Betika are an eight piece band from Bournemouth, who have been going for quite some time now - adding and subtracting members around a core lineup as they’ve gone on.The band is fronted by two singers, called Carolyn and Dave, and this allows for some lovely boy/girl harmonies. The rest of the group are made up of all the instruments you’d want in an 8 piece indiepop orchestra – melodica, flute, oboe, banjo, recorder, clarinet and stylophone.
Since 2001 they’ve released a series of EPs, a mini album, and a very impressive full album called Halflove, which is probably the best place to start if you want to explore Betika’s back catalogue of releases.
The years that Betika took perfecting Halflove shows, and the songs are well written and are full of a wide range of different influences. The album contains upbeat danceable beats of By Default or the synth led Thunderstorm to a more laid back approach on songs like Girlshaped or Robot (2).
Yet through all these styles Betika always retain a superb grasp of what a good melody for the song would be.
There are quite a few more downloads on the Betika website (which contains a blog) and there are some songs for streaming on the bands myspace. As an added bonus, Carolyn and Dave also sometimes perform the songs as an acoustic two piece, known as MicroBetika.
Betika - Girlshaped (acoustic)
Betika - The Bierdigan (live)
[Myspace link]
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