| 1. Beta Band Rap |
| 2. It's Not Too Beautiful |
| 3. Simple Boy |
| 4. Round the Bend |
| 5. Dance O'Er the Border |
| 6. Broken up Adingdong |
| 7. Number 15 |
| 8. Smiling |
| 9. Hard One |
| 10. Cow's Wrong |
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
When a record that starts with a freakish rendering of the '40s novelty tune "Mr. Sandman" collides into a loping rap that boasts of chicken, fish, and cold love in Scotland and then maneuvers into a rave-up worthy of Elvis, it normally would spell trouble. But the Beta Band actually manage to make this wacked-out pastiche work. The Scottish combo skillfully massage their tracks into thrilling sound collages that draw on electronica, country, prog rock, and psychedelia without ever going beyond the point of kitsch. The stoned beauty of "It's Not Too Beautiful" recalls the mesmerizing layered vocals of Pink Floyd, but tosses in a demented breakdown to throw any nostalgia seeker off the scent. The steel drums and reggae bass line of "No. 15" combine shamble with shuffle to give this slacker's recitation of "15 reasons not to spend my life with you" a lazy charm. The Beta Band extend a simple invitation with their woozy music: Get baked. --Lois Maffeo --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Product Description
Debut full length by U.K. alternative outfit who mix just about every style of music and end up sounding like no one else. Traces of Beck, Aphex Twin, Guided By Voices and many others can be heard in the 10 cuts. 1999 release. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
The album begins with what is also probably the strongest song on the album, "Setting Sun." The song describes a failed relationship and the desire to just get away from it all "just like the setting sun." The song utilizes a really cool guitar progression and layer upon layer of vocals to form a really lush 60s-style pop/rock song. In fact, many, if not all of the songs on "Astronomy for Dogs" feels like it was ripped right out of the 60s or 70s.
Take, for example, the awesome "Robot Man," with it's slurring synths, funky bass line, and steady groove. It feels like it's straight out of the disco era, right down to the ridiculous lyrics "I am the robot man!" Eventually, it collapses into a more traditional, radio-friendly song that sounds more like Ted Leo and the Pharmacists than anything else. "I Am the Unknown" is another fantastic song that features some fantastic harmonizing and really deep production. It too feels like a song that could've been from the 60s.
"Rox" is a great song. It sounds like a straight up tribute to the Bee Gee's classic "Staying Alive" before breaking down into a more modern techno song. "She Don't Love Me" is your token ballad complete with a string reprise, because, let's face it, you can't very well have a 60s tribute album without a ballad. At over seven minutes long, it feels like they're milking it a little too hard, but it's never as distracting as it could be.
The album's major flaw is the lyrics. There's nothing truly memorable about any of these lyrics, and more often than not they just feel like shallow sing-alongs than anything else. "The Happy Song," for example, is downright childish. However, what The Aliens lack in substance, they more than make up for with style. "Astronomy for Dogs" is a fantastic album, and The Aliens do a great job of playing this style of music. Though I would've preferred a deeper album, lyrically, I'll gladly take this one for the time being.
Recommended for fans of The Beta Band and anyone who really liked the 60s.
Key Tracks:
1. "Setting Sun"
2. "Robot Man"
3. "I am the Unknown"
4. "Rox"
5. "Honest Again"
7 out of 10 Stars
First of all, for the uninitiated, this would be a great start to try and get into the Beta Band's melodic, textured, swirling and downright unclassifiable brand of music. Tracks from all 4 albums are on here so this would be a great sampler. Then you should move on to buying all 4 of their albums.
For the already initiated fans (such as myself), besides being a nice send-off, the 2nd disc is a live set recorded on their farewell tour. And it's a revelation. As someone who has seen the Beta Band live, I can personally attest to the fact that the songs have completely different characters when performed on stage. Still great but they take on a life of their own. And this live set shows that off and is all the better for it. From a song like Dr. Baker, which sounds completely different here, to the dual drum kit duet/duel of Broke (seeing this done live is AWESOME), live Beta Band is a different beast...and one that will be sorely missed.
In all, this is a great set for the new fan or the established one. And a fitting send-off for a band that will be sorely missed, no matter how much out of the mainstream they were during their all to brief career.
In retrospect, what kept these guys from becoming HUGE, and ultimately leading to their breaking up, was an inability to write memorable songs with melodies. At the end of their run, the electronic noodling produced by the Betas sounded like Depeche Mode leftovers. Can anyone hum just one Beta Band song?
The Three EPs remains the definitive Beta Band purchase.
God I wish they would come back. At least we have some more of Steve Mason's new solo stuff -King Biscuit Time- coming soon....
Long live The Beta Band!
If you don't own any Beta Band cd's then this is the one to go for. If you already own some of their stuff, then get this one for the 2nd cd that has the live set from the farewell tour. At last, a recording of them playing live!
Top stuff.
