Customer Reviews

TIGERMILK [Vinyl]

5 star:		(79)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

The story of B&S is the story of a band without the intention of selling music, who still became one of the most influential indie-bands. Deriving their name from a French childrens book named "Belle et Sebastién", Belle and Sebastian is by all measures a band quite outside the ordinary.

"Tigermilk", their debut album, was originally released on Electric Honey Records - a small label run as a part-time project by students of the Glasgow School of Art. Originally the label only had capacity to release one EP a year, but when Stuart Murdoch turned up with ten songs and eight band members, they decided to make this one a full-length LP. As the belles had to cover most of the costs themselves, the original vinyl LP was only printed in 1,000 copies, and even so the band still had problems finding buyers for them all.

Today Belle and Sebastian have fans more or less everywhere - the band even has a nightclub in Korea named to their honour. And when listening to "Tigermilk" one instantly understands why the band achieved such fame, more or less against their own will.

Although "Tigermilk" was the bands debut - recorded with both limited time and resources at their disposal - it still shows the belles at their absolute best. Though musically it lacks some of the range of the three-ep box-set "Lazy Lane Painter Jane", its consistency and timelessness made it a classic all from the start. One needs only to listen through the opening track of the album, "The State That I am In", to see what makes the belles stand out from everyone else. Sarcastic lyrics about human failure and tragedy is mixed with upbeat pop-melodies form the basis of most of B&S' music, creating their signature soundscape. Although seemingly stealing some of its sound from classic pop, "Tigermilk" still stands out as fresh and new - different from everything done both before and after it. Seemingly coming out of nowhere, "Tigermilk" still does not distance itself from its audience, but invites the listener into a completely new - yet recognizable - musical universe.

"Tigermilk" fuses the sound of The Smiths at the height of their creative power with the ideals of the indie/lofi-movement of the 90s, creating - in all its simplicity - pop-music both more advanced and yet simpler and more truthful than anything done before it. The first listening might give the impression of a feelgood easy-listening album, but underneath it all lies a nerve equal to the works of Jeff Buckley and his like.

Though creating a universe of its own, distanced by a clear sarcastic tone, "Tigermilk" leaves the listener with the impression that this is something highly personal. The odd combination of lyrics and music leaves the listener unsure as to wether he should laugh or bawl.

Running the risk of ending up entangled in clichés, I daresay that "Tigermilk" stands out as an accurate description of modern life and culture; that the belles in their firm intention of creating an album completely unsuited of intellectual analysis (or commercial success for that matter), managed to create the album that described their own generation.


Sadly, at current point "Tigermilk" seems only a distant memory of the artistic capabilities of the belles, as "Belle" herself, in real life named Isobel Campbell, left the band in 2002 to focus on her solo career, and the band after their transfer to Rough Trade has started tuning their guitars and hiring professional musicians and producers - a move that has removed most of their original charm and created just another radio-friendly Scottish pop-band.

PS. Isobel Campbell is currently releasing on Snowstorm under her own name and has previously released on Jeepster as The Gentle Waves, both french-pop inspired projects and next door neighbours to B&S. Her Gentle Waves album "Swansong for You" is definetily worth both your time and money.

Okay - I'll confess. I was a former Smiths junkie looking for a quick fix of something beautiful, something that could come even remotely close to capturing the precious magic the Smiths so easily wielded. I was a teenage Morrissey - HALLELUJAH, BROTHER. CAN I GET AN AMEN? And then I grew up. Got over and uninvolved with Stephen Patrick. But the hunger -the lust - for something similar ate away at me with a dangerous voracity. Music was my drug of choice, and the Smiths - so much like a melodic heroin, were all that I once craved. Everything else was sugarwater and lacking substance. I tried shooting up Gene. It was a fairly pleasant trip at first.. but crashed hard. Then I dropped some Suede. What a rush! Then what a letdown! The trip ended just as fast as it began.. And then someone introduced me to a new drug of sorts. It was called Belle and Sebastian. Anything THAT TWEE sounding must surely be rubbish, thought I. How wrong I was.. The sounds that poured from my speakers took me north of heaven, enrapturing me in a ecstatic rhapsody - it was love. I knew - I mean I JUST KNEW - I had found the perfect replacement for The Smiths I once so dearly loved. Moreover, I didn't even WANT the Smiths Anymore. This was a new direction, a new sound. This stood up so solidly, so wondrously on its own - I could've cried. From Tigermilk to Arab Strap, this band has changed my life.. their music speaks to me like none other. I cannot reccomend them strongly enough. Bravo, Belle. Bravo, Sebby. Je T'aime, Je T'aime.

