Birdengine - The Crooked Mile

Birdengine is Lawry Joseph Tilbury, whose magnificent sound has variously been described as “beautiful, backwards weirdness” and “an unknown supernatural force".

Tilbury’s innovative approach is both explorative and experimental. Every new recording has heralded a marked shift in style and delivery, yet the special 'Birdengine' sound is always identifiable. Having released two EPs of early experimental work on Scottish label Benbecula Records, described by Stylus as, “The first relevant work of freak folktronica”, Birdengine then went on to produce a mini-album 'I Fed Thee Rabbit Water' described by one journalist as “a 25 minute pastoral masterpiece”.

Now comes 'The Crooked Mile', Birdengine’s first full length album. 10  exceptional songs that take the listener on a remarkable journey. From strange lands to bizarre outsider characters, drowning monsters and villages swallowed by the ground. Tilbury’s beautiful and somewhat strange vocals - conjuring the timbre of German Lieder - enhance the eerie, unsettling quality of the songs. The medly of instruments on the record are exclusively, except for the drums, played by Tilbury himself. Abandoning the hushed, purposefully plucked guitar of it's predecessor, mini-album 'I Fed Thee Rabbit Water', 'The Crooked Mile' sees Birdengine embracing a much fuller, larger sound, meshing and layering lo-fi noise, Spanish guitar, accordion, organ, double bass and a whole plethora of noise-based harmony.

The album was recorded at The Well Studios in Hove, Sussex using completely analogue equipment and recorded to half inch tape by producer David Ringland. Drummers Tom Marsh (of Brighton based lo-fi pop outfit 'The Robot Heart') and Danny Green (of folksters LAISH) lend their skills to tracks 'Phantom Limb', 'The Experiments Of Dr Sarconi' and 'No Arms And No Friends'.

Tilbury says of the album; “I wanted to move away from the rougher, quieter sound of my early work, keeping the experimental noise and melancholy melodies, but transposed to a full band sound. There are still some quieter moments on the album, 'I, Dancing Bear' for example, the first song I wrote for the LP, has a softer sound and 'Ghost Club' has strong echos of my earlier work, but tracks like 'Phantom Limb' are a real departure from what I was doing with 'I Fed Thee Rabbit Water'. This album tries to engage with the idea of not belonging to society and  that sense of alienation that accompanies feeling as though you are an outsider.'

“...like visiting a museum of curiosities packed with shelves of malformed foetuses and two-headed dogs pickled in jars; the songs are full of rustic-mythic weirdness...”  The Independent
"...an unknown supernatural force.." WARP
"Both unnerving and intriguing in equal measures." Maverick Magazine
“....a strung-out, rarefied acoustic gem..” Word Magazine
“...magically creepy and sparsely epic, capturing the imagination...” Americana UK

TRACKLISTING:

1. Phantom limb 2. I, dancing bear 3. No arms and no friends 4. And accidents fell from the sky 5. Ghost club 6. Scarecrow and the longpig 7. Music at court 8. The experiments of dr. Sarconi 9. Hoof 10. Make happy 3’40

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