Songs such as "Assessment" and "Out-side" deliver the baggage to rock out with the best bands out there, and the audience should agree that if they stuck to this traditional type of musicianship, and delivered thunderous beats backed by memorable lyrics, this album would have been a classic. However, with the exception of two songs song called "Liquid Bird" and "Space Beatle," of which, got it right by avoiding being measured by their poppy ways, this album is pretty snooze inducing. The other eight songs on the album just do not catch a good stride, are buoyed by too many repetitions and inconstancies, feel incomplete, and are downright inattention getting.
One of the reasons for these songs inability to thrill is that the music here is slowed down to the point of being downright still. This involvement makes the listener not want to be emotionally moved by the song, and especially does not make them want to get up and dance, which is such a sad thing to be saying about a band with as much talent as this.
The Beta Band does have what it takes to jam as well as the best bands out there, but they choose to go quietly this time around. It is as if The Beta Band wanted to be too original, but sadly, their aspirations did not quite accompany their style.
Sometimes, or actually, most of the time, a band is great when the music does not take the typical routes of regularity. However, this is an album that proves that sometimes ordinary is just fine, and would especially make for a much better record.
*** (Out of 5)
JUST SO GOOD. you brought yourself to the page for some reason, just follow your instinct and BUY THIS.
A Northern California haze was enchanting. Around the corner at Community Market I knew where to find quiet, talkative friends or that girl I was uncontrollably in love with. Between night and day music was strummed, drums were drummed, we matched bowls, and though I wasn't from this land I felt so with these brothers. Accompanied by Spring smells, the Sun never let us down. It all melted together in search of a link to some ancient way of reading tire marks.
An old friend handed me a copy of the late Beta Band's determinate Heroes to Zeros. The Three EP's was all I knew of them; it had given me a sense of unity, and the closest thing I had gotten into was at least twenty years older. Overall the new album has become as important to me as Kid A (Radiohead), a monument, more listenable than my favourite and completely different, The Residents' Gingerbread Man, and is maybe the band's most accessible release. In the spirit of my whereabouts at the time there was no musical equal; this was it.
These are the most whole songs they have recorded. Their earlier work is remarkable: wobbly, spontaneous acts of faith, yet building blocks of Heroes to Zeros. It's not easy to explain such unconventionally changing music, yet it is organized. Compared to Hot Shots II, it is no doubt just a different album but with less sampling, more useful sparseness of their comical electronica, and more focused song-writing of well-rounded lengths as opposed to earlier pieces more open to spontaneity. Heroes to Zeros suggests a summing up of practices in an embrace of their deeper sound. They have been criticized for being too soft, for being too diluted in live performances, and if that's true or not, their newest shows a breaking down to essentials.
They open with cascading guitar and drums like any of many power rock intros, simple and accessible. The song balances the sound with lighter instruments of the more feminine side, being faithful to the pleasing major key. In this spirit the music alone utters a calling fresh to listen to every time. Beta Band's experimentation paid off more than ever with Heroes to Zeros. The album is warm, and emphasizes letting go. It's no wonder they split up with its completion.
The album attains many balances: outgoing and subdued (Out-Side), clean and distorted (Assessment, Out-Side, Easy, Space), harmonious and discordant (sparsely, as in Lion Thief), personal and indifferent, quiet and loud, gradual and sudden (Liquid Bird compared with Pure For), ambience and melody (all), etc. And with the last especially, Nigel Godrich has got to be thanked for his mixing and influence. Just when the music is getting intense the songs wash over you. It's an album for rocking out as much as tripping out, but does more for reflection and encouragement.
The lyrics are open windows, social, sometimes cosmic concerns that seem to find a balance between the unsolvable and the simple needs of happiness. They hang out with the listener and are by no means merely academic. They use the music to resonate their questions. Each song is exploratory. The effective use of bridges/modulation in structure unfolds the questions of songs like Liquid Bird and Out-Side by transforming them midway. `How far can a man go/Crawlin on his elbows/Fallin through his window...', and after the bridge, `Is it true what they say/About life when you're dead?' Masons lyrics bring us a long way into the band's visions, often ambiguously but not without direction, and never lacking earnest. Troubles is straight to the point and consistent, without the individualized context used in say, Easy. It's funny how many versions of these lyrics can be found on the web, even though they come with the album. They are very hard to hear at times, and seem to be playing tricks on listeners.
Look closely at lyrics for Easy and you see a stubborn context advocating honesty. Space Beatle lyrics are about reaching for prayer methinks. Lyrics for Space are focused on unknown things like stars, friends, the milky-way and its likenesses to the former. I think it's an important song because it sounds like amongst all these mysteries, one is just round the crooked corner (`More or less').
Friendship is not left behind as a song subject or even as a song form, but with Steve Mason's willing way of saying his songs he puts himself beside us (`You never know whose there beside you/Who will be your comfort'). Lion Thief plainly explores phoney friends in all of us and the unheeded `small ones'. His voice has a swing feel with a well-earned history of disobeying vocalist rules and clichés. In Hot Shots II we got Steve running his mouth and speaking his mind (at least), and now he returns to plug us into deeper moments that new songs are written for. Simple is a re-evaluation of friendships gone awry and simply exercises trying to find a friend. The repeated chorus is far-reaching and especially encouraging, and Beta Band know you hear them.
