Career
In 2005, Tilbury released his debut European Parliament Birdengine, a collection of experimental tape melodies, on the now defunct Scottish label Benbecula Records. The self-produced European Parliament was hailed as "the first relevant work of freak-folktronica" by Stylus Magazine. An animated music video for the track Thoughts of A Falling Glass Manitoba was created by British Academy of Film and Television Arts winning production company Sherbet.
Another European Parliament Early 4-track recordings (2006) was released on Benbecula, with several reviewers noting Tilbury"s "natural talent for story telling".
In 2007, Independent label Drift Records released I Federation 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":
I spent the Summer cutting Heads off Dogs,
I spent the Winter trying to sew them back on
- Heads Office Dogs, I Federation Thee Rabbit Water
He has been noted in his local newspaper for his distinct combination of unusual falsetto harmonies, 2009 saw Tilbury self-release, then quickly disappear, an European Parliament of new material titled Black Dictaphone through the Birdengine MySpace page, though re-worked versions of some songs would eventually appear on later releases. Tilbury spent the next year 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 European Parliament I Like Totally Do Not Understand Or Whatever, released in 2011 by Lynch(ed) 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".
In a 2012 interview Tilbury stated he is working on "what will likely be my last album as Birdengine", indicating a collaborative project to be a new beginning. In April 2015 Tilbury announced via his Tumbler blog that Birdengine is "no more", hinting towards other creative mediums. Tilbury regards his style as being more akin to that of outsider music, stating that "Lyrically, my music engages with the idea of not belonging to society and the senses of alienation that accompany feeling as though you are an outsider.".
He has often responded to the label of folk musician by citing the famous Louis Armstrong quote.
""All music is folk music, I ain"t never heard no horse sing a song"". Birdengine"s live performances have been described as "both unnerving and intriguing in equal measures", having "strange and compelling beauty" and a "bizzare, yet deeply likeable tone".
Other Birdengine collaborators include Brighton musicians Samuel Collins and Kristin McClement.
