Steve Mason is a Scottish musician, best known as the lead singer and one of the founding members of The Beta Band. He has also been a member of Black Affair with Jimmy Edgar.
History
Mason started his music career as the lead singer and one of the founding members of The Beta Band. According to Q magazine, after leaving the band Mason was so deep in debt at one point that he was forced to take a second job on a building site. The singer was also crippled by a depression that only recently lifted.
Mason released solo material as King Biscuit Time, including two EPs on Regal Records and one album on No Style Records, an imprint of Alan McGee's Poptones record label. Mason has also worked under the name Black Affair, and has released one album under this pseudonym on V2 Records.
On 19 April 2009, The Sunday Times reported that Mason was working on a new album with the record producer, Richard X. This album, Boys Outside, was released in March 2010 and is the first album under Mason's own name. The first single, "All Come Down", was released as a download at the end of November 2009. Q gave the album a 4/5 rating. According to Rob Fearn, the album "relocates Mason in a grand tradition of indie boys doing idiosyncratic electronic pop, a line stretching back through Hot Chip, New Order, Talk Talk and Brian Eno". Fearn argued that the album, "totally different from what he did in King Biscuit Time and Black Affair", might be seen as a "welcome return to a stripped-down songcraft". It is "...not just a work that can finally measure up to The Three EPs, but is a sign of a "bold new start", according to the critic.
In 2013, Mason released Monkey Minds in the Devil's Time. The album covers topics as diverse as his recent struggles with depression and loneliness, the suicide of David Kelly (former weapons inspector in Iraq) and the London riots. The Independent called it "his most rewarding release since the Beta Band".
Discography
The Beta Band
- see The Beta Band Discography
King Biscuit Time
EPs
Sings Nelly Foggits Blues in "Me and the Pharaohs" (7 December 1998, Regal)-
- "Fatheriver" (3:07)
- "Niggling Discrepancy" (3:46)
- "Little White" (2:39)
- "Eye o' the Dug" (2:02)
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- "I Walk the Earth" (5:52)
- "Untitled" (2:12)
- "I Love You" (3:05)
- "Time to Get Up" (3:47)
Singles
"C I AM 15" (26 September 2005, Poptones) - reached #67 on the UK Singles Chart-
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- CD
- "C I AM 15" (featuring Topcat)
- "People Happy"
- 7" (1)
- "C I AM 15" (featuring Topcat)
- "C I AM 15 (C-Swing Remix)"
- 7" (2)
- "C I AM 15" (featuring Topcat)
- "C I AM 15 C I AM 15 (mix by Junior Mason Mumbazza)"
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- CD
- "Kwangchow"
- "Tears Dry"
- "Kwangchow (Doctors of Love Remix)"
- "Kwangchow (Suicide D.O.G.Z.- Faudels Hash Den Remix)"
- 7"
- "Kwangchow"
- "Tears Dry"
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Albums
Black Gold (15 May 2006, Poptones) - reached #143 on the UK Albums Chart-
- "C I AM 15"
- "Izzum"
- "Impossible Ride"
- "Kwangchow"
- "Lefteye"
- "All Over You"
- "The Way You Walk"
- "Paperhead"
- "Rising Son"
- "Metal Biscuit"
Black Affair
Singles
"Tak! Attack!" (22 October 2007, V2)-
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- 12"
- "Tak! Attack!"
- "Blush"
- "Tak! Attack! (Suicidedogz remix)"
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- 12"
- "It's Real (Jimmy Edgar mix)"
- "Fingerability (Stephen Mason mix)"
- "It's Real (Jimmy Edgar mix - Playgroup remix)"
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- Download
- "Japanese Happening"
- "Night Watch"
- "You and Me (C90's Remix)"
- "Japanese Happening (Movestar Star Moving Remix)"
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Albums
Pleasure Pressure Point (4 August 2008, V2)-
- "P.P.P."
- "It Goes Like This"
- "Just Keep Walking"
- "It's Real"
- "Japanese Happening"
- "You and Me"
- "Reel to Reel"
- "Subfuge"
- "Will She Come"
- "Sweet"
- "Tak! Attack!"
- "Mute Me"
- "Pills"
Steve Mason
Singles
"All Come Down" (23 November 2009, Black Melody)-
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- Download
- "All Come Down"
- "All Come Down (Drums of Death Carnival of Souls remix)"
- "All Come Down (Drums of Death Carnival of Souls dub)"
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- Download
- "Lost & Found"
- "It's Never You"
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- 12"
- "Am I Just a Man"
- "Am I Just a Man (Studio remix)"
- "Am I Just a Man (Alexis Taylor remix)"
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- Digital
- "Fight Them Back"
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Studio albums
Boys Outside (3 May 2010, Double Six - UK chart peak: #82)-
- "Understand My Heart"
- "Am I Just a Man"
- "The Letter"
- "Yesterday"
- "Lost & Found"
- "I Let Her In"
- "Stress Position"
- "All Come Down"
- "Boys Outside"
- "Hound on My Heel"
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- "The Old Problem"
- "Lie Awake"
- "Flyover '98"
- "A Lot of Love"
- "The Last of Heroes"
- "Lonely"
- "Safe Population"
- "Friends For Ever More"
- "Seen It All Before"
- "From Hate We Hope"
- "Oh My Lord"
- "Goodbye Youth"
- "Never Be Alone"
- "Behind The Curtains"
- "More Money, More Fire"
- "Fire!"
- "Operation Mason"
- "Fight Them Back"
- "Towers of Power"
- "Come To Me"
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- "Water Bored"
- "Alive"
- "Alright"
- "Another Day"
- "Run Away"
- "To A Door"
- "Hardly Go Through"
- "Through My Window"
- "Planet Sizes"
- "Like Water"
- "Words In My Head"