Beta Band

Description

Innovative and singular, their unique musical and aesthetic approach to everything they did set them far apart from their musical contemporaries. Together for a relatively short period of time, the three albums and three EPs they released between 1996 and 2004 would nonetheless help define them as one of the most exciting and cherished bands of their generation. Released in 1999, the albumThe Beta Bandfollowed the critically acclaimed compilationThe Three E.P.’s(1998). With high anticipation forThe Beta Band, the band originally planned to record the album in four separate continents, but financial constraints slimmed the recording locations down; however, the album was still recorded in a variety of locations and pulling inspiration from sources as diverse as Jamaican reggae, Disney’s movieThe Black Holeand Bonnie Tyler’sTotal Eclipse of the Heart. The band also originally intended the album to contain a bonus disc of two long form ambient pieces,Happiness and ColourandThe Hut, both of which lasted over 20 minutes and represented the band’s desire to “make a record of sound as a description for something like happiness, where a distinct first part gives way to a distinct second part. However, the band and label ultimately decided to remove these tracks from the album prior to release.