Birdengine
Encyclopedia
Lawry Joseph Tilbury better known by his stage name
Birdengine, is an English
musician and singer-songwriter
from Winterbourne Steepleton
, Dorset
.
label Benbecula Records
. The self-produced EP was hailed as the first relevant work of freak-folktronica by Stylus Magazine
. An animated music video
for the track Thoughts of A Falling Glass Man was created by BAFTA winning production company Sherbert
.
Another EP Early 4-track recordings (2006) was released on Benbecula
, with several reviewers noting Tilbury’s "natural talent for story telling",.
In 2007, Independent label
Drift Records released I Fed Thee Rabbit Water, a mini-album of wandering folk songs which garnered Tilbury wide praise for his distinct combination of unusual falsetto harmonies, stark nylon guitar playing, and deadpan humour "There's not likely to be a more arresting opening couplet to an album this year":
2009 saw Tilbury self-release, then quickly disappear, an EP of new material titled ‘Black Dictaphone’ through the Birdengine MySpace page.
October 2010 sees a scheduled release for a 7” single on new label, Lynch(ed) Recordings, as well as the completion of a first full-length LP The Crooked Mile - which was recorded in Hove
on a 16 track reel-to-reel tape player
in the studio of producer David Ringland, before Tilbury’s relocation to Toulouse
, Southwest France for six months.
Tilbury describes his style as experimental, outsider music
and dislikes being referred to as a folk music
ian, "Lyricly, my music engages with the idea of not belonging to society and the senses of alienation that accompany feeling as though you are an outsider. I'm not a folk musician, I don't much enjoy folk music. But I like the Louis Armstrong
quote, 'All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song'"
Birdengine’s performances have been described as “both unnerving and intriguing in equal measures”, having “strange and compelling beauty" and a “bizzare, yet deeply likeable tone”. In December 2010, Tilbury recorded a 'live' session for Folk Radio UK to promote his then, upcoming UK tour in February 2011. Tilbury also made his debut long player 'The Crooked Mile' available to download from bandcamp
for four weeks, before taking the recordings down. The album is set to have a physical release in 2011 on indie label Bleeding Heart Recordings.
Additionally, Tilbury frequently collaborates with friend and artist Dm Clark - together releasing the experimental album Trunk (2008) on Indie label Woodland Recordings (under the moniker "Mortis Tobias"), as well as occasionally performing live. Other Birdengine collaborators include Brighton musicians Samuel Collins and Kristin McClement.
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Birdengine, is an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
musician and singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
from Winterbourne Steepleton
Winterbourne Steepleton
Winterbourne Steepleton is a village in south west Dorset, England, situated in a winterbourne valley five miles west of Dorchester, next to the village of Winterbourne Abbas. The village has a population of 295 , and derives its name from having one of only three stone church steeples in the...
, Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
.
Career
In 2005, Tilbury released his debut EP Birdengine, a collection of experimental tape melodies, on the now defunct ScottishScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
label Benbecula Records
Benbecula Records
Benbecula Records was a Scottish independent record label.Established in 1999 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by local musicians Phase 6 and Beluga, Benbecula Records began as a CD-R-based record label before moving towards large-run commercial vinyl record and CD releases in 2000.The label closed on...
. The self-produced EP was hailed as the first relevant work of freak-folktronica by Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....
. An animated music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for the track Thoughts of A Falling Glass Man was created by BAFTA winning production company Sherbert
Sherbet Animation
Sherbet Animation was set up in 1996 by producer Jonathan Bairstow and Director Jonathan Hodgson, Sherbet won a BAFTA in 1999 with The Man With the Beautiful Eyes, and was a BAFTA nominee in 2002...
.
Another EP Early 4-track recordings (2006) was released on Benbecula
Benbecula Records
Benbecula Records was a Scottish independent record label.Established in 1999 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by local musicians Phase 6 and Beluga, Benbecula Records began as a CD-R-based record label before moving towards large-run commercial vinyl record and CD releases in 2000.The label closed on...
, with several reviewers noting Tilbury’s "natural talent for story telling",.
In 2007, Independent label
Independent record label
An independent record label is a record label operating without the funding of or outside the organizations of the major record labels. A great number of bands and musical acts begin on independent labels.-Overview:...
Drift Records released I Fed Thee Rabbit Water, a mini-album of wandering folk songs which garnered Tilbury wide praise for his distinct combination of unusual falsetto harmonies, stark nylon guitar playing, and deadpan humour "There's not likely to be a more arresting opening couplet to an album this year":
- I spent the Summer cutting Heads off Dogs,
- I spent the Winter trying to sew them back on"
2009 saw Tilbury self-release, then quickly disappear, an EP of new material titled ‘Black Dictaphone’ through the Birdengine MySpace page.
