Hot Shots II

I had mixed feelings about this one throughout the listening experience. At times I was absolutely absorbed by the beautifully balanced complexity in the way that the songs are built. At other times, I was annoyed by what seems like willful weirdness designed to disrupt the listener's flow. In the end, I think I fall on the side of enjoying and appreciating the work that was put into this album. It was clearly a labor of love and I think that labor paid off. It's a really interesting and compelling album even if it's not something I'd turn to as a day-to-day jam.

More like Hot Shits, am I right? [rimshot] (Sigh)

Crap band name. Shit cover. But, credit to the recording engineer; it's difficult to get a good quality of sound when the vocalist's head is so far up his own arse. Good job.

This is my introduction to the Beta Band and the first listen made me straight want to go to a second. And third. So this album has been on at any opportunity I could find. With headphones, in the car, or just my home stereo. And with every listen another layer in a different song makes itself known, which was even more surprising since it seemed like a bit toned down indie electro at the start with some trip-hop influences. But there's so much more to it than I thought. I will be playing this a lot on the coming months and it might slowly make its way into my favourite albums. What a discovery! 4,5*

Yet another band that I've never heard of. Not sure their music ever crossed the Atlantic. I thought this was fine but nothing special. Too many like this are on the list.

I hated, _hated_, that bit in the film of "High Fidelity" when John Cusack smugly announces that he will now sell 5 copies of The 3 EPs by the Beta Band, pops it on the turntable, to instant grooving and interest from the shoppers. I worked for years in a store almost exactly like the fictional Championship Vinyl and I never, _never_, played a record to try to intentionally sell a single copy to unsuspecting shoppers, let alone five! While sometimes shoppers would ask about what was playing, you can't force people to like something just like this. Musical taste is so personal, and works on so many levels, you can't just spin a record you think is good to instant acclaim. This scenario is the wet dream of every white boy, collector scum, record nerd that ever lived. "I will play this secret undiscovered gem that only I, ultimate arbiter of taste and refinement, know, and the ignorant throngs will instantly recognize my genius and bow before me, thrusting their dollars at me as fitting tribute for me imparting this gift of knowledge to them". ("I know" smirks Cusack). So, the Beta Band is reputationally besmirched in popular culture before I ever really gave them a listen. I am predisposed to hate them already, not even at their own fault. In fairness, Dry The Rain (which is the song he plays in the store) is a pretty good song. So I gave Hot Shots II a fair listen. And they are a fair band. They can craft a pleasant tune, with some nice harmonies, with a charmingly sloppy, lo-fi, laid back production aesthetic that I kind of dig. But it's all a bit the same-same (like a series of fading carbon copies off Dry The Rain, really), and I wish they would break out a bit and try and catch my attention with something different. I note that this album no longer appears in the latest edition of 1001 Albums. But I might consider buying a copy of The 3 EPs. Curse you, Cusack, you got me in the end! 2.5 stars, rounding up.

Occasionally great, occasional meh. Straight down the middle for me.

I’ve never heard of The Beta Band before. The band name is a little funny, it makes me giggle that they chose Beta. Yet again, Apple Music lists them as alternative which doesn’t really tell me anything. I’m hopeful for a good listen today. It’s been a really odd week for me and I need something nice. Songs I already knew: none Favourites: Squares This was pretty decent. The music was generally chilled and easy to listen to. I did find the vocals a bit boring and droning at times, but it wasn’t TOO bad. I’m unsurprised to read the band are Scottish, or that this album was released in the early noughties - you can definitely hear the influence that Britpop had here, despite not sounding fully Britpop themselves. Overall, this was an ok album. I can’t really give it any better praise than that, but it also certainly wasn’t bad.

My first impression is that this reminds me a lot of Beck or early Gorillaz. Some spacey hip-hop/electronic sounds, so I guess this would technically be in the genre of trip-hop? idk. I couldn't really get into the vocals. Very melodramatic and pretentious. And that album cover is horrid.

Wimpy is how I would describe it. Like it felt like it never left first gear.

I’d never listened to this album before. Never heard of the band. Very pleasantly surprised.

