The BETA BAND, formed in 1996 and split in 2004 were a UK band carrying the tag of “Folktronica”, a blend of folk, electronic, rock, trip hop, and experimental jamming.
I came to this one in the usual unexpected way, loving the Nick Hornby novel “High Fidelity” (so much so I lent it to someone to read and that was the last I saw of it). I watched the Movie release in 2000 John Cusack, Jack Black & Todd Louiso interaction as the nerd inhabitants of a vintage record store rang so many bells my initial unease at the shift from 1980s UK to America post 2000 fell away; although it had me messed up for a time but this movie is so true I let it go . I even had a go at organizing my records(CD’s) AUTOBIOGRAPHICALLY. which worked great up to around 2000 and then nothing. My life got disconnected from the soundtrack.
Roll on Christmas 2012 and a present from my wife reconnected me. I was the proud owner of 1001 Albums you must hear before you Die. And if you have the time or inclination you can follow my journey through its pages of this here Bio-Blog.
Now back to the BETA BAND The Three EP’s is not in the revised 2010 1001 but I believe one of their Albums was in the 2005 edition. So onward John Cusack aka Rob Gordon announces to the shop “I will now sell five copies of The Three E.P.’s by The Beta Band”and plays a minute give or take of the song “Dry the Rain”. As far as I am concerned at the time who are the “BETA BAND” and do they even exist because its hard to tell, try looking for something by “Kinky Wizard”.
Now confessing here to a mild case of OCD in my operating system “High Fidelity” got stuck in my top 5 movie play list I have seen it a lot. Not as much as ” Flip side of Dominick Hide” but a lot. So “Dry the Rain” and “The Three E.P’s” gets stuck in my head so prowling HMV last year has me speechless there on the racks are 5 shiny copies of said album. Purchased and rushed home its an awesome sonic journey, yes it takes time and dedication but I love it. And the cover art work is great .
Made up of:-
Champion Versions (1997)
The Patty Patty Sound (1998)
Los Amigos del Beta Bandidos (1998).