October 2010 sees a scheduled release for a 7” single on new label, Lynch(ed) Recordings, as well as the completion of a first full-length LP The Crooked Mile - which was recorded in Hove
Hove
Hove is a town on the south coast of England, immediately to the west of its larger neighbour Brighton, with which it forms the unitary authority Brighton and Hove. It forms a single conurbation together with Brighton and some smaller towns and villages running along the coast...
on a 16 track reel-to-reel tape player
Reel-to-reel audio tape recording
Reel-to-reel, open reel tape recording is the form of magnetic tape audio recording in which the recording medium is held on a reel, rather than being securely contained within a cassette....
in the studio of producer David Ringland, before Tilbury’s relocation to Toulouse
Toulouse
Toulouse is a city in the Haute-Garonne department in southwestern FranceIt lies on the banks of the River Garonne, 590 km away from Paris and half-way between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea...
, Southwest France for six months.
Tilbury describes his style as experimental, outsider music
Outsider music
Outsider music, a term coined by Irwin Chusid in the mid-1990s, are songs and compositions by musicians who are not part of the commercial music industry who write songs that ignore standard musical or lyrical conventions, either because they have no formal training or because they disagree with...
and dislikes being referred to as a folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
ian, "Lyricly, my music engages with the idea of not belonging to society and the senses of alienation that accompany feeling as though you are an outsider. I'm not a folk musician, I don't much enjoy folk music. But I like the Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
quote, 'All music is folk music, I ain't never heard no horse sing a song'"
Birdengine’s performances have been described as “both unnerving and intriguing in equal measures”, having “strange and compelling beauty" and a “bizzare, yet deeply likeable tone”. In December 2010, Tilbury recorded a 'live' session for Folk Radio UK to promote his then, upcoming UK tour in February 2011. Tilbury also made his debut long player 'The Crooked Mile' available to download from bandcamp
Bandcamp
Bandcamp is an online music store, as well as a platform for artist promotion, that caters mainly for independent artists. Artists on Bandcamp have a customizable microsite with the albums they upload. All tracks can be played for free on the website and some artists offer free music downloads...
for four weeks, before taking the recordings down. The album is set to have a physical release in 2011 on indie label Bleeding Heart Recordings.
Additionally, Tilbury frequently collaborates with friend and artist Dm Clark - together releasing the experimental album Trunk (2008) on Indie label Woodland Recordings (under the moniker "Mortis Tobias"), as well as occasionally performing live. Other Birdengine collaborators include Brighton musicians Samuel Collins and Kristin McClement.
Releases
| Year | Title | Format | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Birdengine EP | 12" | Benbecula Records Benbecula Records Benbecula Records was a Scottish independent record label.Established in 1999 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by local musicians Phase 6 and Beluga, Benbecula Records began as a CD-R-based record label before moving towards large-run commercial vinyl record and CD releases in 2000.The label closed on... |
| 2006 | Early 4 Track Recordings EP | CD | Benbecula Records Benbecula Records Benbecula Records was a Scottish independent record label.Established in 1999 in Edinburgh, Scotland, by local musicians Phase 6 and Beluga, Benbecula Records began as a CD-R-based record label before moving towards large-run commercial vinyl record and CD releases in 2000.The label closed on... |
| 2007 | I Fed Thee Rabbit Water | CD | Drift Records |
| 2008 | Trunk (credited as 'Mortis Tobias & Clara Kindle') | CD-r | Woodland Recordings |
| 2009 | Black Dictaphone EP | CD-r (TET001) | Thee Evil Twin |
| 2010 | The Crooked Mile | File, MP3 (TET002) | Thee Evil Twin |
| Folk Radio UK Session | File, MP3 (FRUKIE #5) | Folk Radio UK | |
| 2011 | No Arms And No Friends / Ghost Club | 7" Double A Side | Lynch(ed) Recordings |
| I Like Totally Do Not Understand Or Whatever EP | 3" CD-r | A Beard Of Snails Records | |
| The Crooked Mile | Vinyl, CD, Download | Bleeding Heart Recordings | |
Appearances in compilations
| Year | Song | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | i, Dancing Bear (demo) | The Drift Collective | Drift Records |
| Dead Mermaid (live) | Oxfam Field Recordings (Vol. 1) | Woodland Recordings | |
| i, Dancing Bear (live) | Oxfam Field Recordings (Vol. 2) | Woodland Recordings | |
| 2008 | She's Been Living In The Corn (demo) | Home Taping Is Music | Woodland Recordings |
| 2009 | My Favourite Things (with Kristin McClement) | For The Bats | Stranger Songs |
| 2010 | Ghost Club | Stranger Songs II - for the MS society | Stranger Songs |
| Phantom Limb | Bleeding Hearts #1 | Bleeding Heart Recordings | |
| 2011 | No Arms And No Friends (Omnichord Mix) | Sea Monsters | OIB Records |
| Blood Will Out (Experiment 7) | Trying and trying and trying | Collaboration with poet Gethan Dick | |
| The Ruining | Willkommen Foxsawp | Willkommen Records | |