C/D: Beta Band's Happiness And Colour/The Hut

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I was just listening to this today and it occurred to me that if you put it out now under a different name and sold it in a vinyl limited-edition of 100 with a cool silk-screened cover and told people that it was the very latest in ambient sea-chanty-psych that someone might give you 30 bucks for it new and 45 used. If they were Japanese. And there was nothing on t.v. But I could be wrong. Maybe it's just boring and a waste of a weedhead's time. Hey, make that 50 bucks!

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 3 March 2005 20:02 (twenty years ago)

I never heard this... but I still love that Sequinsizer/To You Alone" single. Feel the same way, too - under other circumstances, could have been hot.

― Bent Over at the Arclight (Bent Over at the Arclight), Thursday, 3 March 2005 20:24 (twenty years ago)

I'd like to hear this. where did you get it?

― RJG (RJG), Thursday, 3 March 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

I have a tape of it. It's an astralwerks promo. I think it was originally gonna be a part of the the first full-length(2-discs?) until cooler heads prevailed. but i figured the obsessives on ilm would know all about it. I'm not that obsessive about Beta Band. Though I like them fine. (i reviewed the first album and i got the album on tape and happiness and colour/the hut on tape AND a cool full-length video with the long banditos promo on it AND beta band stickers AND a copy of the beta band fanzine that they used to put out. I was impressed at the time.)

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 3 March 2005 20:48 (twenty years ago)

Eh...not like you're bragging or anything.

I would like to hear this too, but if it was from their earlier days, chances are I wouldn't like it so much anyway.

― Bimble... (Bimble...), Thursday, 3 March 2005 21:35 (twenty years ago)

it was just memorable, bimble. it was really one of the only times that i got "stuff" along with an album i was reviewing.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 3 March 2005 21:39 (twenty years ago)

and those two long tracks are really more musique concrete then they are songs. sea sounds. stoned rambling.

― scott seward (scott seward), Thursday, 3 March 2005 21:40 (twenty years ago)

The first album is so classic the Band themselves couldn't cope with it. But seriously, I've been listening to it on and off for a month.

― Deerninja B4rim4, Plus-Tech Whizz Kid (Barima), Thursday, 3 March 2005 22:24 (twenty years ago)

The first album meaning The 3 E.P.s CD?

― Bent Over at the Arclight (Bent Over at the Arclight), Thursday, 3 March 2005 22:26 (twenty years ago)

That's technically a compilation. I'm talking about the self-titled.

― Deerninja B4rim4, Plus-Tech Whizz Kid (Barima), Thursday, 3 March 2005 22:28 (twenty years ago)

I got the first album proper, from the library. I only liked track 1.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 4 March 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

You so crazy: tracks 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 are all frickin', killer. What are you, the groutfox, or something?

― BARMS, Friday, 4 March 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)

wow, i would like to hear this

― pete b. (pete b.), Friday, 4 March 2005 10:39 (twenty years ago)

Well, maybe I had to 'live with it' for a while.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 4 March 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

Or become attuned to hippie/mentalist jamming from dudes who are on acid, shrooms and weed simultaneously.

― BARMS, Friday, 4 March 2005 11:03 (twenty years ago)

i'd like to hear this, somehow.

― jermaine (jnoble), Friday, 4 March 2005 15:28 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

Can anyone YSI or Gmail this? I can trade many a Beta boot in exchange.

― Marcus The, Thursday, 23 June 2005 01:16 (nineteen years ago)

Seconded (except for the ability to trade anything worthwhile in return)

― On a Strict El Cholo Diet (Bent Over at the Arclight), Thursday, 23 June 2005 06:41 (nineteen years ago)

Everytime I listen to the EPs, the S/T debut or The Hot Shots II I keep thinking that whichever one I'm listening to is their best.

I never got Heroes to Zeroes. I know Scott likes it but I didn't realise he liked their earlier stuff too. That is a good sign.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 23 June 2005 22:28 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah-- I kind of feel the same way as Tim. Each of them is best when each of them is played. I think Hot Shots II probably is the winner when it comes down to being the most fully realized, although as far as concise songwriting goes, H2Z is quite good, too. But then again so is the 3 Eps. And here I go again and again and again.... Always gonna miss these blokes. Thank god for King Biscuit Time (Steve's solo stuff), Roman Noseband (Robin's solo one-off) and The Alienz (Lone Pigeon, John and Rich's new project).