...I must write in to say that this is truly a masterpiece of an album. Stuart Murdoch writes lyrics worthy of the great Lou Reed and melodies worthy of the Beatles. The instruments and identities of the eight band members meld into one to create a sonic stew of pop nirvana. "The State I Am In" and "We Rule The School" are undeniable works of genius, but the other songs also hold strongly. "Electronic Renaissance" is a great track, but it doesn't truly belong with this collection of indie pop-rock tunes.

Belle and Sebastian is one of the best modern rock bands, as Stuart Murdoch's complex and intellectual lyrics are easily bent into hummable pop melodies, you find yourself loving it more with each listen. This is truly a great album.

(This album deserves 4.5 stars, but 5 will have to do)

Hard to phathom how this little doozy got started. So some college kids from Glasgow got together to put to music some penned up material from aspiring poet Stuart Murdoch, and the result was a very limited edition of about 1,000 vinyl copies of what became known as "Tigermilk". Usually this stuff gets a B+ by the instructor, is listened to a few times by family members and close friends of the 'band', then gets forgotten, and the students graduate and get real jobs or something. Hah, well, sometimes in the vast sea of college projects rises to the surface a creation that doesn't go away...or refuses to go away, as the case may be. Like the "Blair Witch" phenomenom, this quiet, unassuming set of 10 songs caught a wave -- a tidal wave so-to-speak -- and for its first few years of its existence, was spread mostly through word of mouth (and then through music file sharing programs, at least until more copies went into print) at an alarming rate. Why is that? What makes this record so special?
Well, start with the opening song, "The State I Am In". This song begins with a faye acapella and lots of atmosphere...just Murdoch and a quiet accoustic guitar. The voice is delicate, but gripping, and the lyrics offer an intriguing puzzle that sucks you in at once. You could swear it was Nick Drake singing from beyond the grave. It virtually insists that, if you are to listen, you are to give it your full and undivided attention. And slowly enough you realize, this guy has something really important to say...passively perhaps, almost without consequence...but you can't help but think this could be your younger sibling or best friend that is suddenly opening their heart and soul to you. For instance, "The priest in the booth had a photographic memory for all he had heard. He took all of my sins, and he wrote a pocket novel called The State That I Am In. So I gave myself to God. There was a pregnant pause before He said ok. Now I spend my day turning tables round in Marks & Spencer's, they don't seem to mind". Doesn't seem like much, but to hear it softly sung and accompanied by a lovely melody that builds gradually before reaching a peak, hovering delightfully at its apex over a truly gorgeous chorus...it is with one quick listen (or maybe it was two?) that it becomes apparent this isn't some fiviolous group of punks smashing irrelevant notes together in their basement, driving their parents insane. This IS something special.

