A GUEST SERIES

41. Dry the Rain – The Beta Band (1997 Regal Records)

Released in July 1997 as 12” only release, and limited to 1000 copies.

Some songs I can remember exactly where I was when I first heard a song. For example ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’ I first heard in the Waterloo Station branch of Our Price. I know this because on the counter there was a sign telling me so (I was buying a Shamen single at the time).

I first heard ‘Sex on Fire’ driving down the A303 on the way back to Devon from Heathrow airport – I know this because the car in front caught fire about three minutes later and my wife and I joked all the way home about what might have been going on inside that car – after we made sure that the couple inside were ok of course.

I first heard ‘Dry the Rain’ sat in a police station in the City of London. Which, depending on your viewpoint sounds either cool, dodgy, edgy or a mixture of all three. The reason is not so exciting to be honest.

I was sat in a police station in the City of London waiting to make a statement after witnessing a minor car crash on Cheapside. A white Audi had mounted the kerb to avoid a van and had narrowly avoided a pedestrian and then driven straight into a post office van. There’s a lot of car action today, sorry.

The small office that I sat outside had Radio One playing – it was the Jo Whiley show, obviously, and I remember being really annoying with the officer when he came to get me before Jo had told me what song it was and who it was by.

But I remembered it.

A couple of hours later, back home I made a phone call – I phoned a record shop that I knew and I literally sang the song down the phone to them and said ‘what is it?’.

As I warbled “If there’s something inside that you want to say…” badly, the guy on the end of the phone in between his laughter, somehow knew what the record was!

I mean I could have just listened to Jo Whiley’s show the next day because unbeknownst to me she had made it Record of the Week and played it every day regardless. Regardless I placed my order on the spot.

A week or so later my 12” version of ‘Champion Versions’ dropped through the letterbox. Twenty years or so later, whilst going through another pointless space saving exercise, I sold it to an American in Illinois for £105. He sent me a personal email telling me how delighted he was to finally own it. Which was nice. ‘Dry The Rain’ is that kind of track.

‘Dry The Rain’ has this terrifically lopsided brilliance to it, and I loved the way the chorus becomes a kind of mantra about positivity, something which you get a lot of with the earlier Beta Band tracks. The rest of the ‘Champion Versions’ is also pretty brilliant and contains

I Know

B + A

Dog Got a Bone

SWC

 

A guest contribution from S-WC.

Stop Fighting with your Thoughts – A Beta Band Imaginary Compilation

One of the best scenes in the film High Fidelity is the scene where the lead character who works in a record shop says ‘I will now sell five copies of The Three EPs by the Beta Band”, it was around that moment when the Beta Band were finally a ‘cult band’.

That one line, probably the most iconic plug for a band in a movie ever, summed up the power of Steve Mason’s band from Scotland. A band that as I have said before on these very pages dragged rock music kicking and screaming out of the Britpop malaise and influenced and wooed everyone from Noel Gallagher to Thom Yorke. Back to the film, John Cusack in the movie then played ‘Dry The Rain’ and people will buy it and even though you don’t actually see anyone part with their cash (its film, right.) you know that at least five copies will have been sold before closing.

The Beta Band were brilliant, they merged hip hop electronica, folk and pop music together and it came out as one sound, one incredible massive sound. But at the same time they never took themselves that seriously, they mucked around, wore stupid hats but we let them because their music was so good. Yet they never really had the global success that they deserved, each record they released struggled to find its audience. They released three album plus the ‘Three EP’s’, the first one ‘The Beta Band’ is often overlooked because the man itself described it as ‘fucking awful’. It isn’t by the way, it’s actually pretty good.

I once got punched for saying that Pink Floyd were shit. They are, face facts Pink Floyd fans. The second Beta Band album ‘Hot Shots II’ sounds like what Pink Floyd were trying to sound like, where Pink Floyd disappeared up their own arses in a self-indulgent toss fest, the Beta Band did it in a restrained and focused way. Yet ‘Hot Shots II’ is a sad and anxious record full of songs with titles like ‘Gone’, ‘Broke’ and ‘Quiet’. I blame Radiohead for this as the Beta Band spent most of that year touring with them. ‘Hot Shots II’ is almost perfect, full of rhythms and beat that are massively ahead of its time.

In 2004, the third and final album appeared this was ‘Heroes to Zeroes’ it was a bit of dramatic shift – its not a bad record but they tried to make it sound more commercial and whilst it has its moments like the Siouxsie Sioux sampling ‘Liquid Bird’ and the terrific single ‘Out Side’, it feels a bit flat in places. A band pushing to make it on the radio and failing so they simply gave up. The Beta band were always a band who thought to much and spent too long in the shadow of Radiohead so here after a few weeks of planning is the Beta Band Compilation. Hope you enjoy it.

