Beta Band fansite

I shot some HD video on my little Panasonic Lumix TZ7 camera back in May when The Aliens played at the Manchester Deaf Institute

Ten videos in total, here’s a direct link to a YouTube playlist

YouTube [1] The Aliens (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [2] The Aliens – Theramin (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [3] The Aliens – Sunlamp Show (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [4] The Aliens – Robot Man (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [5] The Aliens – Boats (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [6] The Aliens – Robin Jones drumming (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [7] The Aliens – Billy Jack (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [8] The Aliens – Happy Song (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [9] The Aliens – Gordon falls (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)
YouTube [10] The Aliens – Blue Mantle (Manchester Deaf Institute, 26th May 2009)

Alternatively click on the read more link below to view them individually

Read the rest of this blog post »

Steve Mason is busy recording a new album – you can follow his progress on Twitter via @KBTstevemason

You can also listen to two new demos All Come Down and Lost And Found via Steve’s MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/stevemasonlovesyou

Here’s Steve’s about me section from MySpace, which should get you up to speed:

Yes its me- BETA BAND/ KING BISCUIT TIME/ BLACK AFFAIR. Its time to step out of the shadows and confront society. So what the hell is going on? Well, I’m about 3/4 of the way through recording a new album which i will put out under my own name, Steve Mason. The songs are fully realised in demo form but i really wanted someone to lift a little of the pressure of production of my shoulders and Richard X ( http://www.blackmelody.com ) offered himself up. So we are working through my demo’s and re-doing all the vocals and any other parts which need it. The results are amazing. Best songs i’ve ever written and they SOUND big. I reckon i will put a 4 track EP out in about 2 or 3 months then maybe one more and do the album very early next year. There will be fresh music up here very soon. But its not quite ready yet. See you on the ice…….

Here’s a video of The Aliens performing at the Queen Head stage at Glastonbury last month:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sKYhW23ASb8

Thanks to srs456 for posting the link on The Aliens msg baord

The setlist according to Mark on themsg board was:

• Only Waiting
• Robot Man
• Billy Jack
• Rox

Just received this email from The Aliens mailing list (cut n pasted below), which gives details of a new EP and a seven date UK tour during May:

THE ALIENS_ UK DATES_NEW EP _ LUNA ON VINYL!

Hello, hope your well.

Exciting news – The Sunlamp Show EP out on May 18th!

The Sunlamp Show EP features the title track ‘Sunlamp Show’ in its original form, accompanied by remixes by Disco Bloodbath and Manmouse (aka John Maclean). Also included on the EP are the Roman Noise (aka Robin Jones) remix of ‘Boats’ and new track ‘Pernickitty Jack’.

It is being released digitally and the tracklisting is as follows:

Sunlamp Show (Edit)
Sunlamp Show : The Disco Bloodbath Effect
Sunlamp Show : Manmouse Mix
Boats : Roman Noise Mix
Pernickitty Jack

We are also touring the UK in May, check the gigs section of our website for more info.

Friday 22nd May – The Studio, Hartlepool
Saturday 23th May –Stag & Dagger @ Stereo, Glasgow
Tuesday 26th May –Deaf Institute, Manchester
Wednesday 27th May – Bush Hall, London
Thursday 28th May – Faversham, Leeds
Friday 29th May – The Cluny, Newcastle
Sunday 31st May – Cabaret Voltaire, Edinburgh

We are making LUNA available on vinyl, you can pick up at copy at one of the gigs or buy through the website.

See you on tour!

The Aliens X

You can buy tickets to The Aliens concerts in London and Leeds via Seetickets.
I assume the rest will be onsale soon….

Check out The Aliens’ official site and official message board for more info

Update1: You can also buy tickets from Ticketweb for the following shows: London Bush Hall, Newcastle Cluny, the Stag & Dagger event in Glasgow, and The Garden Party at Kelburn Castle in Scotland (the latter goes onsale today, Fri 27th March at midnight)

Update2: Here’s a poster for the Leeds Faversham gig I found on the venue’s website:

The new single by King Creosote (aka Kenny Anderson, Fence Records supremo and brother of Gordon Anderson) has been given a helping hand by members of the Beta Band. John Maclean directed the video which you can watch below via Youtube, and Steve Mason lent his production duties:

King Creosote – Coast On By
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vex-5ozOnYg

On 27th April 2009, Domino will release Coast on By, the first single taken from King Creosotes new album, Flick The Vs (released on 20th April 2009).

King Creosote explains here how the song came about:

“It’s all well and good when a pal offers to work on and record one of your songs, but when that pal is Steve Mason (Beta Band, King Biscuit Time, Black Affair) then up goes the ante. With album Flick the Vs well under way, and with no sign yet of a contender for the 3 minute pop hit thereon, I arrived chez Mason clutching a string of uneven verses each spitting out some facet of the tour-tired “leave me alone to my small village” blues. There followed 3 happy accidents:

- During the run thru’ Steve muttered “is that it?” in such a tone of voice that, in fear of ridicule, I ad-libbed a positive sounding one line mantra to the end of take one.

- Whilst I made the tea, Steve “lost” my original guitar take and mistook my ad-libbed mantra for “the hook”.

- A bungled cut n paste somehow morphed a duff bridge into a blinding chorus – three times?!

And that’s it – the precise art of song craft lies in the choice of “Coast On By” over the more accurate title “two grumpy old men realise that, together, they’ve created the very monster both have spent entire careers baiting, only for it to sneak up and bite them in unbridled joy”.

Directed by John Maclean

www.kingcreosote.com
www.myspace.com/kingcreosote