| Beat | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 12, 1996 | |||
| Recorded | June 1996 | |||
| Studio | Studio .45 (Hartford, Connecticut) | |||
| Genre | Trip hop | |||
| Length | 63:35 | |||
| Label | Kranky | |||
| Producer |
| |||
| Bowery Electric chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from Beat | ||||
| ||||
Beat is the second studio album by American band Bowery Electric. It was released on November 12, 1996 by Kranky. [2]
The cover art is taken from Catherine Opies’ Untitled #27, depicting the Corona Del Mar Freeway in Costa Mesa, California.
Beat was recorded and co-produced by Bowery Electric and Rich Costey at Studio .45 in Hartford, Connecticut in June 1996. [3] Drummer Wayne Magruder contributed to four of the ten tracks. [2] [3]
Lawrence Chandler of Bowery Electric told Alternative Press "Beat is the beginning of us learning our way around a proper sampler and software which allows us to work with samples on the computer. We can sample ourselves, manipulate sounds, create our own beats and basically work with fewer restrictions." [4]
Beat was released on November 12, 1996 by Kranky. [2] Beggars Banquet Records licensed Beat for release in the United Kingdom and Europe. [4] Two singles, "Without Stopping" and "Coming Down", were released from the album. [5] Bowery Electric toured the United Kingdom and North America following the album's release. [4]
Bowery Electric co-headlined the Music in the Anchorage festival with Mogwai in New York on June 20, 1997. [6] They performed in London on July 16, 1997 and on The Think Stage at The Phoenix Festival. [7] Reviewing a concert during the tour, Melody Maker noted "for two people to be able to create such a huge, rolling epic sound is surprising; what really hits hard is just how huge it can be, how the inarguable and pulverising beauty of BE's sound simply forces a slacked out crowd into its swell." [8] A John Peel Session was recorded at Maida Vale Studios in London on July 20, 1997 and broadcast on BBC Radio 1 August 7, 1997. [9]
The album was reissued in the United States by Kranky on November 18, 2016. [10]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [11] |
| Alternative Press | 5/5 [12] |
| NME | 7/10 [13] |
Melody Maker named the album the "rock LP of the year", [14] and The Wire praised the album as "genre-defining". [15] Neil Strauss of The New York Times rated it in his 1997 selection of albums "that haven't received much attention but are worth the extra time it takes to hunt for them". [16] In a 2016 review of the album's reissue, The Wire wrote: "This music hasn't aged a bit. ... [It] remains an unexplored road to a wondrous promontory only Bowery Electric have ever reached". [17]
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beat" | 7:16 |
| 2. | "Empty Words" | 3:45 |
| 3. | "Without Stopping" | 5:13 |
| 4. | "Under the Sun" | 3:32 |
| 5. | "Fear of Flying" | 5:39 |
| 6. | "Looped" | 2:39 |
| 7. | "Black Light" | 6:53 |
| 8. | "Inside Out" | 7:19 |
| 9. | "Coming Down" | 4:38 |
| 10. | "Postscript" | 16:41 |
| 11. | "Low Density" | 7:16 |
"Low Density" is included in the 2016 repress.
Credits are adapted from the Beat sleeve. [3]
OK Computer is the third studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in the UK on 16 June 1997 by EMI. With their producer, Nigel Godrich, Radiohead recorded most of OK Computer in their rehearsal space in Oxfordshire and the historic mansion of St Catherine's Court in Bath in 1996 and early 1997. They distanced themselves from the guitar-centred, lyrically introspective style of their previous album, The Bends. OK Computer's abstract lyrics, densely layered sound and eclectic influences laid the groundwork for Radiohead's later, more experimental work.
Richard D. James Album is the eponymous fourth studio album by Irish-British electronic musician Richard D. James, under his pseudonym Aphex Twin. In the United Kingdom, the album was released on 4 November 1996 through Warp Records. In the United States, it was released on 28 January 1997 by Sire Records, with the Girl/Boy EP included as bonus tracks. A reissue on vinyl was released on 18 September 2012.
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F♯ A♯ ∞ is the debut studio album by Canadian post-rock band Godspeed You! Black Emperor. It was first released on August 14, 1997, through Constellation Records on a single LP and on June 8, 1998, through Kranky on CD. The CD version and the LP version have substantial differences between them. Recorded at the Hotel2Tango in the Mile End of Montreal, the album, as became common for the band, is devoid of traditional lyrics and is mostly instrumental, featuring lengthy songs segmented into movements. It was initially released in limited quantities, and distributed through live performances and developed a cult following via word of mouth.
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Endtroducing..... is the debut studio album by American music producer DJ Shadow, released on September 16, 1996, by Mo' Wax. It is an instrumental hip hop work composed almost entirely of samples from vinyl records. DJ Shadow produced Endtroducing over two years, using an Akai MPC60 sampler and little other equipment. He edited and layered samples to create new tracks of varying moods and tempos.
Alastair Galbraith is a New Zealand musician and sound artist from Dunedin.
Windy & Carl is an American ambient duo based in Dearborn, Michigan, United States.
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Pure is the second studio album by English industrial metal band Godflesh. It was released on 13 April 1992 through Earache Records. Though originally labeled only as industrial metal, the album has since been recognised as one of the earliest post-metal releases. Musically, Pure is rhythmically mechanical and features harsh guitars, with protracted songs and an abundance of deliberate repetition. Like much of Godflesh's music, it is regarded as particularly heavy and aggressive, and these elements helped it gain critical acclaim.
Bowery Electric was an American post-rock band, formed by Lawrence Chandler and Martha Schwendener in 1993.
Neil Campbell is a British musician, notable for his vast catalogue and his many collaborations. In 2005, The Wire declared that he, Richard Youngs and Matthew Bower had "provided the map co-ordinates for much of what passed for a post-punk UK underground during most of the 80s and 90s". Pitchfork media have referred to him as "one of the most important experimental musicians of the last 20 years".
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