Edinburgh, UK · folktronica · psych

The Beta Band

1 upcoming festival

Scotland's beloved kitchen-sink psychedelicists, reunited — 'Dry the Rain' at last, and the High Fidelity scene made flesh.

The Beta Band came together in 1996 around Steve Mason, John Maclean, Robin Jones and Richard Greentree, working out of Scotland and releasing a run of EPs that were later collected together. Their music combined folk melody, loose hip-hop rhythms, sampling, drone and studio collage, a mixture often filed under folktronica and neo-psychedelia. "Dry the Rain" remains their best-known song, helped by its use in the film adaptation of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity. The band was known for a wry, self-deprecating relationship with its own records, and for live shows that leaned on percussion, loops and layered vocals. They split in 2004; Mason went on to release music under his own name and as King Biscuit Time.

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