B-Sides and Rarities | ||||
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Compilation album by Beach House | ||||
Released | June 30, 2017 | |||
Recorded | 2005–2016 | |||
Studio |
Various
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Genre | ||||
Length | 56:27 | |||
Label |
Sub Pop (US) Bella Union (UK) |
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Producer |
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Beach House chronology | ||||
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Singles from B-Sides and Rarities | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Aggregate scores | |
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 75/100 |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Daily Express | |
Drowned in Sound | 7/10 |
Paste | 6.9/10 |
Pitchfork | 6.9/10 |
Pretty Much Amazing | B |
Under the Radar |
B-Sides and Rarities is a compilation album by American dream pop band Beach House, released on June 30, 2017 through Sub Pop and Bella Union. The compilation contains B-sides and rare, unreleased cuts along with two new songs, "Chariot" and "Baseball Diamond". It also includes the band's cover of Queen's "Play the Game".
The idea for a B-sides record came when the band realized how many non-album songs had been made over the years, and how hard it was to find and hear many of them. This compilation contains every song the band has ever made that does not exist on one of their records. The oldest song is "Rain in Numbers" which was recorded in 2005 during the summer when the band was formed. "We didn't have a piano, so we asked our friend if we could use his, which was pretty out of tune. We used the mic that was on the four-track machine to record the piano and vocals. It was originally the secret song on our self-titled debut." The next couple of songs are from late 2008. The band said they were "so excited" about "Used to Be" that they recorded it right after writing it so they could have it as a 7" single for their fall tour with the Baltimore Round Robin. They recorded their cover of Queen's "Play the Game" in the same session. It was for a charity compilation benefiting AIDS research, stating that they "will continue to donate all profits from the song to that charity. As fans of Queen, we thought it would be fun and ridiculous to try to adapt their high-powered pop song into our realm. These songs were recorded at the same studio where we made Devotion."
"Baby" was written and recorded in October 2009 with the band's friend Jason Quever. "10 Mile Stereo" was recorded during the Teen Dream session in July 2009, "since we used tape, we often slowed the tape way down to create effects while recording. When we were doing that for "10 Mile Stereo" we decided we wanted to make an alternate version where the whole song was slowed down, hence the “10 Mile Stereo (Cough Syrup Remix)"". "White Moon" and "The Arrangement" were both songs that the band didn't believe fit on Teen Dream. The former originally appeared on the band's live iTunes Session EP. Since the song was recorded and mixed "very hastily", they have remixed it to better match their "current aesthetics". They have also remixed and included the version of "Norway" they did at that same session, noting: "the main reason we wanted to include "Norway" is that it features a very different bridge from the original version."