I think this is better than our version.
Saturday, March 03, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
The Paper Odyssey
Our old friends The Paper Cinema are getting some fantastic press for their current production "The Odyssey". This was in The Times this week. They're on at the Battersea Arts Centre until the 25th Feb. I'd post a link for tickets, but the whole run is sold out. Look out for them at an arts venue near you soon!
Monday, January 09, 2012
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Milk Solves Thailand
Carolyn and Will have moved to Thailand, where Will has turned amateur sleuth and has started documenting his investigations here: http://milksolvesthailand.blogspot.com
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Moozikk
I did try to write a song for it, but I couldn't make my fingers do what I had in mind. I'm going to work on that.
Sunday, April 17, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
The Sleeper Wakes
We've been re-animated for four weeks now, the limbs are getting looser and the little tingly moments in the rehearsal studio are becoming more frequent. Our ranks have been swollen to 9 with the return of Imogen who is flitting between bass and supplementary horn duties. The gig on 29th April will see (I think) a total of 15 people on stage, but you'll have to come along to see who they're going to be.
We've contributed a track to a CD that will be available over the BhOne 5th birthday weekend with all proceeds going to Julia's House and the Dorset Cancer Unit, and if all goes well there might even be an EP of previously unheard Betika stuff being hawked for the same good causes. Work Continues. And when it is done, that will be that.
Sunday, April 03, 2011
A Other Blog
This is where Mark, Gary and I are doing a bit of writing about various musical and electronic things we've cobbled together over the years, some of which you may have seen or heard on Betika recordings or at gigs.
zaardvark.blogspot.com
zaardvark.blogspot.com
Monday, February 21, 2011
New Bands
This is a new band with me, Mark and Andy Guttridge (ex-Brothers in Sound, Clams, Yufei Chowder). We are called Zaardvark, and we make sort of Prog.
This is Martin's band, which isn't new; Here is their MySpace
And this is Will's new band;
This is Martin's band, which isn't new; Here is their MySpace
And this is Will's new band;
Thursday, January 27, 2011
This seems likely
This was posted on Facebook today, so it must be true. Time to dust off the hitty / blowy / twangy things and try to learn our hands what to do again. Please come, give freely to the good causes, and watch us try our hardest.
We have top secret special guests. We have a training regime. We have almost agreed upon a set we all like.
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Bob Hope @ the beeb.
Sound: Live Radio Session March 08
Pictures: Approx 800 still pictures from the Betika Archive
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Mad again soon
www.betika.co.uk
Having driven the long-suffering Betika slightly angrymental lately recording my overcomplicated songs (challenge risen to, and the angry comes across in a very positive way, I think), I began glugging off my own beastly medicine today - the singing has started. We began with Peter Marfan, which is a song about obsessive running, so takes were alternated with sprints around the carpark to get in the correct mind-frame and achieve the right degree of breathlessness. On some takes this was overdone, and the results verged on tubercular. Think we got some good stuff tho. Carolyn goes through the same mill on Friday. Bet she can't wait.
Having driven the long-suffering Betika slightly angrymental lately recording my overcomplicated songs (challenge risen to, and the angry comes across in a very positive way, I think), I began glugging off my own beastly medicine today - the singing has started. We began with Peter Marfan, which is a song about obsessive running, so takes were alternated with sprints around the carpark to get in the correct mind-frame and achieve the right degree of breathlessness. On some takes this was overdone, and the results verged on tubercular. Think we got some good stuff tho. Carolyn goes through the same mill on Friday. Bet she can't wait.
Monday, February 16, 2009
Some freebie downloads
www.betika.co.uk
Some songs from the old line-up to download.
I Killed A Fly - recorded for "Halflove" but left off, for some reason. Pete Doherty heard it and asked us to support him.
The New Shrew - almost a completely live recording from late 2007. The bits we cheated with are Imogen's backing vocals and some electric guitar I did afterwards.
The Castle - nearly live too. Again the backing vox are overdubbed.
Undersleep - recorded in an abandoned hotel in 2004 and lost shortly afterwards when an archive was corrupted. Recently restored thanks to new-fangled studio trickery.
Some songs from the old line-up to download.
I Killed A Fly - recorded for "Halflove" but left off, for some reason. Pete Doherty heard it and asked us to support him.
The New Shrew - almost a completely live recording from late 2007. The bits we cheated with are Imogen's backing vocals and some electric guitar I did afterwards.
The Castle - nearly live too. Again the backing vox are overdubbed.
Undersleep - recorded in an abandoned hotel in 2004 and lost shortly afterwards when an archive was corrupted. Recently restored thanks to new-fangled studio trickery.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Hatred in the rain.
www.betika.co.uk
Another wet festival! This was the otherwise very lovely Sundial Fest last week. Thanks to Tone for the vid!
Another wet festival! This was the otherwise very lovely Sundial Fest last week. Thanks to Tone for the vid!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
A thing I made.
www.betika.co.uk
Pictures above are of a two-stringed electric fiddle I made recently from the amputated leg of an old table and some old guitar parts. And some Meccano. It's made entirely of things I had lying around the house and garden, the only thing I had to buy was the bow, which was the cheapest factory second I could lay my hands on. It sounds surprisingly violin-like, though we don't have a trained fiddlist in the group so brave volunteer Mark will be spending some quality time with the thing before it's unleashed on your delicate ears.