Pretty OK. Kind of a mellow rock type of deal. I'm curious why this is one made the list, but it wasn't unpleasant. Pretty unique. Solid 3 stars.

Hot Shots II has crystallised impressions I had about turn of the century indie rock trends into notions. Rock-electronica-hip-hop fusion mostly pasted generic sounds over mediocre songs, bands reaching for ‘Revolver’ and making ‘The Birdie Song’. This is somewhere in the middle of the pack. The underlying songs are decent and distinct, the production is mildly distracting novelty. Turn-of-the-century ethereal wistfulness is here, a trend I never noticed and now feel nostalgia for on return: the post-9/11 horror show slapped away this strand of dreamy, sad pop. Mercury Rev’s Deserters Songs is a highlight that Simon and I shared, and a similar sort of sonically expansive, lyrically contemplative music here comes through squinted ears. The song’s themselves are well-crafted with stick and structures that caught me off-guard without losing me. The title’s clever-stupid humour displays a then-modish, self-deprecating-but-fuck-you-not-really attitude that I don’t miss. I like this more than I expected to, a piece of a period that I don’t mind revisiting.

I've already forgotten this, yawn.

What an annoying album - literally every song sounded the same. Soooo glad I listened to this one before dying. /s 4/10

I find this album rather ordinary. Not the worst thing ever, but nothing I'd want to go back to, either. Which leaves me with yet another “seriously?” thrown at the curators here for picking a second album from this band. Where I come from, this is called laziness.

I'm surprised that we would get two albums from the relatively unknown Beta Band in the same week. I found their Heroes to Zeroes from 2004 to be uninspired. This album features their best song IMO, Squares, but after that the rest of the album was similarly uninspired, mainly due to (as one of my colleagues commented) the lead vocalist's low key and boring delivery. We only have a few more albums before we've completed 1,001 and I think we're starting to scrape the bottom of the barrel now.

A real snooze-fest. Like many aspiring hipsters I grabbed a copy of The 3 EPs on the back of music paper hype, and was sorely disappointed apart from about 3 tracks. Looks like their later career followed a similar pattern. Steve Mason's voice gets pretty annoying with so little going on behind it. Nevertheless, I am glad we got this as it clears up a Mandela Effect for me: I remember a decent tune that sampled "Daydream" around 2001, much better than "Squares" on here but I've never cared enough to dig further. Turns out it was I Monster's "Daydream In Blue", and is far superior! Furthermore, the ubiquitous "Ike's Rap II" sample underpinning seemingly half of contemporary music was originally inspired by the Wallace Collection original. Fun fact: the actual Wallace Collection is in Manchester Square, London - opposite the EMI building that framed the famous Beatles Red/Blue photos and hosted the stockroom from whence my 3 EPs copy was swiped. Time is a flat circle, dude

Never heard of this. Who knows, maybe it was slightly ahead of it's time in 2001 but it sounds unremarkable and very un-listworthy today. I mean, it’s not bad. A bit quirky and a bit experimental, but not in ways that really do it for me. 2.5

Really not sure why this one is one here. I actually didn't mind it, and at times enjoyed it, but I just kept asking that question throughout. This list needs such an overhaul. And this album cover looks like someone made it in MS Paint.

#1 - Can't say that I hate it. It's pretty decent for an intro track. #2 - Okay. I think the running theme for me here is that there are some okayish tracks but nothing super stands out. Picked up for me toward the end of the song. #3 - Doesn't stand out/not anything special compared to the first two. #4 - Eh. Too downtempo for me. Didn't vibe with it. #5 - The vocals don't work well for parts. Instrumentals are good though and they're a welcome change from the last two songs. #6 - Another eh. #7 - Interesting parts, but.. yet another eh. #8 - A bit better, but not by much. #9 - The sum of this song is good. Weird. The repetitious lyrics toward the end works for them. #10 - No, not a fan. Despite some of the positives of the album, this is a straight 2. I can't give it a one because I enjoyed parts of it. This is a weird album to have on the list; I don't believe it should be. The curious thing about it is I would be okay with trying another album of theirs and giving them another fair shot, but this album really didn't do it for me.