Assessment is so springy and encouraging. After its long power triumph (`...the time has come for decision'), the album quickly takes us through different concerns with a notion of what has to be said in little time. I think that notion of short time is vital to the album. By the end we have seen a wide range of explorations and leave with the rested outro of Pure For with piano notes indifferent to the key of the song, the sense of graduating distance. So the album takes us from day to night, from things like victory to humility.
In Assessment it sounds like Mason is doing more with those bountiful vocals than any of the instruments. His la-la in Space is done in such a serene state it sounds effortless but is exactly what the song needs. It's possible that they have never used so many vocal tracks. They fill the corners of the songs that the instruments don't cover. Somehow the production still allows for a space to be felt.
Heroes to Zeros is journeyed with well-placed unique moments. One of my favourites is in Lion Thief when the guitars stop with the singing, and darkness surrounds the unanswered question: `Where do you go when you hide your love away?' isolated by breathless loops and a car-warning alarm sound. By the time melodies have digested this issue we leave the song helplessly, as all the songs. They all explore unchangeable matters.
The songs not written about here are just as special as the rest in different ways. Someone with well-practiced meditation or background in religious or ethnic music should be reviewing this fresh piece. I am more enlightened as a result of Heroes to Zeros. It always brings me to my senses. It will be remembered and relived as a spiritual teaching.
Simply put, this album is insane. It's elements of insanity often don't fit together precisely, but that's kind of the point; any craziness that works in a linear and smooth fashion is just posing as genuine insanity if you ask me. This is the sound of a band just having fun, and pushing whatever madness they can think of to the absolute limit of listenability. There are times when this album doesn't "work"--many times in fact. But that's what makes it so special in my mind; the fact that they knew they weren't making something consistently wonderful but they made it anyway in the hopes that some of it would be worthwhile, that the recording process itself would reveal something about them as musicians and as people. I think the band themselves say not to buy it because ultimately its not even for our consumption; its a working out of their own demons.
Then why release it in the first place, you ask? Because there will be people like me (and there are a lot of us) who will like it for what it is. We have no expectations for it, we don't put our unreasonable ideas of what the Beta Band is "supposed" to sound like on it just because we have heard "The Three E.P.'s". We listen to this album on its own terms, and even if part of those terms is that the band themselves don't like it, I'm willing to accept that. I like this album. I respect the fact that many people don't, but some of the reasons out there are really dumb, in my mind. If you're thinking of buying it, just listen to the sound samples, and think about how much of that you can take. That's my suggestion. Hopefully you'll come to the right choice, and decide to buy it and love it or not buy it when you would've hated it anyway. I've been talking for too long. Bye.
Imagine a blend of Portishead, early Pink Floyd and, oddly enough, the Alan Parsons project and that's what this is. It also functions as a soundtrack to both heartbreak and the first rush of being in love; and those dual-roles are, of course, what the best pop music does.
When a record that starts with a freakish rendering of the '40s novelty tune "Mr. Sandman" collides into a loping rap that boasts of chicken, fish, and cold love in Scotland and then maneuvers into a rave-up worthy of Elvis, it normally would spell trouble. But the Beta Band actually manage to make this wacked-out pastiche work. The Scottish combo skillfully massage their tracks into thrilling sound collages that draw on electronica, country, prog rock, and psychedelia without ever going beyond the point of kitsch. The stoned beauty of "It's Not Too Beautiful" recalls the mesmerizing layered vocals of Pink Floyd, but tosses in a demented breakdown to throw any nostalgia seeker off the scent. The steel drums and reggae bass line of "No. 15" combine shamble with shuffle to give this slacker's recitation of "15 reasons not to spend my life with you" a lazy charm. The Beta Band extend a simple invitation with their woozy music: Get baked. --Lois Maffeo --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Product Description
Debut full length by U.K. alternative outfit who mix just about every style of music and end up sounding like no one else. Traces of Beck, Aphex Twin, Guided By Voices and many others can be heard in the 10 cuts. 1999 release. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
The Beta Band,The Beta Band,Astralwerks,Indie Rock,Pop,Rock,Trip-Hop
Average customer rating: 
|
Astronomy for Dogs
The Aliens Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD  General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Neo-Psychedelia
| Rock
| Alternative Styles
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Dance & DJ
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000NJWSCG Release Date: 2007-06-19 |
Tracks:
- Setting Sun
- Robot Man
- I Am Unknown
- Tomorrow
- Rox
- Only Waiting
- She Doesn't Love Me No More
- Glover
- Honest Again
- The Happy Song
- Caravan
Amazon.com
It takes less than thirty seconds to size up the Aliens and their peripatetic ways: "Setting Sun" nods shamelessly to both XTC and "All Along the Watchtower," using the mathematics of influence to make something instantly memorable--but still super-referential. Therein lies a slight problem for these once-Beta Band mainstays. Yes, this might well be considered a remnant project from the Beta Band, defunct since 2005. They reprise straight-up disco beats, make numerous declarative exclamations ("I am the robot man" and "I am the unknown" and, twice, "We are the aliens"), blow plaintive harmonica, and sing forlornly about love and the wide, wide world. This is a psychedelic manifesto of sorts, extending the Beta's languidly trippy sphere of influence and then adding to it without seeking acclaim for having done so. Chanted vocals, polyrhythmic backdrops, and angle-bending keyboards make the Aliens otherworldly, smudging the spot where you'd place them in the post-punk's history. --Andrew BartlettAlbum Description
