The Beta Band

Last year's excellent solo album by Steve Mason Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time reminded me of the genius that is The Beta Band and led to me buying The Regal Years (1997-2004), a compilation that brings together everything the band ever released.

It's an amazing body of work. Unclassifiable and ahead of their time, The Beta Band never quite fulfilled the promise they showed on debut album The Three EPs but listening to their other three albums now I think some of the rough edges and unfinished ideas added to the charm and were part of what made the band so exciting.

I've mentioned before how live performance of music can be so much more interesting if songs take on a life of their own rather than sounding identical to the recorded version. I saw The Beta Band twice in the late 90's; in Barcelona and Brixton and each time their songs were treated like constantly evolving ideas. They kept things fresh; constantly swapping instruments, layering up the groove and the shamanic mantras and always pushing the songs into new forms and shapes.