Side One

1. “She’s The One” (from The Patty Patty Sound EP, 1998)

I’ll put in as simple as this, ‘She’s the One is the sweetest, most smile inducing and best song the Beta Band ever made. After all this is a simple song, that chant (a common theme, you will find) “She’s the One for Me” which gains more power with each repetition, that takes your focus so much that the climax almost burst out of nowhere. A brilliant way to spend eight and a half minutes.

2. “Round The Bend” (from The Beta Band, 1999)

‘Round the Bend’ is the Beta Bands funniest and saddest moment. It’s also one of the few times in which the lyrical genius of Steve Mason out shines the music. It’s a tale of shit night out and Mason is very specific in the lyrics, his simple thoughts of going out drinking alongside fantasy’s about pyramids blend brilliantly.

3. “Dogs Got A Bone” (from Champion Versions EP, 1997)

This song shows that despite all the ideas and innovation, the Beta Band also made really simple sweet jams sound incredible. The song is basically an acoustic guitar, a harmonium and obviously a bit of beat boxing. It doesn’t have a chorus or even a proper verse and at just short of six minutes that is pretty magical.

4. “Al Sharp” (from Hot Shots II, 2001)

The best song off ‘Hot Shots II is also the best example of where different sounds gel together perfectly. I should have put this as track 2 on side one because it’s the perfect antidote to ‘She’s the One’. I love the way this song hypnotically weaves music around two devastating statements “You and I will never be fine” and “I never even tried to smile for you”. Crikey that’s harsh.

5. “Eclipse” (from Hot Shots II, 2001)

‘Eclipse’ closes ‘Hot Shots II’ and it feels like a big hug after an album of cold and bitter music. It is almost the complete opposite of every other track on the album, its long, it’s a bit silly and its really chilled out. Whereas the rest of ‘Hot Shots II’ is obsessed with death, this is an acoustic guitar torch songs that ends with what sounds suspiciously a prog rock jam. Don’t let that put you off Side Two please.

Side Two

6. “Squares” (from Hot Shots II, 2001)

‘Squares’ opens with an a capella moment and immediately you know that this is something different. The drums crack in like fireworks and barely form a beat until it blooms suddenly and its iconic ‘Daydream’ nods jumps in. Strangely both The Beta Band and I Monster both used the ‘Daydream’ song in the same year and the melodies are so similar that they get confused. But whilst the Beta Band version has depths in between the hooks that makes the song sound sinister and like a bad acid trip and as the song goes on you hear the shout of ‘Daydream’ turning more and more into a nightmare. But it is a wonderful piece of music.

7. “Dance O’er The Border” (from The Beta Band, 1999)

Perhaps an example of why so many people were pissed off with the first Beta Band album. On first listen this song is a mess – a repetitive percussion heavy jam and I think it always sounded like a B side to a dance 12” with added mumbling, Mason is ad-libbing. So why is it on the album?? Because 5 years later LCD Soundsystem did exactly the same thing and made me listen to this all over again and realise the genius of it.

8. “Needles In My Eyes” (from Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos, 1998)

‘Needles In My Eyes’ is a track that best describes a break up like no others, there is one line here “Last night I dropped my heart and I never want to see it again”. It leaves you numb and you feel the pain and it is almost a relief when you hear the next verse state that “Needles in my eyes won’t cripple me tonight”. Phew.

9. “Dry The Rain” (from Champion Versions EP, 1997)

For most people this is the best Beta Band song, but it isn’t you have that right at the beginning of this compilation. It was one hell of an impressive debut though. You will of course remember the chant “I will be your light” and the opening line “This is the definition of my life/Lying in bed in the sunlight/choking on the vitamin tablet” which is a lyric so Radiohead like that I surprised they didn’t actually write it. From that moment on I knew that this was a band I would love and in Steve Mason a singer I would worry about. Oh man, its such a good record.

10. “Pure For” (from Heroes To Zeroes, 2004)

“Pure For’ is the last song on the final Beta Band record so ideally it should close the imaginary compilation, right? This is just too sparse to do that, it’s mainly just a drumbeat , a few synth chirps and a guitar that has been recorded backwards – there is no grand conclusion apart from the chant of “I’m so glad you found me”. It is such a happy ending, you forget the limitations the band faced and you forget that its their last song and just let it engulf you.

mp3 : The Beta Band – She’s The One
mp3 : The Beta Band – Round The Bend
mp3 : The Beta Band – Dogs Got A Bone
mp3 : The Beta Band – Al Sharp
mp3 : The Beta Band – Eclipse
mp3 : The Beta Band – Squares
mp3 : The Beta Band – Dance O’er The Border
mp3 : The Beta Band – Needles In My Eyes
mp3 : The Beta Band – Dry The Rain
mp3 : The Beta Band – Pure For

Enjoy!!