Lots of new songs on the way. I got no damn hair thanks to a clippering accident. I was trying to save money on barbering, and I sure will for the foreseeable future. And on shampoo too.
Pictures above are of a two-stringed electric fiddle I made recently from the amputated leg of an old table and some old guitar parts. And some Meccano. It's made entirely of things I had lying around the house and garden, the only thing I had to buy was the bow, which was the cheapest factory second I could lay my hands on. It sounds surprisingly violin-like, though we don't have a trained fiddlist in the group so brave volunteer Mark will be spending some quality time with the thing before it's unleashed on your delicate ears.
Lots of new songs on the way. I got no damn hair thanks to a clippering accident. I was trying to save money on barbering, and I sure will for the foreseeable future. And on shampoo too.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Cover etc
http://www.betika.co.uk/
Our friends The A&E Line have just made a mini-album of truncated covers of songs by bands called "Einen Einfach Fahrkarte Nach Bournemouth", which has a version of our song "Twenty Five" on it. You can download it free from their MySpace page.
Also, following Toupe's "Villains", I have discovered a second song which includes a reference to Betika or me - in this case with reference to a Smiths tribute band that some friends and I were talking about starting a few years ago- "Richard and Dave played guitar / but neither one wanted to be Johhny Marr / Both sang a fine "Girl Afraid" / Rich had the quiff, but Dave sings like that anyway / I hope that it worked out alright". The song in question is "Zammo" by Miniature Pygmies, whose two-album back catalogue I have been enjoying immensely over the last couple of weeks and highly recommend.
Our friends The A&E Line have just made a mini-album of truncated covers of songs by bands called "Einen Einfach Fahrkarte Nach Bournemouth", which has a version of our song "Twenty Five" on it. You can download it free from their MySpace page.
Also, following Toupe's "Villains", I have discovered a second song which includes a reference to Betika or me - in this case with reference to a Smiths tribute band that some friends and I were talking about starting a few years ago- "Richard and Dave played guitar / but neither one wanted to be Johhny Marr / Both sang a fine "Girl Afraid" / Rich had the quiff, but Dave sings like that anyway / I hope that it worked out alright". The song in question is "Zammo" by Miniature Pygmies, whose two-album back catalogue I have been enjoying immensely over the last couple of weeks and highly recommend.
Monday, November 05, 2007
The Last Song
www.betika.co.uk
This is The Missionary, the last song to be performed in public by the Modernday Betika. A massive thankyou to Tone from BHone for putting on the gig, to all the other bands who played, and to everyone who came along, and everyone who has lent us their ears over the past few years.
We go studio now. See you next year with the Betika of the Future!
This is The Missionary, the last song to be performed in public by the Modernday Betika. A massive thankyou to Tone from BHone for putting on the gig, to all the other bands who played, and to everyone who came along, and everyone who has lent us their ears over the past few years.
We go studio now. See you next year with the Betika of the Future!
L'autre Betika
www.betika.co.uk
We've been aware of this lady from the Ivory Coast for a few years now, but this is the first time I've heard or seen her. My french is just good enough to recognize that it's being sung in the song, but I can't pick out more than the odd word - can anyone who paid attention at school help out with a translation? (I spent my french conversation lessons talking with my teacher about rugby, in English) I'm guessing from the uncontrollable sobbing at the end that it's not such a happy song....she's not half bad at singing though, and it's one heck of a catchy tune. According to le wikipedia francophonique she's also a film and TV actress and won "best female" at last year's Cote D'Ivorie music awards. And she has an acute on the "e".
We've been aware of this lady from the Ivory Coast for a few years now, but this is the first time I've heard or seen her. My french is just good enough to recognize that it's being sung in the song, but I can't pick out more than the odd word - can anyone who paid attention at school help out with a translation? (I spent my french conversation lessons talking with my teacher about rugby, in English) I'm guessing from the uncontrollable sobbing at the end that it's not such a happy song....she's not half bad at singing though, and it's one heck of a catchy tune. According to le wikipedia francophonique she's also a film and TV actress and won "best female" at last year's Cote D'Ivorie music awards. And she has an acute on the "e".
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
The Candidate
www.betika.co.uk
This is a video of the first ever public performance of our newest tune "The Candidate". Second public performance November 3rd...
This is a video of the first ever public performance of our newest tune "The Candidate". Second public performance November 3rd...
Johnny and Susan
www.betika.co.uk
A new Sancho song, shot by Tone of BH-one at our recent show with Acoustic Ladyland. I was suffering an uncharacteristic touch of the nerves as Seb Rochford (also of Polar Bear / Basquiat Strings, and all-round drum deity) was watching us from the side of the stage. Not that anything I could have done could possibly have impressed him, even if had I relaxed to the point of being able to play properly...
