B

The Beta Band - Broke

More Lo-fi loveliness from the Beta Band. The most frustrating thing about this group is that you don't know if they are actually taking the piss or not. Certainly the press shots suggest they are, dressed in spacesuits sitting in a lake and in a flat, but then the music sounds so serious too. The best thing about this song is the tribal drum rhythm that ensures the track never drags on.

The Beta Band - Squares
Finally this take on 'Daydream' is released, after its original release was postponed due to I Monster using the same samples. No one knows exactly why this sample has been so popular, but The Beta Band's take on it is by far the better version. It feels more like a part of the whole song instead of just a cut and paste job.

The Beta Band - Assessment
Never sounding much like anything else around, but very recognisably like the Beta Band, for which we should be very grateful. Like all their songs, Assesment seems to work with the effect of a round, different vocals and guitar lines weaving in and out of each other, and a strong bass to make sure the whole thing doesn't collapse in on itself. Good to have them back.

The Boxer Rebellion - In Pursuit
Dreamy, but less ethereal than the Delays.
Majestic, but less annoying than Matt Bellamy. The Boxer Rebellion know how not to overstay their welcome, not to play overlong guitar solos, while still keeping that intense, post rock type sound. How not too play overlong guitar solos, and bore everyone to death. And how not to sound too indie that they fade into nothingness. Like evolution, they have learnt from those before them, so lets hope the next generation will too.

Burt Lump Orchestra - Feed Me to the Lions (Shifty Disco)
With a name like that you know that the band members are trying to hide something, and put out a false trail, just like Mark and Sam did with the Impossible Music Force in 1997. And look at what they've done now. This time round the BLO are hiding Nick Cope and Nick Burton, formerly of the Candyskins. These songs are simple and gentle. Feed Me to the Lions doesn't actually have lions on it, but they do have chickens. In a way the gentleness sound like the calm after the storm. With the addition of synthesizers that don't really fit in, it's the sound of a band enjoying having fun with the music again. The introduction of the second song sounds like Goddess on a Highway by Mercury Rev, and indeed it has that meloncoly feel throughout the song. Possibly the most beautiful song released by Shifty Disco this year.

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