"Tigermilk" is bascially Stuart Murdoch's first solo album (ha ha). Sure, he has a backing accompaniment of five other band members who play various instruments and occassionally offer backing vocals and other contributions. But Murdoch writes, sings, and plays guitar in all ten tracks here...and that's a great thing really. His acute ideas for harmonizing stories of teen angst ("Expectations"), awkward character studies ("She's Losing It"), philosophical renderings ("I Could Be Dreaming") are obviously influenced from many different leanings (The Smiths, Field Mice, Love, Nick Drake, etc), but he combines them into a unique and refreshing approach that stands at odds with most contemporary music of its time -- mid-90s -- and at the same time inspires a host of twenty and thirty somethings...of all sorts of backgrounds...to hitch on for a ride into a world of escapism, perhaps even necessary isolationism. It is a big bad world out there after all, and where to go and seek shelter when you are a generation X'er (or Y'er), with all the expectations, pressures and sensory overload threatening to bury you under its weight? These guys know your anguish, certainly, and in turn offer you just the right recipe for sublime transcendental cravings. Listen to "I Could Be Dreaming" for instance...it has perhaps the most complex production of any song on the album, with instruments, mixings, and overdubs weaving a textured backdrop that fits seamlessly with the suggestive lyrics presented in a rambling, stream of conscious fashion so as to evoke our inner most desires -- those sames ones strangled by daily inhibitions, only to awaken during our reveries. (Why the song tails off into Isobel Campbell giving a recitation of several passages from the novel Rip Van Winkle, I have no idea, other than it's non-too-subtle tie into to the song's title, but it's loads of fun regardless). Or "We Rule The School", which contains excerpts from Panchebel's Canon, not to mention the most enchanting flute instrumental I've ever heard.

All tracks here are extremely well done, and don't sound anything like what you would expect from a group of inexperienced music students. They're clever, inventive, familiar yet crisp and new all at once. As sad as some of the themes are, the tunes are decidedly uplifting and toe-tapping in a majority of the cases (just listen to the pop giddyness of "You're Just A Baby", or the soaring instrumentation and vocals behind "My Wandering Days Are Over"). Other notables include "I Don't Love Anyone", which is arguably the most punkish B&S ever got....that is to say, not very. But even with this light-hearted dabble into the world of adolescent rebellion, it's done in a fashion that's instantly recognizable and complete with a sing-along chorus that is reminiscent of some of the best pop from the 60's. The only real odd-ball tune on here is "Electronic Renaissance", which is a stab at early 80s techno/synth pop. Just what the point of this was I'm not sure, but as much as it kind of disrupts the flow of the album, in retrospect it is still a well done tune that is just as good as anything Duran Duran gave us (okay, maybe it's not on the same level as "The Reflex", but it manages to work nevertheless).

Overall, a very impressive debut. The word-of-mouth success of Tigermilk thankfully led to the group's continuing efforts of translating Murdoch's songs and ideas into actual music. Who knew that their next project, after using more time to crispen the sound and further embellish the harmonies, would be one of the most memorable musical achievements of the last 15-20 years?

It's difficult to say which is the best B+S album. Of the three this is possibly the most charming. These are all simply beautiful songs, which in all honesty don't sound that much like Nick Drake, the Smiths or whoever. And despite contrary opinion, 'Electronic Rennaisance' is moody and fantastic (and is blatantly NOT written by Stuart David- someone wrote that in a review). 'The State I Am In', 'My Wandering Days Are Over'and 'Mary Jo' are my favourites, but with B+S everyone likes different ones. There is no-one quite like this band, who approach songwriting and recording so simply, melodically and (I'm going to have to use it again) beautifully. It's brilliant when you're being kept awake by Slipknot fans in your Halls of Residence to crank up 'Mary Jo' back at them, complete with flute solo.

I used to have one of the 1000 vinyl copies this album was released on. I know, I know, you're wondering what happened to it. I worked at a radio station, and the album came in. As per the station's procedures, DJs would take home albums, review them, look for swear words, write capsule reviews, etc.

Anyway, I took home this album. I had never heard of the band (no one else had either) so didn't know what to expect when I put it on my turntable. I was blown away, of course. Pure pop genius. I wrote up an incredible review of the LP, returned it to the station a week later.

I should've kept it. I should've stolen the thing. 6 months later, I was still searching for the album in stores when I found out it was a limited issue. I tear back to the radio station, if only to dub a copy of it for myself. But the album was already gone. Some other lucky DJ had ripped it off.

