Carnival

You don’t normally hear close female harmonies in your face over a noisy rhythm section. Now’s the chance, if you don’t already know. It’s been a long evolution. BETTY are now still a three voice radical powerhouse, but with a raucous rock+roll rhythm section behind them. You may have come across them on ‘The L Word’ TV show, for which they wrote and performed the theme song. You may even know them from years back, when they were three voices and a few quirky machines. ‘Carnival’ is the set piece from the Coney Island fun fair, and opens with our heroines sneaking in under the wall of the carnival tent. Issued at the turn of the last century, it features their single ‘Millennium Man’, about a particular dodgy character. ‘Wishing Well’ is a story of regret. ‘Heartache’ lays bare the problems of prescription medicines over the phone. Included is a varied selection of shorts from all over the map, completing something which could even be called a ‘concept album….’. Alyson Palmer: bass, vocals Amy Ziff: cello, vocals, ‘Vertigo’ keyboard Elizabeth Ziff: guitar, vocals, ‘Carnival’ keyboard Tony Salvatore: guitars Keith Carlock: drums, percussion Mike Thorne: Synclavier, synthesizer, piano Produced by Mike Thorne Running time: 28 minutes. Much more detail at the Stereo Society website (see link at left)