"Utilising technology in the form of a variety of different effects, samples and triggers, and combining them with a ferocious, bonzo-channeling, technical proficiency, Betts is not only extremely adept at his instrument but also seeks to push the boundaries of what one person can do behind a drum-kit.” – The Independent
“Drum nuts will salivate over the way in which Betts has managed to fuse himself with his gear, but for anyone else, it'll be a pleasure just to hear him play drums like it’s the end of the world.” – 8/10, The Line of Best Fit
“Both complex and eccentric… This is a seriously catchy record.” – Electronic Sound
“A calculated clusterf*ck of cascading rhythm and synth that only an octo-limbed organism could pull off alone.” – London in Stereo 

With his debut album, Colossal Squid, out this Friday 25th November via Blood and Biscuits, ADAM BETTS has shared the entire album on YouTube.
 
Recorded live in one sitting, Betts took a unique approach to making the album, creating a series of instruments on Ableton – a combination of effects, synths, and samples, all that could be triggered from the drum kit or SPD-SX - and “playing” them live, with the freedom to take the pieces in a variety of unplanned directions.
 
The entire recording session and resulting album can now be seen & heard online.
 
Watch/listen to ‘Colossal Squid’ in full: https://youtu.be/Qgh7gc3x4tM?list=PLEoIoqrQfYmBJxK-02J1mPKr6CiXwcw_u
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Adam Betts will play an album release show at London’s Servant’s Jazz Quarters next Tuesday, November 29th.
  
As a member of Brian Eno’s favourite London experimentalists Three Trapped Tigers, Betts has spent years exploring the boundaries between electronic and live music, and celebrating the flaws thrown up when one tries to replicate the other. Taking the “Drums Vs Electronics / Man Vs Machine'” idea he’s been developing behind the kit for TTT, The Heritage Orchestra and more recently when headhunted by Squarepusher, but this album has a wider focus.
 
Having originally written, developed and recorded an earlier version of ‘Colossal Squid’ over a few months in various studios around London, the opportunity arose to record a live session. The resulting recordings captured such an enthralling energy & spontaneity that they instantly usurped the previous studio versions & became the final recordings for this release.
 
“It clicked that this was the way to represent the material in the best way possible - performed entirely live, as it happened. Any "mistakes", any looseness, felt like a step away from the feeling of material being written with the click of a mouse at a computer.” explains Betts. "It's really a punk album with tape delays instead of guitar chords.”
 
Working with previous Three Trapped Tigers collaborator John Calvert (Ghostpoet, NAO) on tracks ‘FUB’, ‘Substance Enthusiast’ and ‘Aneek’, the ethos was that no matter how exciting or odd the texture, it was important to turn each track into a piece of music with real form and shape. So, for all it’s technicality, experimentalism & idiosyncrasy, ‘Colossal Squid’ is an evocative, absorbing & rewarding journey: avant-garde in formation, yet undeniably catchy & invigorating.
 
'Colossal Squid' is released digitally, on CD and Limited Edition Yellow Vinyl w/ download code on November 25th.
 
Pre-orders:
CD/LP/T-Shirt Bundles: http://bloodandbiscuits.limitedrun.com/artists/adam-betts
Bandcamp: https://adambetts.bandcamp.com/album/colossal-squid
 
Adam Betts live dates:
Nov 29th Servant’s Jazz Quarters, London (Tickets)
 
Links:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/adambettsdrums
Website: www.adambettsdrums.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AdambettsDrums
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adambettsdrums
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/AdamBettsMusic

For more information please contact kate@stereosanctity.co.uk / t. +44 7812 607 230.