright shame that it never saw the light of day in the 60s.

"In My Dream"


Download Rolled Gold

Pretty sweet news

This morning I got an email informing me that this poster I designed will be printed at a whopping 4'X8' and exhibited at Lollapalooza in Grant Park. Not only that, but I get a copy of the print and I get two free three-day passes to Lollapalooza. Needless to say, I'm pretty excited about the news. I've never had my work printed at a size even close to this, so that's one of the best things about it. The poster is promoting three fictional, psychedelic bands called the Melting Strawberries, the Wandering Eyeballs and the Polished Suitcase. Also, the email said that my image "was chosen by the producers of
Lollapalooza and Perry Farrel." I really hope that Perry Farrel actually played a role in choosing my image.

I'll get back to posting albums sooner or later. Just decided to give it a little break for a while.

Pitchfork Festival/Delicious Design League

Arthur Lee Benefit Poster by Delicious Design League

I just got back from my weekend at the Pitchfork Festival here in Chicago. Overall it was pretty great. I was an idiot and waited too long to get tickets for the Sonic Youth/GZA/Slint show but Saturday and Sunday were still good and well worth it. My favorite acts were Clipse, Deerhunter, Stephen Malkmus and De La Soul. Grizzly Bear, Fujiya and Miyagi, Menomena and Junior Boys were also good. Anyhow, they had some amazing concert posters in one part of the park and I managed to get the last copy of the Arthur Lee Benefit poster. It was extra weird because I had an image of this exact poster saved on my computer because I liked it so much. It was printed by an excellent design group from Chicago called Delicious Design League. Be sure to check out their site because I'm really, really impressed by all of their work.