The really frightening thing....and no-one ever believes me when I tell them this, but that's exactly what happened a few years in a small record store in Glasgow the day I bought The Three EPs by The Beta Band.
Granted the store wasn't as busy as 'Championship Vinyl' nor were any skateboarding kids trying to shop-lift. But as the sounds of Dry The Rain came over the shop speakers, I was interested enough to ask who and what was playing and then buy a copy. Whether the folk behind the counter had a chuckle at my expense I will never ever know....
mp3 : The Beta Band - Dry The Rain
mp3 : The Beta Band - The House Song
mp3 : The Beta Band - It's Over
The Three EPs is exactly what it says on the tin - a compilation of all the tracks that The Beta Band had recorded on EPs in 1997 and 1998 prior to their self-titled debut LP appearing in 1999. The tracks featured today are taken from Champions Versions, The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos respectively.
This lot were never the easiest to get into. There is a great word used to describe them in wikipedia - folktronica - which is seen as a blend of folk, electronic, rock, trip-hop and experimental jamming. They didn't always quite hit the mark as far as I'm concerned, but every now and again there was something truly special that came out of the studio. The three tracks featured today are reasonably typical of what they did....
Happy Listening
PS
You'll see that this week isn't a piece by any of The Sunday Correspondents. That's because none of them, other than John Greer, has got anything over to me in recent weeks.
So....a general plea to all and sundry. I really do need a day off from this once a week so I'm looking for volunteers to shove something over for posting on a Sunday. The e-mail address is over on the right-hand side of the blog.
Thank You.
6 comments:
I've been playing these a lot again lately. I think I like the first one best. It's impossible not to think of that scene though.
Proof, if proof were needed, why I like your blog so much. I just wrote about this very song (and movie scene) last month!
I think the Beta Band will ultimately be viewed as important and influential as the Velvet Underground. A grand statement I know, but I really think they will. A fantastic band.
I loved all the record shop scenes in that film. Reminded me of my days in a large record store. Despite not being a "Championship Vinyl" type of store, we had our fair share of anally retentive/obsessed/loony music fans & snobs.
One of our favourite things on a Sunday or quiet early mornings/late afternoons/evenings (when we didn't have to play chart fodder) was to predict how many copies of something we'd sell during play.
Some enjoyed abusing/teasing the customers, others enjoyed chatting & some aimed to make them buy something they didn't expect.
Once sold JAMC & Orange Juice to an Italian tourist instead of a Runrig album because they wanted something Scottish & had only heard of Runrig. It was a proud moment!
I went out and bought the 3 EPs not long after watching the film.
just a bit of a tangent here, this always reminds me of walking into Newbury Comics in Boston one day and the first VERVE ep was playing through the store.. after "Man Called Sun" finished I went up to the counter and asked who the band was. "You like this?!?!" the counterperson asked me, "Yeah, it's great!" I replied upon which the clerk popped the disc out, stuck it in the promo case it came in and gave it to me.."Here, it's giving me a headache.." I still love that disc..
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