I’ve had some many albums that are just shruggs on this list. 2 or 3 star unremarkable stuff. This was an absolute lock for this list.

Super cool grooves.

Grunge balladry is a new favourite

Gorgeous!

Discovering gems like this is my reason for participating in the 1001 albums project. Thank you once again for introducing me to an album I missed from a band I probably never would have heard otherwise. Great mellow indie psych rock. Beautiful harmonies, great instrumentation and just wonderful.

stellar scottish popping gold

The album cover is nothing like what I thought this was going to sound like. I love the beta band!

10/10 wtf this is so good, how have I never heard of this before

This is a good vibe, not something I've heard before. I dig it.

I didn't expect to like this but it's really great!

LOVED this album. Very novel listening experience and even when the artistic choices were odd it was a lot of fun. The harmonies on Al Sharp slapped.

Wow wow wow! An album and group I'd never heard of, but it was simply music that I loved listening to today! No having to think about it or look for the artistry or look for the message or the relevance or whatever, but just really lovely stuff all around!

Something new and appealing to my ears! For about half the album I was enjoying it, but I wasn’t sure if it was a 5 or just a nice 4. Then it broke through.

Hooray! After a week of 2s and 3s, finally something that sings to me again! I guess I know the song Squares because of Six Feet Under? The rest was unfamiliar but I really dig this folktronica business. Listened twice and am tempted to start it once more. Really really good.

The Beta Band is new to me. The first time through I enjoyed a lot of this, but on the second listen its unique properties really started to blossom and I discovered many interesting moments that cohere well into very enjoyable music. Very good!

I don't know how I missed The Beta Band, but this is impressive. This is the first time I've wanted to dive into an artist further!

LOVED this one. Listened to it twice while I was in the kitchen. The vibe is very good, relaxed, but still interesting.

Is squares the origins of I fell asleep among the flowers for a couple of hours, or was that a sample here too? Regardless, smooth, fun, groovy, dancable, very cool.

I was thoroughly impressed with this, as I expected a very different sound, but the laid-back energy and downtempo drones here actually compliment each other quite well.

Maybe this is my NEW FORMS?

Excellent trippy sound. Definitely listen more and more

Hot Shots II has always been a favorite of mine. It's like a perfectly smooth surface with small intereting kinks and imperfections that become obvious the more you zoom in. I can easily listen to this one on repeat. Does it deserve a place on the list? It's a tough call but I do think there's something unique here, even compared to their contemporaries, like Beck, Four Tet, or Caribou.

One of the best live bands i've ever seen. at one point they had two drum kits being played by 4 people and it somehow sounded brilliant and nowhere near as ridiculous as the concept of 4 drummers on two kits sounds. i also saw the aliens headline the park stage at glasonbury and that was up there as one of my best festival gigs ever too. can't help but think they were in the wrong era, bands that do similar things to them these days appear to be much bigger than the beta band ever got to.

If anal fingering was a sport, this record would be the world champion.

Experimentation at its peak early 2000s

Unique and easy-listening songs. Nice instrumentation arrangement and performances. Going to check out more by this band.

Veeeeeeery enjoyable Broke is the highlight Really really liked it. Got better, solid

I listened to this twice and actually liked it so much more the first time than the second but oh well haha. Great great start, and honestly I did enjoy the whole album really. Very much the end of brit pop and obviously very influenced by The Stone Roses, which I like. The production is amazing and is has been engineered amazingly, the lyrics... I mean sure. Will I listen again? Actually quite possibly.

interesting

I really enjoy the Beta Band. I'm not sure why they chose to include this album over their debut but whatever. 3.5 rounding up

Better than their first album, but not as good as the 3 EPs

Enjoyed this. Heard of but not actively listened to these. Will explore further. An intriguing 3/4

Surprisingly enjoyable

Never listened to the full album before ....and I like it! I would say that over all it is a stronger set of songs than 3 EPs, nowithstanding the fact that there is nothing quite as transcening as Dry The Rain. What a song that is. Anyway a very enjoyable listen that I think will get more play that 3 EPs and that's saying something. 4 stars

