There's a scene in the movie adaptation of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, where John Cusack's record shop owner, turns to his friend and proclaims that he will now, "sell five copies of The Three E.P.'s by The Beta Band", before playing the first track of this album. It was a sign that quietly, quirkily, the band had made their mark on the world.

Singer Steve Mason, drummer Robin Jones, DJ and artist John Maclean and bass player Richard Greentree formed as The Beta Band in Edinburgh in 1996, with a D.I.Y. work ethic and the intention of doing things their way or not at all. Maclean produced their intricate cover art and the whole band collaborated to make their own videos and the occasional magazine, Flower Press.

As the name suggests, this album collects the bands first three E.P.'s: Champion Versions, The Patty Patty Sound and Los Amigos Del Beta Bandidos. With influences that straddled The Beach Boys and Stone Roses, to Bavarian monks, hip-hop and electronica, this record was diverse and it quickly became one of the most talked about albums of the year. It's easy to see why - from the gentle pastoral funk of Dry the Rain, through the dense experimentation of Monolith, and out into the light with the pure pop of Needles In My Eyes, The Three E.P.'s takes you on journey.

The album's highlights are many and varied. Dr Baker, sounds like a Revolver-era Beatles song, chanted by Bavarian monks. The House Song is funky, if somewhat dodgy, rap. The centrepiece of the record is Monolith, a track that at 15 minutes and 48 seconds certainly lives up to its name. Mostly instrumental, it mixes found sounds of dog barks and bird song, with old record samples, wiry noise and thumping bass, and shows the band at their most sprawling and inventive.

The record was a huge critical smash and the band was received by the music press with open arms. However, the Beta's fortunes were soon to change. Following The Three E.P.'s, the band got to work on a hugely ambitious 'proper' first album. Originally conceived as a two-disc extravaganza to be recorded in studios around the world, the finished product was very different.

Comprising only a single disc, (the other was considered by their record company to be incoherent and promptly ditched), badly produced and with a diabolical comedy rap as its opening track, it was something of a disappointment. In a move that could be seen as either commercial suicide or remarkable honesty, the band declared it awful. That said it really isn't that bad. Eight of the ten songs on there as good as anything they've ever done, with It's Not Too Beautiful and The Hard One being among their best ever material.

2001's Hot Shots II saw the band re-energised, with more polished production and a stronger hip-hop influence. Their final album, Heroes to Zeroes arrived in 2004, but was followed several weeks later with the news that the band was to split. They were in a massive amount of financial debt and, for Steve at least, the fun had gone out of the band.

After a farewell tour the members went their separate ways. Steve is currently concentrating on his solo project, King Biscuit Time, while Robin and John went on to form The Aliens, whose debut release is due out some time this year. The Beta Band had a peculiar career. Adored by critics, loved by their fans, widely acknowledged to be one of the most innovative bands of their generation, they still failed to find the commercial success they needed to continue on their wayward journey. It's a shame, but they leave behind them four wonderful albums of ramshackle, eccentric pop that will continue to be discovered by new generations of fans.