― Marcus The, Thursday, 23 June 2005 23:06 (nineteen years ago)

I'm certain the s/t is their best. You just can't beat their wilful genre-car-crash psychedelia moment. And I sing 'Round The Bend' in the street anyway, so there ya go.

(also, it's totally a precursor to Plus-Tech's Cartooom!)

― BARMS, Friday, 24 June 2005 07:38 (nineteen years ago)

what is it about hot shots that i don't get????? i tried and tried and tried. i love the EPs, the first album, and the last album. hot shots just...does...nothing for me. what is wrong with me?

― scott seward (scott seward), Friday, 24 June 2005 09:51 (nineteen years ago)

I've also got a friend, who dislikes Hot Shots, though he loves the 3EP's and Heroes To Zeroes too... I like all of them, my list gonna be like this:

3 EP's
Heroes To Zeroes
Hot Shots II
the Beta Band

Heroes to Zeroes was sadly underrated last year.

― zeus, Friday, 24 June 2005 10:30 (nineteen years ago)

fiver in fopp the noo.

― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, 24 June 2005 10:52 (nineteen years ago)

When are we gonna hear these songs anyway?

― Negativa, True Believer (Sheryl Crow in a Britney costume) (Barima), Friday, 24 June 2005 19:57 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah, for real. They're broken up now, give us a break.

Also there is nothing wrong with Hot Shots.

― The Silent Disco of Glastonbury (Bimble...), Saturday, 25 June 2005 01:52 (nineteen years ago)

OMG, you think I'm being mean or something!! I'm not trying to be mean. I wasn't really paying attention. I only have it on tape, and i'm clueless with computers. I don't make CDs. I don't even download music. I'm sad, aren't I? Maybe I can find someone who can make a cd and then send a cd to one of you who can put the cd on the computer...or maybe i can ask maria if she could put it up somewhere. i'll work on it. it's very ambient. just some young lads high out of their minds in a shack by the sea making noises and letting their thoughts drift...

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 25 June 2005 02:36 (nineteen years ago)

Hey sounds good enough to me.

Scott there's something I've been hoping to catch up with you about, not this, but something else. Is your email a valid one?

― The Silent Disco of Glastonbury (Bimble...), Saturday, 25 June 2005 02:45 (nineteen years ago)

Yes it is.

― scott seward (scott seward), Saturday, 25 June 2005 03:17 (nineteen years ago)

Thanks, Scott. Anything done here is much appreciated. I've been waiting to hear this since they slagged it off at a one-off London concert before the release of the s/t album.

― Marcus The, Saturday, 25 June 2005 14:15 (nineteen years ago)

three months pass...

any news on this?!

― toby (tsg20), Thursday, 29 September 2005 09:47 (nineteen years ago)

one year passes...

Ah, the last temptation of ILX.

― Badrock Example (Barima), Tuesday, 7 November 2006 13:08 (eighteen years ago)

the holy grail

― bo janglin (dubplatestyle), Tuesday, 7 November 2006 23:22 (eighteen years ago)

After reading this, I'm still not sure what year this came out. Is this late 90s beta band? If so I'd be interested in hearing it.

Also Marcus The is OffTM in thanking god King Biscuiit Time and Aliens. Only half of the first King Biscuit Time was any good, I thought, and the new one, Black Gold, was just embarassing.

To be honest, the only Aliens song I've heard was "Get Happy". But if they were anything other than the remnants of the Beta Band, that song wouldn't have gone anywhere. It's terrible.

― Zachary Scott (Zach S), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 00:54 (eighteen years ago)

There's nothing wrong with that Aliens song ("The Happy Song", not the Elvis Costello record), and the King Biscuit Time album is quiet but good, no way embarrassing.

― zeus (zeus), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 18:24 (eighteen years ago)

Has anyone heard the aliens, "featuring members of beta band"?