A new Sancho song, shot by Tone of BH-one at our recent show with Acoustic Ladyland. I was suffering an uncharacteristic touch of the nerves as Seb Rochford (also of Polar Bear / Basquiat Strings, and all-round drum deity) was watching us from the side of the stage. Not that anything I could have done could possibly have impressed him, even if had I relaxed to the point of being able to play properly...
Monday, October 01, 2007
End of Phase 3 - Party!
http://www.betika.co.uk/
It is with some sadness that I must announce the impending demise of Betika as we know it. Chris and Imogen (the 7th and 13th people respectively to involve themselves in the band, according to our meticulous records) are departing for a lengthy stay in Japan (much to the amusement of the Japanese, no doubt - "Imogen" is Japanese for "Potato person", which is a mild insult meaning "yokel" or "bumpkin", and "Chris" is a street name for heroin. I don't do any better, the closest pronounciation to my name is "Debu", which means "fatso"). They leave at the end of November, meaning that our next show will be our last together. Hopefully not the last for the band, which if all goes well could be functioning in a de/re-constructed form in the first quarter of next year, pending the discovery of suitable new personnel - if you're a bass-playing girl, we'd love to hear from you!
To mark this milestone, we're throwing a party! As luck would have it, the band's dissolution co-incides with the re-opening of The Gander, which seemed to be lost to the town as a live music venue when it closed a few months back. We were just about the last band to play there when we closed the BH One charity all-dayer in May, so it's nice to be one of the first bands to play there on it's reopening, and it seemed fitting that we put on another all-dayer to mark the occasion. So we (I say we, but credit is almost entirely due once again to Tony from BH One) have put together a line-up of some of our favourite bands from home and away that looks something like this:
Betika (home)
Team Cat Rescue (away)
Dutch Husband (home)
Dead! Dead! Dead! (away)
Blind Voyeurs (home)
Littleboat (going away)
Slate Caverns (home)
Creepythinguy (home)
with the best DJ sets imaginable between bands and late into the night. There will be cool freebies (in the form of limited-edition ep's and food) as an incentive for early arrival, probably some kind of raffle and general fun stuff. A large and very detailed flyer will be posted in due course!
It is with some sadness that I must announce the impending demise of Betika as we know it. Chris and Imogen (the 7th and 13th people respectively to involve themselves in the band, according to our meticulous records) are departing for a lengthy stay in Japan (much to the amusement of the Japanese, no doubt - "Imogen" is Japanese for "Potato person", which is a mild insult meaning "yokel" or "bumpkin", and "Chris" is a street name for heroin. I don't do any better, the closest pronounciation to my name is "Debu", which means "fatso"). They leave at the end of November, meaning that our next show will be our last together. Hopefully not the last for the band, which if all goes well could be functioning in a de/re-constructed form in the first quarter of next year, pending the discovery of suitable new personnel - if you're a bass-playing girl, we'd love to hear from you!
To mark this milestone, we're throwing a party! As luck would have it, the band's dissolution co-incides with the re-opening of The Gander, which seemed to be lost to the town as a live music venue when it closed a few months back. We were just about the last band to play there when we closed the BH One charity all-dayer in May, so it's nice to be one of the first bands to play there on it's reopening, and it seemed fitting that we put on another all-dayer to mark the occasion. So we (I say we, but credit is almost entirely due once again to Tony from BH One) have put together a line-up of some of our favourite bands from home and away that looks something like this:
Betika (home)
Team Cat Rescue (away)
Dutch Husband (home)
Dead! Dead! Dead! (away)
Blind Voyeurs (home)
Littleboat (going away)
Slate Caverns (home)
Creepythinguy (home)
with the best DJ sets imaginable between bands and late into the night. There will be cool freebies (in the form of limited-edition ep's and food) as an incentive for early arrival, probably some kind of raffle and general fun stuff. A large and very detailed flyer will be posted in due course!
SK5 Things
www.betika.co.uk
The SK5 have some news! A new track entitled "We speak glue" has come out on "Do not Bend", a compilation of circuit-bent sounds from Tiger Claw Records. The 5 are also very pleased to have been invited to do a session for Resonance FM, which will be recorded at one of their "Scaledown" events on Nov 30th and broadcast I think the following evening. Precise details will follow nearer the time. A week or so later (9th Dec), the 5 can also be seen in Bournemouth at The Sunday School project in Rubyz Hall supporting The Pirate Ship Quintet and Charlottefield. We might see if we can find the time to select some material for a new e.p. from the endless hours we have in the archive to mark the occasion.
The SK5 have some news! A new track entitled "We speak glue" has come out on "Do not Bend", a compilation of circuit-bent sounds from Tiger Claw Records. The 5 are also very pleased to have been invited to do a session for Resonance FM, which will be recorded at one of their "Scaledown" events on Nov 30th and broadcast I think the following evening. Precise details will follow nearer the time. A week or so later (9th Dec), the 5 can also be seen in Bournemouth at The Sunday School project in Rubyz Hall supporting The Pirate Ship Quintet and Charlottefield. We might see if we can find the time to select some material for a new e.p. from the endless hours we have in the archive to mark the occasion.
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