Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay (Tapestry) '2019

Tracks list

To mark its 25th anniversary, Saint Etienne release a very special box set of
one of their most critically acclaimed albums, Tiger Bay. The lavish set
included a vinyl version of the original album in gatefold sleeve cut at 45rpm
over two discs, a 12 track vinyl compilation of rarities and demos, Tiger Bay
– Remains of The Day, Tiger Bay – Tapestry, a 13 track CD album of
‘stripped-back’ versions and unreleased arrangements, taken from
original master tapes and complied by Pete Wiggs, a 28-page booklet featuring a
wealth of unseen photographs and essay about the making of the album, a
12” x24” reproduction of the original album poster and a
reproduction of the original press release and biography from 1994.

A ground-breaking blend of electronica and orchestration with traditional folk
melodies, Tiger Bay, their third studio album, was originally released on 28th
February 1994 on Heavenly. Self-produced by the band and engineered by long-time
collaborator Ian Catt, the album also features input from Underworld’s
Rick Smith, orchestral arrangements by renowned composer David Whitaker (Serge
Gainsbourg, Marianne Faithfull, Air) and vocal contributions from Shara Nelson
and Stephen Duffy amongst others. Saint Etienne set themselves a bold challenge
for their third album. No more records about London; no more samples – of
music they loved, or snippets of film dialogue between tracks. They would change
the genes of their music, swapping the helix of Madchester meets Swinging London
meets indiepop for one in which Belgian techno was spliced with folk music.

Tiger Bay was intended to be nothing less than the sound of folk music
reimagined for the last years of the 20th century and their brilliant
reinvention of folk rock for the electronic age might not have resulted in an
invitation to headline Fairport’s Cropredy Convention, but it gave them
their best album yet. But within months of Tiger Bay’s release, British
independent music had changed direction abruptly, as Britpop instead came to
mean guitar bands in Fred Perry, lads with Weller haircuts, unremarkable singers
of both sexes proclaiming their will to greatness, despite the complete absence
of evidence to support their boasts. And so Tiger Bay slipped beneath the sands,
neither an indelible hit nor a memorable flop. But that gives it a staying
power, perhaps, that its predecessors lack: it doesn’t sound of its
moment in the same way Foxbase Alpha and So Tough do. It sounds as if Saint
Etienne had finally broken free of pop time, to create something that floated
above pop trends, borrowing and squeezing together elements that should never
have blended. It might even be their masterpiece.

Tracklist:
01. Saint Etienne - Urban Clearway (0:38)
02. Saint Etienne - Like a Motorway (0:45)
03. Saint Etienne - Former Lover (0:23)
04. Saint Etienne - Western Wind (1:12)
05. Saint Etienne - The Boy Scouts of America (2:06)
06. Saint Etienne - Cool Kids of Death (1:09)
07. Saint Etienne - Hug My Soul (1:14)
08. Saint Etienne - Tankerville (6:07)
09. Saint Etienne - Like a Motorway (1:02)
10. Saint Etienne - Pale Movie (0:34)
11. Saint Etienne - The Boy Scouts of America (1:35)
12. Saint Etienne - Marble Lions (4:02)
13. Saint Etienne - Tiger Bay (1:19)

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