The Shoebox of Delights – #17 – Chosen by JC
Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos – The Beta Band

Bands very often don’t quite live up to their early work and here perhaps is the best example of a band that were guilty of exactly that. Every single minute of the first three Beta Band EP’s is essential listening (yes even ‘The Monolith’) and for me the best of the bunch is the third one ‘Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos’. Strangely I’d been thinking about doing an Imaginary Compilation for The Beta Band and I still hope that when I head off to the cricket in the next few days they will magically appear as the 11th track and force me to write it. Also I recently sold my vinyl copy of ‘Champion Versions’ to an American guy on Ebay for £110 so they hold a special place in my heart, just for that (saying that I also got £35 for a 7” copy of the very first Stereophonics single – a record which I would have actually given away for free, I digress).

So let me gush a bit about The Beta Band, if you ask me – and you sort of are – The Beta Band helped drag rock music into the 21st century and didn’t really get any credit for doing it. At the end of the 90s Britpop was dying on its arse and The Beta Band came up to it stroked its head and said ‘follow us’. They opened the door to a wonderful new world. A world where hip hop rock electronica, folk and summery pop tunes could be melted together to form a new sound.

Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos is perhaps the darkest of the three EP’s and it is a much slower type of record. Three of the tracks on here ‘It’s Over’, ‘Push It Out’ and ‘Dr Baker’ appear to be a little preoccupied with death and heartbreak. It the middle of ‘Its Over’ you hear Steve Mason sum this up by singing ‘Please reassure me I’m doing all right’ (you are doing just fine Steve). Then you get some Bird Song, and that is never a good idea in music, but here, it works.

‘Push It Out’ starts with a solitary cymbal and it’s quite an otherworldly track sounds like it was recorded in space or deep under water. After the cymbal you get bass, piano, and then handclaps. Then drums come in and then…Then Steve Mason starts singing. Sublime.

‘Dr Baker’ has a simple sound piano led but it’s a beautifully sad track. The way that the piano twinkles along with a vocal that is a bit chant like and does it continuously over the track seamlessly is brilliant and seemingly effortless. I want to mention the lyrics that appear mid way into this song

“Dr. Baker phoned me again later that day/Said he cried and he really sounded out of it/His wife was dead and his dog was dead/And misery planned inside his head/I tried to reason with him, tried singing/He said, “No boy you’ll never listen”/Try it again, try it again/Try it again, again, again”

I mean, that beautiful isn’t it? If there has to be doom and heartbreak and anguish and ultimately death, I hope that when I meet my maker, Steve Mason is there to sing to my loved ones because, well just because.

Then after all the doom, you get ‘Needles In My Eyes’ a track which is profoundly hopeful – it contains lines like ‘Last night I dropped my heart and I never want to see it again’, a line which describes numbness and emptiness better than most other records that try. Obviously this is the Beta Band’s ‘break up’ record, and it is I guess a pretty sad set of tracks, but the way ‘Needles In My Eyes’ lifts it is nothing short of genius (In my eyes this is the second best track they ever recorded, after ‘She’s the One’ and before ‘Dry The Rain’).

We all know that feeling, and we all think at the time that it will last forever – and whilst its pretty obvious that Steve Mason is feeling terrible, after listening to this, you know he is going to make it – Ok it took a few years and a questionable first actual album before he got there –but he got there.

This is an utterly wonderful record – why it sat so long in my attic waiting to be downloaded I cannot work out, perhaps I thought I’d already done it (I have had the other two EPs done and dusted for years). Doesn’t matter, quality still sounds like quality when you find it again.

mp3 : The Beta Band – It’s Over
mp3 : The Beta Band – Push It Out
mp3 : The Beta Band – Dr Baker
mp3 : The Beta Band – Needles In My Eye

So that was Number 17. Let’s have a few more numbers please…..

JC adds…….

The fact that my choice of #17 turned out to be the same band as was featured in last weekend’s Scottish song is completely coincidental…..it’s like those time when you have your i-pod on shuffle and the song you are thinking of comes on next in a 12,000-1 chance.

The Beta Band (1996-2004) were an alternative rock group who received much critical acclaim and achieved cult status, but failed to make much of a commercial impact on the popular music scene. Their style was self-described as being folk hop, a blend of folk, rock, trip hop, and experimental jamming.

Their music has featured on numerous film and TV soundtracks.  The song Dry the Rain from their 1997 debut EP, Champion Versions, was possibly their most popular track and was famously featured in the  film, High Fidelity.

Their live performances were legendary, often ending with the whole band playing percussion. Their dancing and energy got the whole audience moving, often in the same style as their idols on stage.  It has been suggested, sometimes by the band themselves, that they were better live than recorded.

All I have in my possession is The Three EPs compilation that brings together 12 tracks released between 1997 and 1998 including the aforementioned Dry The Rain.  It’s an album that Q magazine back in 2000 placed at #74 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever while Pitchfork had it is high as #23 in its Top 100 Albums of the 1990s.

mp3 : The Beta Band – Dog’s Got A Bone

Enjoy