The Aliens have landed! Astronomy For Dogs sees former Beta Band members Gordon Anderson (aka Lone Pigeon), John Maclean and Robin Jones reunite for a fantastically eclectic debut album. It's epic, it's Psychedelic, it's Pop. It's gloriously over-the-top but also sharply on-the-money. This cosmically ambitious record begins with the organ-led Pop swagger of 'Setting Sun' and motors straight into 'Robot Man' (sounds like the superfunk jazzerama sound of Sly Stone meeting Steely Dan), and Astronomy For Dogs doesn't let up. Thrill to the Garage Rock shimmy and shake - imagine The Velvet Underground gone Funk - of 'Only Waiting'. Jump around to the Merseybeat charm of 'Glover'. And on it goes, this album that's set its controls for the heart of the sun, and for the sunny side of your heart (and sometimes the rainy side, too). 'The Happy Song' is, irrepressibly, irresistibly, just that. EMI. 2007.Customer Reviews:
Out of This World........2007-05-01
The album begins with what is also probably the strongest song on the album, "Setting Sun." The song describes a failed relationship and the desire to just get away from it all "just like the setting sun." The song utilizes a really cool guitar progression and layer upon layer of vocals to form a really lush 60s-style pop/rock song. In fact, many, if not all of the songs on "Astronomy for Dogs" feels like it was ripped right out of the 60s or 70s.
Take, for example, the awesome "Robot Man," with it's slurring synths, funky bass line, and steady groove. It feels like it's straight out of the disco era, right down to the ridiculous lyrics "I am the robot man!" Eventually, it collapses into a more traditional, radio-friendly song that sounds more like Ted Leo and the Pharmacists than anything else. "I Am the Unknown" is another fantastic song that features some fantastic harmonizing and really deep production. It too feels like a song that could've been from the 60s.
"Rox" is a great song. It sounds like a straight up tribute to the Bee Gee's classic "Staying Alive" before breaking down into a more modern techno song. "She Don't Love Me" is your token ballad complete with a string reprise, because, let's face it, you can't very well have a 60s tribute album without a ballad. At over seven minutes long, it feels like they're milking it a little too hard, but it's never as distracting as it could be.
The album's major flaw is the lyrics. There's nothing truly memorable about any of these lyrics, and more often than not they just feel like shallow sing-alongs than anything else. "The Happy Song," for example, is downright childish. However, what The Aliens lack in substance, they more than make up for with style. "Astronomy for Dogs" is a fantastic album, and The Aliens do a great job of playing this style of music. Though I would've preferred a deeper album, lyrically, I'll gladly take this one for the time being.
Recommended for fans of The Beta Band and anyone who really liked the 60s.
Key Tracks:
1. "Setting Sun"
2. "Robot Man"
3. "I am the Unknown"
4. "Rox"
5. "Honest Again"
7 out of 10 Stars
Average customer rating: 
|
The Three E.P.'s
The Beta Band Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Britain
| British Isles
| Europe
| International
| Styles
| Music
Scotland
| British Isles
| Europe
| International
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Trip-Hop
| Dance & DJ
| Styles
| Music
Indie & Lo Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
General
| Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000HYSJ Release Date: 1999-01-26 |
Tracks:
- Dry The Rain
- I Know
- B + A
- Dogs Got A Bone
- Inner Meet Me
- The House Song
- Monolith
- She's The One
- Push It Out
- It's Over
- Dr. Baker
- Needles In My Eyes
Amazon.com
Citing influences ranging from the decidedly serious Martin Sheen to the asinine Chevy Chase to funkmaster Bootsy Collins, the Beta Band is a delight. This aptly titled compilation of three separately released EPs is sure to leave music fans scratching their collective head while trying to define this Scottish band's intricate aural hodgepodge. The Beta Band makes a very distinct and exciting impression. There's the unusual coupling of acoustic guitar, horn, sampled beats, and a catchy refrain on "Dry the Rain"; the hypnotic instrumental "B+A"; and "She's the One," which opens with a chaotic, hippyish drum circle that segues first to an anthemic chorus and then to a highly processed breakdown complete with a Jew's harp. The Three EPs will dominate the CD player, becoming somewhat of an obsession, with each listen revealing some brilliant little nuance, quirk, or lyric. --Kerry MurphyCustomer Reviews:
beta bnad.......2006-03-25
Who is that? The beta band. They're pretty good. I know........2005-09-01
Skip the silly debate; listen to the groovy music.......2005-08-22
A few great songs, with some filler............2005-08-09
fabulous.......2005-06-18
Average customer rating:
|
The Best of the Beta Band
The Beta Band Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Electronic Pop
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Electronica
| Dance & DJ
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B000AP2ZAI Release Date: 2005-10-04 |
Tracks:
- Dry The Rain
- Inner Meet Me
- She's The One
- Dr. Baker
- It's Not Too Beautiful
- Smiling
- To You Alone
- Squares
- Human Being
- Gone
- Broke
- Assessment
- Easy
- Wonderful
- Troubles
- Simple
Tracks:
- It's Not Too Beautiful - Live 11/29/04
- Squares - Live 11/29/04
- Inner Meet Me - Live 11/29/04
- Simple - Live 11/29/04
- She's The One - Live 11/29/04
- Easy - Live 11/29/04
- Dr. Baker - Live 11/29/04
- Dry The Rain - Live 11/29/04
- Quiet - Live 11/29/04
- Broke - Live 11/29/04
- Assessment - Live 11/29/04
