I was going to reply to this yesterday but after reading Joe Gracey's
eloquent and moving tribute to Jimmy Day it just didn't seem so
important.
But anyway todays another day so,
Don writes
> I'm surprised Andy or some other British P2er hasn't mentioned this band
> (or maybe they have, and I somehow missed it).
Well, as it happens, I have a couple of times mainly in comparison to
Scott 4 who I've been banging on about recently. In some ways the
music is similar in style. The Beta Band, a five piece from
Glasgow, are probably held in higher regard than Scott 4 by the
critics in this country but then what do they know <g>.
> I just received their
> debut album, and it's a stunner. Titled The Three EPs (and released by
> Astralwerks here in the States), it collects their three British EPs onto
> one hard-to-describe full-length.
The first E.P. is changing hands for about 50 quid, the others are
still relatively easy to obtain.
> Imagine a blend of acoustic roots,
> homegrown beats, slacker funk, oddly processed vocal harmonies, obscure
> samples, psychedelic tomfoolery, and much, much more. And while that may
> sound like a dilettantish mess, it's far from it.
And if that isn't confusing enough the sound is full of bongos, dub
bass, Jews harp, hand claps and bird song. Hard to describe indeed.
> The songs cohere
> surprisingly well, and the album sounds rather relaxed, low-key, and
> subtle.
The only criticism I have, and it is a minor one, is that it does
become a bit self-indulgent at times, one or two tracks in danger of
disappearing up their own backsides. This makes listening a bit
tough, the album coming in at over 70 mins running time.
> The Beta Band makes the much-hyped Gomez seem awfully tame and
> unimaginative in comparison. The more adventurous P2ers should be all
> over this.--don
Couldn't agree more. I have the Gomez record and it is enjoyable
enough but I can't get past the notion that it is just the sum of the
bands record collections.
I think I read somewhere that a new Beta Band album will be released
in the near future.
Andy