It's got to be one of the biggest pieces of tosser shit I've ever heard

― zippezappy (doomed), Wednesday, 8 November 2006 19:18 (eighteen years ago)

two months pass...

HI DEHR

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 21:26 (eighteen years ago)

any beta band fans around? they made music unique to scotland.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 21:50 (eighteen years ago)

Yes, Beta Band fan, check. Mental block about pulling out their CD's, though. I will conquer this in exactly 44 minutes from now.

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Sunday, 21 January 2007 21:55 (eighteen years ago)

probably nobody wants to hear this anymore. the beta's are yesterday's news. it's not like they are annie from norway or something.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 22:09 (eighteen years ago)

Anyway it's not your fault, Scott. Heroes and Zeroes was fucking cool at the time. One day I will play it again.

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Sunday, 21 January 2007 22:11 (eighteen years ago)

I'm a huge Beta Band fan! Although I'm yet to buy HS2 because I haven't seen it for less than 13 quid anywhere. The self-titled album is one of the forgotten solid-gold classics of the late-90's. The first album is so classic the Band themselves couldn't cope with it. = OTM. Nobody has captured the same spirit of timeless, elegiac irreverence quite like those Beta dudes did with this unbelievable record. The other two I have are similarly brilliant, although HTZ has a couple of clunkers. Sadly, these clunkers are on the Greatest Hits (Easy and Troubles).

If you haven't heard that s/t record yet, though, please do. It's a treat.

― to scour or to pop? (Haberdager), Sunday, 21 January 2007 22:27 (eighteen years ago)

s/t is pretty much unlistenable at times. search the three ep's and hot shots 2.

― cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 21 January 2007 22:31 (eighteen years ago)

i was just kidding about them being forgotten. i was actually just slyly hinting that i could finally post the rarest unreleased beta band recording of all time, but nobody remembers what this thread was about.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 23:22 (eighteen years ago)

this thread:

C/D: Beta Band's Happiness And Colour/The Hut

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 23:47 (eighteen years ago)

please do!

― artdamages (artdamages), Sunday, 21 January 2007 23:51 (eighteen years ago)

whoops, i posted a link to this thread. weird. i'm not even stoned.

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 23:52 (eighteen years ago)

yah, i just posted it on my MP3 thread. i'll put it here too though.

HAPPINESS AND COLOUR

http://www.wvvy.org/listen/content/beta-band-A.mp3

THE HUT

http://www.wvvy.org/listen/content/beta-band-B.mp3

― scott seward (scott seward), Sunday, 21 January 2007 23:55 (eighteen years ago)

thanks!

― artdamages (artdamages), Monday, 22 January 2007 00:35 (eighteen years ago)

classic bimble... guy stuff at the start of thread

thanks for the tracks, scott

― RJG (RJG), Monday, 22 January 2007 01:23 (eighteen years ago)

Hurrah for rock and all that. Recently got the DVD comp they put out, and it is very great.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 22 January 2007 02:25 (eighteen years ago)

thanks scott.

― caek (caek), Monday, 22 January 2007 02:27 (eighteen years ago)

i never thought i'd hear these tracks!

thanks scott :D

― pete b. (pete b.), Monday, 22 January 2007 02:39 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks to Scott and all, definitely, but from what I can tell these tracks are so boring I want to fall asleep.

― White Dopes on Punk (Bimble...), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:08 (eighteen years ago)

yeah, it helps if you are stonerated.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:16 (eighteen years ago)

but, honestly, falling asleep to them wouldn't be that bad. they are dream-y.

― scott seward (scott seward), Monday, 22 January 2007 04:44 (eighteen years ago)

wow, thanks scott! looking forward to hearing them.

― toby (tsg20), Monday, 22 January 2007 08:18 (eighteen years ago)

I still listen to Los Amigos... a lot.

― Sick Mouthy (Nick Southall), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:15 (eighteen years ago)

Thank you again, Scott!

― LC (Damian), Monday, 22 January 2007 10:45 (eighteen years ago)

Also a huge Beta Band fan here, and 'Heroes To Zeroes' still kicks ass.