- Dog's Got A Bone - Live 11/29/04
- House Song - Live 11/29/04
Amazon.com
With a total of four full-length releases (counting their Three EPs compilation), it may seem a little premature for a retrospective, but since The Beta Band disbanded at the end of 2004, it's understandable. Of course, "understandable" was never the band's specialty. Like an Earth-bound Spacemen 3, or Beck in his more out-there moments, The Beta Band lurched through a sometimes-bizarre kaleidoscope of indie rock and ambient texture, creating solid pop songs out of playful futurism. With druggy shuffles and quasi-trip-hop backgrounds, "DJ" John MacLean fashioned a rolling pastiche of samples and sounds that meshed perfectly with drummer Robin Jones' lumbering beats. Meanwhile, vocalist Stephen Mason's moaning tone and odd but cerebral lyrics (when intelligible) gave a shambling energy to songs included here like "Dry the Rain," "Dr. Baker"and "Squares" (the latter from 2001's Hot Shots II). Still, instrumental breaks like the one that finishes "Assessment,"originally released on 2004's underrated Heroes to Zeros, make it clear that lyrics and melodies are only there to give some grounding to the band's rampant yen for experimentation. The two-disc set also includes a sterling live recording that will make you hope this supposed swan song is just another idiosyncratic indulgence, and that it really isn't over for good. --Matthew CookeCustomer Reviews:
A great send-off for this great band...worth it for the 2nd disc alone!.......2006-10-23
First of all, for the uninitiated, this would be a great start to try and get into the Beta Band's melodic, textured, swirling and downright unclassifiable brand of music. Tracks from all 4 albums are on here so this would be a great sampler. Then you should move on to buying all 4 of their albums.
For the already initiated fans (such as myself), besides being a nice send-off, the 2nd disc is a live set recorded on their farewell tour. And it's a revelation. As someone who has seen the Beta Band live, I can personally attest to the fact that the songs have completely different characters when performed on stage. Still great but they take on a life of their own. And this live set shows that off and is all the better for it. From a song like Dr. Baker, which sounds completely different here, to the dual drum kit duet/duel of Broke (seeing this done live is AWESOME), live Beta Band is a different beast...and one that will be sorely missed.
In all, this is a great set for the new fan or the established one. And a fitting send-off for a band that will be sorely missed, no matter how much out of the mainstream they were during their all to brief career.
beta band strikes again (under the radar).......2006-10-02
Betas go bye bye.......2006-03-08
In retrospect, what kept these guys from becoming HUGE, and ultimately leading to their breaking up, was an inability to write memorable songs with melodies. At the end of their run, the electronic noodling produced by the Betas sounded like Depeche Mode leftovers. Can anyone hum just one Beta Band song?
The Three EPs remains the definitive Beta Band purchase.
Alpha Band..........2005-12-24
God I wish they would come back. At least we have some more of Steve Mason's new solo stuff -King Biscuit Time- coming soon....
Long live The Beta Band!
The last word from The Beta Band.......2005-11-29
If you don't own any Beta Band cd's then this is the one to go for. If you already own some of their stuff, then get this one for the 2nd cd that has the live set from the farewell tour. At last, a recording of them playing live!
Top stuff.
Average customer rating: 
|
Heroes to Zeros
The Beta Band Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Electronic Pop
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Electronica
| Dance & DJ
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B0001LYGXU Release Date: 2004-05-04 |
Tracks:
- Assessment
- Space
- Lion Thief
- Easy
- Wonderful
- Troubles
- Out-Side
- Space Beatle
- Rhododendron
- Liquid Bird
- Simple
- Pure For
Amazon.com
When the Beta Band first hit in 1998 with The Three EPs, the band seemed incapable of doing wrong with their infectiously murky, psychedelic mixture of contemporary electronic and early `70s stoner rock. Their songs seemed to fall apart as quickly as they came together, and this disposable quality made them classic, in a weird way. But while those EPs recalled the days of Canterbury prog without the silly Tolkein-isms, or the "Madchester" scene sans the nasty drugs, the group's music has slowly slid into a disparaging mediocrity since then; it seems that the harder the Beta Band tries to be a real band, the worse the result. The tunes on Heroes all have the same muddy sound, sung in the same mushmouth-y style. By 2004, the mantle of loose, weird and fun experimental pop seems to be firmly in the hands of groups like the Go! Team in the UK and the Animal Collective stateside. --Mike McGonigalAlbum Description
With props in John Cusack's High Fidelity for their classic '3 EPs' and a much-lauded US tour with Radiohead, The Beta Band have established themselves as one of the most innovative and adored groups from the UK. Their third official album HEROES TO ZEROS captures the focused immediacy and power of their epic live shows, while maintaining the sample-tastic digital sorcery of their previous releases. Mixed by Nigel Godrich (Radiohead, Air, Beck). Features "Assessment".Customer Reviews:
Beta's usually do not grasp without hooks .......2007-01-11
Songs such as "Assessment" and "Out-side" deliver the baggage to rock out with the best bands out there, and the audience should agree that if they stuck to this traditional type of musicianship, and delivered thunderous beats backed by memorable lyrics, this album would have been a classic. However, with the exception of two songs song called "Liquid Bird" and "Space Beatle," of which, got it right by avoiding being measured by their poppy ways, this album is pretty snooze inducing. The other eight songs on the album just do not catch a good stride, are buoyed by too many repetitions and inconstancies, feel incomplete, and are downright inattention getting.
