Black Star Liner were formed in Leeds

Leeds

Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial...

 in 1994, by Choque Hosein, Tom Salmon, and Chris Harrop. Their music consisted of a mix of Asian music (sitar

Sitar

The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...

 and tabla

Tabla

The tabla is a popular Indian percussion instrument used in Hindustani classical music and in popular and devotional music of the Indian subcontinent. The instrument consists of a pair of hand drums of contrasting sizes and timbres...

), dance music

Dance music

Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...

 and dub reggae.

History

They formed Soundclash Records to release their initial recordings

Sound recording and reproduction

Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

 - "Smoke the Prophets" EP

Extended play

An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, and "High Turkish Influence". After receiving the single of the week award in the NME

NME

The New Musical Express is a popular music publication in the United Kingdom, published weekly since March 1952. It started as a music newspaper, and gradually moved toward a magazine format during the 1980s, changing from newsprint in 1998. It was the first British paper to include a singles...

magazine

Magazine

Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...

 for "Smoke the Prophets", they recorded three Peel Sessions, the first of which was broadcast in April 1995.

The Peel session enabled them to secure a recording contract

Recording contract

A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 with EXP, which was run by Feargal Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey

Feargal Sharkey is a singer from Northern Ireland who first found fame as the lead vocalist of pop punk band The Undertones...

 from The Undertones

The Undertones

The Undertones are a punk rock/new wave band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland, in 1975.The original line-up of the Undertones released thirteen singles and four studio albums — The Undertones , Hypnotised , Positive Touch and The Sin of Pride — before disbanding in July 1983.Music guide Allmusic...

 and Richard Norris from The Grid

The Grid

The Grid are an English electronic dance group, consisting of Richard Norris and David Ball , with guest contributions from other musicians...

. Their debut album

Album

An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Yemen Cutta Connection was released in September 1996, with a press launch on Dartmoor

Dartmoor

Dartmoor is an area of moorland in south Devon, England. Protected by National Park status, it covers .The granite upland dates from the Carboniferous period of geological history. The moorland is capped with many exposed granite hilltops known as tors, providing habitats for Dartmoor wildlife. The...

 involving Jimmy Cauty

Jimmy Cauty

James Francis Cauty is a British artist and musician born in Liverpool, England, in 1956...

 and Bill Drummond

Bill Drummond

William Ernest Drummond is a Scottish artist, musician, writer and record producer. He was the co-founder of late 1980s avant-garde pop group The KLF and its 1990s media-manipulating successor, the K Foundation, with which he burned a million pounds in 1994...

 from The KLF

The KLF

The KLF were one of the seminal bands of the British acid house movement during the late 1980s and early 1990s....

. The album received critical praise, inciuding album of the week in The Guardian

The Guardian

The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...

.

After the demise of EXP, Rob Dickens

Rob Dickens

Rob Dickins, CBE is a member of the music industry, and currently holds a number of trustee and consultant positions in music and the arts in Britain. Dickins established himself at an early age at Warner Music UK...

 from WEA

Warner Music Group

Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...

 signed Black Star Liner, and they recorded their second album Bengali Bantam Youth Experience, which featured the single "Superfly and Bindi". Again receiving substantial critical acclaim, the album was also nominated for the 1999 Mercury Music Prize. and their live act was also praised.

Labelled as part of the Asian Underground, they worked with Tjinder Singh's Cornershop

Cornershop

Cornershop are a British indie rock band formed in 1991 by Wolverhampton-born Tjinder Singh , his brother Avtar Singh , David Chambers and Ben Ayres , the first three having previously been members of Preston-based band General Havoc, who released one single in 1991...

 and are featured in the book, Brimful of Asia.

Discography

• "Smoke The Prophets" EP (12") Soundclash 1994
• "High Turkish Influence" (12") Soundclash 1995
• "The Jaws" EP (10") EXP Recordings 1995
• "Haláal Rock" EP (CD, EP) EXP Recordings 1996
• "Haláal Rock" EP (12") EXP Recordings 1996
• "Harmon Session Special XI" (12") EXP Recordings 1996
• Yemen Cutta Connection (LP) EXP Recordings 1996
• Yemen Cutta Connection (CD) EXP Recordings 1996
• "Rock Freak (CD, Maxi)" WEA International Inc. 1997
• "Rock Freak EP (12")" Warner Music UK Ltd. 1997
• "Superfly And Bindi (CD, Maxi)" WEA International Inc. 1998
• "Superfly And Bindi (12", Promo)" WEA International Inc. 1998
• "Superfly And Bindi (12")" Warner Music UK Ltd. 1998
• Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! (CD) Warner Music UK Ltd. 1999
• "Twelve Inch Confrontation Mix" (CD) Echo Beach 2000
• "Yemen Cutta Connection" (CD) Echo Beach 2001