The intervening years and the intervening B&S albums have left me feeling okay, but with each listen to "Sinister" and "Arab Strap" I told myself - "they've done better." I told my friends that to really appreciate B&S, they had to hear the first album. But when would it get re-released?! "Arab Strap" left me especially cold and I slowly stopped listening to B&S quite as much as I used to.

3 years later and this album is finally reissued. It's like kissing an old girlfriend I had forgotten that I loved. It doesn't leave my CD player. Ever.

If you're looking at this album to buy and enjoy, please be aware that most fans of this album just happen to enjoy it. It's *not* because it somehow makes us feel "hip and literate". Comments that generic shouldn't be used as a label for the the rest of us. As it happens, I don't feel either hip or literate due to this album. I just personally enjoy the music. In my opinion, it's great twee pop. It's not about who is the coolest. :-)

This album is really fun and sweet. It's gentle but upbeat pop music. It's a great backdrop for a lonely bus ride. A few of the tracks are not so polished or a little uneven, but I don't think this detracts from the album. It can be part of the charm. Songs like Expectations, The State I'm In, You're Just A Baby, I Could Be Dreaming and She's Losing It are great fun and upbeat twee pop. With some surprising little twists in the lyrics.

In a word: fun!

Belle & Sebastian's first album, which was the result of guitarist/ Vocalist "Stuart Murdoch's finishing his 'Music Business Course'. And this proves to be a perfect introduction to those new to Belle & Sebastian, as it's here that you'll find the artistic and musical templates that the band, would work up and constantly refine over the course of the successive albums, resulting in 2003's superb "Dear Catastrophe Waitress". Songs that on first inspection had a intensely optimistic twee sound, hopelessly saccharine, on the first couple of listens deceivingly disposable. But throughout the album, the instrumentation is first class with all band members giving incredibly robust performances in their playing. And on closer inspection the lyrics proved themselves to be intensely sarcastic and witty and brimming with a subtle intelligence. The seven-piece band has an intimate, majestic sound that is equal parts folk-rock and '60s pop, but Murdoch's gift for not only whimsy and surrealism, but also for odd, unsettling lyrical detail keeps the songs grounded in a tangible reality. Unquestionably one of those bands that on first listen will leave most listeners scratching their heads, as to what all the fuss is about. But once that initial reservation has been overcome, and the music has had a chance to suck you in, you'll most likely see, why they've managed to build up such a devoted following. It should be mentioned again that those entering into the world of Belle and Sebastian, would be very well served making this their first album to purchase, as it beautifully illustrates their humble musical beginnings and how they developed and refined their sound and songwriting as a group, which is not to take away anything from this truly superb effort.

Of course there are those of us who criticize the extremities of Amazon.com reviews. (Five stars if it's good, one star if its anything less than that) So while "Tigermilk" has barely left my CD Player since its July 13 release, I can't give it a full five. It's got the simplicity and pinash of "Sinister," which is nice, following the pleasant, but overall disapointing "Arab Strap." I had no idea there was a "first" album out there so when I heard it was going to be released, I hoped it would sound more like "Sinister." And it does. Arguing qualities of music is pretty pointless, because its the most subjective art form out there (moods, tones, tastes, sentimental value, anything else all seem to determine wether or not we like a song... and even then for how long we like it). But if you liked "Sinister," this album is a good choice. It's simple, catchy, and a little more poignant than your average top 40 act. If browsing samples, pay attention to "She's Losing It" and "The State That I am In."

This CD was so highly recommended by Amazon customer reviews I thought I'd try it. It's a very decent set of songs although a bit down. Very "I'm in my 20's" angst but with some clever lyrics and OK melodies. If you remember and liked Donovan there is quite a resemblance to that 60's singer although with a unique twist of its own. If you like moody, somewhat lowkey music you might enjoy this.