One of the reasons for these songs inability to thrill is that the music here is slowed down to the point of being downright still. This involvement makes the listener not want to be emotionally moved by the song, and especially does not make them want to get up and dance, which is such a sad thing to be saying about a band with as much talent as this.
The Beta Band does have what it takes to jam as well as the best bands out there, but they choose to go quietly this time around. It is as if The Beta Band wanted to be too original, but sadly, their aspirations did not quite accompany their style.
Sometimes, or actually, most of the time, a band is great when the music does not take the typical routes of regularity. However, this is an album that proves that sometimes ordinary is just fine, and would especially make for a much better record.
*** (Out of 5)
Can't imagine why a fan wouldn't LOVE it.......2006-10-06
bang for your buck!.......2006-08-26
JUST SO GOOD. you brought yourself to the page for some reason, just follow your instinct and BUY THIS.
Silence the Critics!.......2006-01-21
Sunny Delight.......2005-11-25
A Northern California haze was enchanting. Around the corner at Community Market I knew where to find quiet, talkative friends or that girl I was uncontrollably in love with. Between night and day music was strummed, drums were drummed, we matched bowls, and though I wasn't from this land I felt so with these brothers. Accompanied by Spring smells, the Sun never let us down. It all melted together in search of a link to some ancient way of reading tire marks.
An old friend handed me a copy of the late Beta Band's determinate Heroes to Zeros. The Three EP's was all I knew of them; it had given me a sense of unity, and the closest thing I had gotten into was at least twenty years older. Overall the new album has become as important to me as Kid A (Radiohead), a monument, more listenable than my favourite and completely different, The Residents' Gingerbread Man, and is maybe the band's most accessible release. In the spirit of my whereabouts at the time there was no musical equal; this was it.
These are the most whole songs they have recorded. Their earlier work is remarkable: wobbly, spontaneous acts of faith, yet building blocks of Heroes to Zeros. It's not easy to explain such unconventionally changing music, yet it is organized. Compared to Hot Shots II, it is no doubt just a different album but with less sampling, more useful sparseness of their comical electronica, and more focused song-writing of well-rounded lengths as opposed to earlier pieces more open to spontaneity. Heroes to Zeros suggests a summing up of practices in an embrace of their deeper sound. They have been criticized for being too soft, for being too diluted in live performances, and if that's true or not, their newest shows a breaking down to essentials.
They open with cascading guitar and drums like any of many power rock intros, simple and accessible. The song balances the sound with lighter instruments of the more feminine side, being faithful to the pleasing major key. In this spirit the music alone utters a calling fresh to listen to every time. Beta Band's experimentation paid off more than ever with Heroes to Zeros. The album is warm, and emphasizes letting go. It's no wonder they split up with its completion.
The album attains many balances: outgoing and subdued (Out-Side), clean and distorted (Assessment, Out-Side, Easy, Space), harmonious and discordant (sparsely, as in Lion Thief), personal and indifferent, quiet and loud, gradual and sudden (Liquid Bird compared with Pure For), ambience and melody (all), etc. And with the last especially, Nigel Godrich has got to be thanked for his mixing and influence. Just when the music is getting intense the songs wash over you. It's an album for rocking out as much as tripping out, but does more for reflection and encouragement.
The lyrics are open windows, social, sometimes cosmic concerns that seem to find a balance between the unsolvable and the simple needs of happiness. They hang out with the listener and are by no means merely academic. They use the music to resonate their questions. Each song is exploratory. The effective use of bridges/modulation in structure unfolds the questions of songs like Liquid Bird and Out-Side by transforming them midway. `How far can a man go/Crawlin on his elbows/Fallin through his window...', and after the bridge, `Is it true what they say/About life when you're dead?' Masons lyrics bring us a long way into the band's visions, often ambiguously but not without direction, and never lacking earnest. Troubles is straight to the point and consistent, without the individualized context used in say, Easy. It's funny how many versions of these lyrics can be found on the web, even though they come with the album. They are very hard to hear at times, and seem to be playing tricks on listeners.