Ok so this band seems painfully early 2000s but they don't sound too bad so far? They seem to know how to make good music that also is technically impressive. Squares Al Sharp!!!!!!!! Dragon!! Alleged! Eclipse This album is kinda nuts?! I thoroughly loved a lot of these songs and am super glad 1001 gave me this to listen to. There were some duds but over all super cool and unique

Ja wel fa2

I really didn't know what this was, even after listening. Are they really a band? Are they playing instruments or is a lot of this done digitally? Does it really matter? No, it doesn't. This was great. Very moody. From the first vocal line, I knew I was in for something a little more unique. What a great opener. Seriously, it really set the tone for the whole thing and let me know what to expect moving forward. Really felt like it lived in its own sonic space, like it existed in its own world and you'd be hard pressed to ever hear this on the radio or on TV. You'd only hear this when listening to the album and nowhere else, not because its somewhat obscure, but because where else would it fit? I really enjoyed this. Not enough to give it five starts, but definitely enough to give it four. One of the more innovative albums I've heard from this century. Standout Tracks: Squares, Human Being, Broke, Quiet

I liked the first half a lot more than the second half, tempted to drop it down to 3 stars because of the second half but I’m not going to. Very good harmonies I liked it

Experimental, groovy, fun. This is what I like to hear in a record. It has great rhythms, funky vocals and instruments and is a generally chill vibe with some psychedelic influences. Definitely some tracks I've heard sampled by other artists which was really nice to hear. I dig the eclectic dynamics of this one - great album.

So it turns out I really like The Beta Band. Maybe I should have explored further than the three EPs when I was younger. Such a nice chill vibe for a certain mood, with early psychedelic tendancies that don't outstay their welcome. Unique sound, unique voice.

Would return!

Det här var helt okej till bra Ska ge det lite fler lyssningar. Men gillade det jag hörde, Quiet t ex. Kul med nytt.

Kul med ännu mer trip-hop (för det här är fan inte rock) och med ett rätt unikt sound, vilket alltid uppskattas. Det är inte lika bra som t ex Portishead och Massive attack, men gillar det ändå. Svag fyra och skulle säkert växa med fler lyssningar.

Thought this would be a carbon copy of my review of Heroes and Villains a fortnight ago - ignore this and go directly to the 3 EPs. However I forgot how many good tracks were on this. I love their layered sound. Particularly Human Being, Broke and Quiet. Oh and obviously Squares. This actually great all the way through and I'm really pleased this prompted me to revisit.

I can honestly say I started Hot Shots II thinking I would hate it. I am extremely pleasantly surprised to discover a very unique and original record!

As the only surviving The Beta Band fan on planet Earth (they all got raptured back in '98), I have to say that this slaps. A more worthy inclusion than "Heroes to Zeroes" that I got a few weeks back, but I would still have just gone for "The Three EPs" instead.

"and the music we make is not particularily good" i mean it's alright, the cover sucks tho

4/5. I really enjoyed this album and a different genre that seems like a mix with a lot of other genres. Like it's soft rock, trip hop, pop, electronic, and alt rock. It has an atmospheric element where the vocals are more like an instrument. It's catchy so you can sing along yet still interesting enough to keep you coming back. I honestly didn't experience a bad song on here but there were some songs that were just okay on the latter part of the album, still a great listen. The other downside is the cover art is pretty trash lol. Best Song: Squares, Alleged, Dragon

Very enjoyable album, can see why they toured with Radiohead

This was a great listen. I liked the album fine but hadn’t picked it up since the early naughts.

Good album.

I've never listened to them intentionally before but I recognized several songs from this. I really like the vocalist's voice, and the minimalist electronic backing really compliments it well leading to a cool sultry and dark vibe.

Solides Album als Mischung aus Trance und elektronischen Songs. Positiv sind „Squares“ ausgefallen. Ruhiges angenehmes zum Wiederhören inspirierendes Arrangement.

Cool, trippy, sounds like it could be on The OC

Despite being name-dropped in High Fidelity (with praise and accompanying needle drop), I feel The Beta Band is still not as known as they should be. It warmed my heart to see this was on the list this morning, and it did not disappoint. Not as good as The Three E.P.’s, but a solid album.