― zeus (zeus), Monday, 22 January 2007 12:51 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks!

under other circumstances, could have been hot.

Why did I talk like that in 2005?

― Tiki Theater Xymposium (Bent Over at the Arclight), Monday, 22 January 2007 14:14 (eighteen years ago)

How do I title these properly (scott)? "promo tape" just isn't going to cut it?

― caek (caek), Tuesday, 23 January 2007 20:13 (eighteen years ago)

Thanks a lot for those Scott, they're two songs I'd pretty much abandoned hope of ever hearing. They're pretty similar to 'Monolith' from the Patty Patty Sound EP, and remind me a lot of their live show around'97/'98, and a great set they did on Mary Anne Hobbs' Breezeblock.

― Gareth Jones (jona), Wednesday, 24 January 2007 00:31 (eighteen years ago)

nine years pass...

these are up on this blog post with a nice write-up too.

http://thewhitenoiserevisited.blogspot.com/2011/09/steves-opening-gambit.html?m=1

― scott seward, Thursday, 15 September 2016 05:40 (eight years ago)

while the former EMI chairman breathes a big sigh of relief in his very big house in the country
Nicely written indeed! :)

― willem, Thursday, 15 September 2016 07:03 (eight years ago)

Some things remain unreleased for a reason.

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 15 September 2016 13:47 (eight years ago)

But art

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 September 2016 14:14 (eight years ago)

ha! yeah, you have to be a pretty big fan to make it through both tracks. i've listened to that tape quite a bit over the years though.

― scott seward, Thursday, 15 September 2016 14:45 (eight years ago)

I still adore (most of) the 3 EPs, about 30% of the debut proper, all of HS2, and most of H2Z, but 30 minutes of sea noises, Steve Mason mumbling, and the occasional snatch of half a melody on a melodica or some helium-balloon vocals? No thanks.

― Hey Bob (Scik Mouthy), Thursday, 15 September 2016 14:48 (eight years ago)

True, if you're going to go full on with a half-hour random bonus, doing what Mercury Rev did on the "Carwash Hair" single is probably what to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5evxxRevi-U

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 15 September 2016 17:11 (eight years ago)

and i thought this revival was about steve mason digging into the beta band catalogue again :

http://www.barbican.org.uk/music/event-detail.asp?ID=20221

― mark e, Thursday, 15 September 2016 17:30 (eight years ago)

five years pass...

That bit about 20 minutes into "Happiness and Colour" when a jaunty little song in the "Smiling" helium voice floats to the surface like you've just opened a scrumptious Sprite can :)

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 16:06 (two years ago)

I got the first album proper, from the library. I only liked track 1.
― mark grout (mark grout), Friday, March 4, 2005 10:26 AM (seventeen years ago) bookmarkflaglink

I do now like the whole album, it's pretty great.

That's what you get for slagging off your own album: the critics join in, then the record company think to themselves "what's the point in promoting this? Or anything else?"

― Mark G, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 16:57 (two years ago)

I did get the 'deluxe' with the two long extra tracks. Yeah.. no.

― Mark G, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 16:58 (two years ago)

I always feel the apparent critical disdain for the album is a bit imagined. I'm not aware of any flat out negative reviews - instead, some that are a bit mixed and more than that just positive ones. Maybe I haven't looked hard enough.

Was there a reason the album didn't have a proper single? Never seen it touched on anywhere. An edit of "Smile" later made it onto their best of (alongside all 9 mins of ITSB).

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 17:01 (two years ago)

Smiling* looks like another why-don't-I-read-what-I'm-writing typo afternoon for me

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 17:09 (two years ago)

It's Tot Soo Beautiful

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 17:10 (two years ago)

i really dig the first one. undeserved bad rap (no thanks to the dude(s) in the band, as mentioned)

― no one wants to twerk anymore (will), Tuesday, 26 July 2022 22:04 (two years ago)

The self-titled is a monument of UK psych

― imago, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 22:08 (two years ago)

I adore it. Really adore it. I can't fault it at all - which makes it one of my favs ever prob'ly

― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 26 July 2022 23:03 (two years ago)

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