Tigermilk - Belle & Sebastian

Tigermilk is Belle and Sebastian's first studio album, released originally in 1996. Belle and Sebastian were completely unknown at the time and the album just appeared, one day, in stores. Only 1,000 copies of the album were produced in its original run, back when no one wanted any of this. Now they have fans everywhere, all shyly hidden away like the characters in their songs. This is one of my favourite albums of the group. Almost every song is a masterpiece of witty writing and intelligent lyrics, complete with the quirkiest characters and stories. It's one of the finest debut albums I've ever heard, and it seems that already so early in their career the ...  Read the complete review

For a while there this album was harder to track down than a Nepalese Yeti. 'Tigermilk' was recorded while Belle and Sebastian were still in art college and was submitted as part of their final year project. This meant that it originally had a limited pressing of a few thousand. Thankfully for those not able to afford the £400 per copy asking price it was released again in 1999. It is difficult to believe that 'Tigermilk' was recorded on a limited budget because it has such a lush feel to it. 'Expectations' for example is a complicated sounding beast with trumpets, flutes, strings and guitars flying in from every angle while the ...  Read the complete review

This is a really great debut album from the scottish band who have since become really big. 'Tigermilk' took me a little while to get used to, mainly because it is different to most of the stuff you hear at the moment. The lyrics are strange and the vocals are lilting, but it makes a great combination that is truely original. This is in my opinion, the best belle and sebastian album, it is fresh and always good to listen to. Undoubtedly the best song is 'She's Losing it' which is so damn catchy you won't be able to stop singing it. If you want an album that is unusual and a bit different to everything else on the indie scene then this is a ...  Read the complete review

This is Belle and Sebastian's debut album, and considering how low the budget was and how quickly they produced it, it is remarkable. Although some of the tracks are a bit weak and the production is not up to the professional 'Fold your hands child...', I think it is much better than 'The Boy with the Arab Strap'. The instrumentation is very diverse, and is all played very skilfully, giving several very intricate arrangements without sounding as twee as they do on other albums. I think 'Mary Jo' is probably the best track the group have ever written; the music is as near as pop can possibly get to classical with its beautiful flute ...  Read the complete review