I wish I’d discovered this album when it first came out, because I would’ve loved it. It’s a great mix of electronic driven neo psychedelia with trip hop beats, giving it a mid-tempo, laidback vibe. While it’s chill and mellow, it’s not quite as downtempo as something like Air. Overall, it’s a really easygoing album. Even though it’s a solid listen, I’d say it definitely carries a timestamp, it sounds very much like something from the late ’90s and early 2000s.

I've never heard of the Beta Band. I really like the music. I think I'll listen to it more often. 4/5

Very coherent album, clearly focused and obviously belonging together. Strong songs too.

Now I know where Jacob Collier got his vocal tone from! Jokes aside, this was a pleasant surprise. Beautifully atmospheric, sonically interesting and refreshingly out of time at a time when music was generally pretty shit. I love this!

For some reason, the vocals were slightly intolerable for me. Despite that, I enjoyed the album for the overall sounds.

I think any GenX’er who lived through the late ‘90s was familiar with the Kohn Cusack quote from High Fidelity: “I’m about to sell five copies of the Beta Band.” “Do it!” Sadly, I am as guilty as others who never made it beyond Dry the Rain. This album was really good. I’m surprised that The Beta Band didn’t get more play in America. However, this album, with its psychedelic nature, I think may have been too ethereal for American taste. Several songs on here stand out, with AI Sharp and Broke being my Top2. I’m gonna to this album many times!

"I will now sell 5 copies of the three E.P's by the Beta Band." Huge break to be featured in the movie High Fidelity. Squares might be their best song and Hot Shots II might be the better album too. This is still cool music anyway you slice it. I don't pull this one out often enough but I was pleased to listen to this lo-fi sort of hippie/electro/folk album. This probably more of a 3.5 but I'll round up and give them a 4.

I like their vocals and there are some great instrumental sounds and a fair bit of experimenting. A decent album, probably needs a few listens to be fully appreciated

I don't know why they picked this album over the 3EPs which I love a lot more (is it because 3 EPs does not equal 1 album?) This was very pleasant jangly harmonies and stuff. It has a lovely homemade feel to it.

I liked, but more as a background while I study

Actually quite good I just was distracted while listening to most of jt

I liked this album! Reminded me of TV on the Radio a little bit, probably just in how the vocals and harmonies played out. I was entertained and tapping my foot all the way to the end of Eclipse. Would listen again.

i wasn’t really expecting the album to be psychedelic but that is one of my favourite genres, it was a good listen overall, the intro was great i’m sure most people would recognise it, worth a good listen in my opinion

Unorthodox and a new kind of sound for me. It would be interesting to know more about the process of creation of these numbers - favourite song from the album, Alleged

One great song, 9 good ones, and a bonus point for being Scottish. Sound like 4 stars where I come from!

This is a much more subdued Beta Band album than the last one I got on this list. It's just as good in many ways, but less fun to listen to overall. Still, the band manages to produce a really original sound that really works for them 4/5

Ret cool og speciel lyd

Well crafted underrated indie. Such a move on from the notorious debut. Greater than tbe sum of its parts. Brilliant hooks.

Shades of Alt-J, but even more unusual. Vocals often mixed down to be nearly inaudible.

So much better than I expected from the cover art and Wikipedia description. This comes off like the Postal Service, but taking themselves less seriously. The last track Eclipse made me laugh out loud.

That takes me back to when going onto the internet made noise. Specifically, when the connection had just become fast enough so that new mp3s would download faster than I could listen to them. I, metaphorically, wore out the mp3s of this album's first 4 tracks (the ones I had). Maybe that's why it, and its muffled production?, tires me, today and now. Good stuff, but I don't feel like 5 stars.

6/26/24. I was impressed by this one! Almost a blend of trip-hop, electronic, and alternative (the most bland term)? Enjoyted the songwriting and structure of each track.

I was only familiar with the opening song, but this was a very good album. Fits a nice, chill vibe and much like the other records I’ve heard so far in this vibe, I liked it.

This was very nice!