Birdengine


Lawry Joseph Tilbury, also known as Birdengine, is an English musician and singer-songwriter from Winterbourne Steepleton, Dorset and now residing in Seaford, East Sussex.

Career

In 2005, Tilbury released his debut EP Birdengine, a collection of experimental tape melodies, on the now defunct Scottish label Benbecula Records. The self-produced EP was hailed as "the first relevant work of freak-folktronica" by Stylus Magazine.
Another EP Early 4-track recordings 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 praise for his stark nylon guitar playing, and deadpan humour "There's not likely to be a more arresting opening couplet to an album this year":
Tilbury spent 2010 at producer David Ringland's home studio in Hove, recording songs to a 16 track reel-to-reel tape player. These sessions culminated in the debut full-length LP The Crooked Mile and a later EP I Like Totally Do Not Understand Or Whatever, released in 2011 by Lynch Recording and A Beard of Snails Records respectively. The Crooked Mile garnered widely positive reviews, and was described by Uncut as "...like a waltz for the dead – the results are unmistakable and unsettling.", and by The Quietus as "Outsider Music, riddled with themes of alienation and a sense of not belonging; an outcast even among the freaks".

Style and performance

Birdengine's live performances have been described as "both unnerving and intriguing in equal measures", having "strange and compelling beauty" and a "bizarre, yet deeply likeable tone".
Additionally, Tilbury frequently collaborates with friend and artist Daniel Michael Clark – together releasing the experimental album Trunk on Indie label Woodland Recordings, as well as occasionally performing live. Other Birdengine collaborators include Brighton musicians Samuel Collins and Kristin McClement.

Discography

Studio albums