December 2004 and The Beta Band wrap up their farewell tour with a gig in their hometown of Edinburgh, leaving the stage for the very last time to deafening applause. The tour had included two sold-out nights at Shepherds Bush Empire, a fact which couldn’t fail to amuse a band who’d freely admit they’d had their fair share of career highs and lows.

Steve Mason, Richard Greentree, John Maclean and Robin Jones made an immediate impact with their debut release in 1997. With their no formula approach to music making, a shared interest in film and art and a desire to push the envelope in terms of their music and live performance, the group continued to puzzle and delight throughout their career. But in Summer 2004 after eight years of creating consistently innovative music, the band decided to call it a day, a decision prompted by little in returns of commercial success despite universal acclaim.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential bands of the past decade, with the likes of Radiohead, Oasis and Beck amongst their biggest admirers, The Beta Band left behind four critically acclaimed albums, some highly imaginative videos and a host of short films, the best of which will be included in a two cd and dvd collection to be released in October.

Music: The Best Of The Beta Band is a two CD package featuring highlights from all four albums – The Three Eps, The Beta Band, Hot Shots II and Heroes To Zeros - along with a live recording of one of their final shows on their farewell tour last autumn. Kicking off with ”Dry The Rain” taken from their debut release, CD1 features 15 tracks including “Squares,” “Human Being,” “To You Alone,” “Broke” and “Assessment” along with classics such as “She’s The One” and “Gone.” CD2, recorded at Shepherds Bush Empire on Nov 29th 2004, features 12 tracks and includes live favorites “Dog’s Got A Bone” and “Inner Meet Me.”

The DVD compilation, Film: The Best Of The Beta Band, released simultaneously, kicks off with four short films made specifically by the band for this release. Also included are a selection of their single promos, three documentary clips and four tracks filmed at last year’s Shepherds Bush gig. Look out for the videos for “Squares,” inspired by classic 70’s movie “Capricorn One,” the one take video for “Assessment” documenting ‘the history of human warfare’ and their take on The Professionals – Chalk And Cheese – featuring Steve Mason and Stone Roses/Primal Scream bassist Mani.

The Beta Band may be no more but all four members continue to work in music. Richard Greentree has just completed a solo album; John Maclean and Robin Jones are working with Lone Pigeon aka Gordon Anderson under the name The Aliens and Steve Mason, under the guise of King Biscuit Time, is set to release a new single this year and a new album in 06.