Look closely at lyrics for Easy and you see a stubborn context advocating honesty. Space Beatle lyrics are about reaching for prayer methinks. Lyrics for Space are focused on unknown things like stars, friends, the milky-way and its likenesses to the former. I think it's an important song because it sounds like amongst all these mysteries, one is just round the crooked corner (`More or less').
Friendship is not left behind as a song subject or even as a song form, but with Steve Mason's willing way of saying his songs he puts himself beside us (`You never know whose there beside you/Who will be your comfort'). Lion Thief plainly explores phoney friends in all of us and the unheeded `small ones'. His voice has a swing feel with a well-earned history of disobeying vocalist rules and clichés. In Hot Shots II we got Steve running his mouth and speaking his mind (at least), and now he returns to plug us into deeper moments that new songs are written for. Simple is a re-evaluation of friendships gone awry and simply exercises trying to find a friend. The repeated chorus is far-reaching and especially encouraging, and Beta Band know you hear them.
Assessment is so springy and encouraging. After its long power triumph (`...the time has come for decision'), the album quickly takes us through different concerns with a notion of what has to be said in little time. I think that notion of short time is vital to the album. By the end we have seen a wide range of explorations and leave with the rested outro of Pure For with piano notes indifferent to the key of the song, the sense of graduating distance. So the album takes us from day to night, from things like victory to humility.
In Assessment it sounds like Mason is doing more with those bountiful vocals than any of the instruments. His la-la in Space is done in such a serene state it sounds effortless but is exactly what the song needs. It's possible that they have never used so many vocal tracks. They fill the corners of the songs that the instruments don't cover. Somehow the production still allows for a space to be felt.
Heroes to Zeros is journeyed with well-placed unique moments. One of my favourites is in Lion Thief when the guitars stop with the singing, and darkness surrounds the unanswered question: `Where do you go when you hide your love away?' isolated by breathless loops and a car-warning alarm sound. By the time melodies have digested this issue we leave the song helplessly, as all the songs. They all explore unchangeable matters.
The songs not written about here are just as special as the rest in different ways. Someone with well-practiced meditation or background in religious or ethnic music should be reviewing this fresh piece. I am more enlightened as a result of Heroes to Zeros. It always brings me to my senses. It will be remembered and relived as a spiritual teaching.
Average customer rating:
|
The Beta Band
The Beta Band Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Trip-Hop
| Dance & DJ
| Styles
| Music
Indie & Lo Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
General
| Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B00000J5ZA Release Date: 1999-06-29 |
Tracks:
- The Beta Band Rap
- It's Not Too Beautiful
- Simple Boy
- Round The Bend
- Dance O'er The Border
- Brokenupadingdong
- Number 15
- Smiling
- The Hard One
- The Cow's Wrong
Amazon.com
When a record that starts with a freakish rendering of the '40s novelty tune "Mr. Sandman" collides into a loping rap that boasts of chicken, fish, and cold love in Scotland and then maneuvers into a rave-up worthy of Elvis, it normally would spell trouble. But the Beta Band actually manage to make this wacked-out pastiche work. The Scottish combo skillfully massage their tracks into thrilling sound collages that draw on electronica, country, prog rock, and psychedelia without ever going beyond the point of kitsch. The stoned beauty of "It's Not Too Beautiful" recalls the mesmerizing layered vocals of Pink Floyd, but tosses in a demented breakdown to throw any nostalgia seeker off the scent. The steel drums and reggae bass line of "No. 15" combine shamble with shuffle to give this slacker's recitation of "15 reasons not to spend my life with you" a lazy charm. The Beta Band extend a simple invitation with their woozy music: Get baked. --Lois MaffeoAlbum Description
Debut full length by U.K. alternative outfit who mix just about every style of music and end up sounding like no one else. Traces of Beck, Aphex Twin, Guided By Voices and many others can be heard in the 10 cuts. 1999 release.Customer Reviews:
better than just "good".......2005-08-18
If only all "bad" albums were this good.......2004-05-27
don't you get it?.......2003-11-18
Simply put, this album is insane. It's elements of insanity often don't fit together precisely, but that's kind of the point; any craziness that works in a linear and smooth fashion is just posing as genuine insanity if you ask me. This is the sound of a band just having fun, and pushing whatever madness they can think of to the absolute limit of listenability. There are times when this album doesn't "work"--many times in fact. But that's what makes it so special in my mind; the fact that they knew they weren't making something consistently wonderful but they made it anyway in the hopes that some of it would be worthwhile, that the recording process itself would reveal something about them as musicians and as people. I think the band themselves say not to buy it because ultimately its not even for our consumption; its a working out of their own demons.
Then why release it in the first place, you ask? Because there will be people like me (and there are a lot of us) who will like it for what it is. We have no expectations for it, we don't put our unreasonable ideas of what the Beta Band is "supposed" to sound like on it just because we have heard "The Three E.P.'s". We listen to this album on its own terms, and even if part of those terms is that the band themselves don't like it, I'm willing to accept that. I like this album. I respect the fact that many people don't, but some of the reasons out there are really dumb, in my mind. If you're thinking of buying it, just listen to the sound samples, and think about how much of that you can take. That's my suggestion. Hopefully you'll come to the right choice, and decide to buy it and love it or not buy it when you would've hated it anyway. I've been talking for too long. Bye.
Not as good as the others.......2003-08-26
Well . . ........2003-07-01
Average customer rating:
|
Hot Shots II
The Beta Band Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Electronica
| Dance & DJ
| Styles
| Music
Trip-Hop
| Dance & DJ
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Indie & Lo Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
General
| Rock
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B00005K9Z6 Release Date: 2001-07-17 |
Tracks:
- Squares
- Al Sharp
- Human Being
- Gone
- Dragon
- Broke
- Quiet
- Alleged
- Life
- Eclipse
- Won
Amazon.com
Hot Shots II continues the Beta Band's play with epileptic beats and creepy melodies as they again rearrange a record collection stocked with Pink Floyd, Talk Talk, the Beatles, and the full Astralwerks catalog. A clipped toy piano inspires a shiver on "Al Sharp" while the swirling synth of "Eclipse" recalls Brian Eno's contribution to the Trainspotting soundtrack (which the Beta Band would have dominated were the movie made two years later). The album's deep-bass sounds and obvious craft are arresting, but attempts at the band's cleverness or playfulness expose seams that would best remain hidden. The lyrics of "Eclipse" falter through a satirical allegory of politics, concluding with "the people with the answers," "the people with the questions," and "the people with the books" sitting down to "smoke a pizza pie." While almost every song contains layers of crackling vinyl, laser, or toy-piano effects, it's only in the closing hip-hop version of Harry Nilsson's "One" that the sounds neatly meld. Newcomers to the Beta Band should start with The Three E.P.'s, but old fans will find Hot Shots II a better second full-length than 1999's self-titled release. --Sarah SternauAlbum Description
Hot Shots II is the quartet's most accomplished work: folksy, futuristic, dubbed-out atmospherics and off-kilter pop. Think Beck meets Lee Perry meets Pink Floyd meets RZA meets Beatles. This U.S. version features an exclusive track. 11 tracks. 2001 release.Customer Reviews:
Not groundbreaking but good nonetheless.......2005-12-15
An imperfect but sorely unheralded masterpiece.......2005-01-23
Imagine a blend of Portishead, early Pink Floyd and, oddly enough, the Alan Parsons project and that's what this is. It also functions as a soundtrack to both heartbreak and the first rush of being in love; and those dual-roles are, of course, what the best pop music does.
The chill-out Beta Band album?.......2004-07-20
Superb.......2003-11-25
Hip as can be........2003-11-13
Average customer rating:
|
Assessment
The Beta Band Manufacturer: EMI/Regal UK ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Electronic Pop
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Electronica
| Dance & DJ
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
ASIN: B0001YNK7U Release Date: 2004-04-19 |
Tracks:
- Assessment
- Shrek
- Assessment [C Swing's Bootleg Mix]
- Assessment [Multimedia Track]
Album Description
The first single off the 2004 album 'Heroes To Zeroes'. The title track is b/w three non-LP tracks, 'Shrek', 'Assessment' (C Swing's Bootleg Mix), & the video to 'Assessment', plus a photo gallery. Regal.Customer Reviews:
it's all over.......2004-08-09
Average customer rating:
|
To You Alone Sequensizer
ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Rock
| Imports
| Stores
| Music
ASIN: B00004S2PL Release Date: 2000-02-07 |
Tracks:
- To You Alone
- Sequinsizer
Album Description
1999 single from the highly acclaimed & quirky U.K. alternative group, NOT included on their self-titled 1999 album. Tracks 'To You Alone' and 'Sequinsizer'. Paper inner and outer sleeve.Album Details
Scottish Band Takes in Sixties Psychedelia and Mixes it with Slabs of Beatles and Dollops of Stone Roses on this New Track.Customer Reviews:
The Progression of The Beta Band........2001-02-23
Listen; you will see!.......2001-02-23
Average customer rating: 
|
Circles
Manufacturer: Jordan Yaruss ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
ASIN: B000CAJV62 Release Date: 2004-03-30 |
Average customer rating:
|
Assessment
The Beta Band Manufacturer: Astralwerks ProductGroup: Music Binding: Audio CD General
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Indie Rock
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
Electronic Pop
| Indie & Lo-Fi
| Alternative Rock
| Styles
| Music
General
| Rock
| Styles
| Music
Pop Rock
| Pop
| Styles
| Music
Electronica
| Dance & DJ
| Indie Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Alternative Rock
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Pop
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 Rock
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
4-for-3 All Music
| 4-for-3 Music
| Stores
| Music
Similar Items:
ASIN: B00022FWFE Release Date: 2004-05-18 |
Tracks:
- Assessment (Album Version)
- Shrek
- Assessment (C-Swing Bootleg Remix)
Rock Music:
- Toast of Virginia Beach
- Top Hat White Tie & Tails: The Irving Berlin Songbook
- Tracks of My Tears
- Try This [Import]
- Under the Wire [Enhanced] [EP] [Live]
- Victim or Witness
- Waiting [Import]
- Yen for Noise
- Zeroes & Ones
- 36D
