Tiger Shadow

While a lot of people that don’t dig a bit deeper into the city of Leeds and it’s music scene will probably have an image of us producing hundreds of bands that all sound like the Kaiser Chiefs and The Pigeon Detectives, they couldn’t be further from the truth if they bothered to look.

All you need to do is scratch the surface of our mainstream breakthrough bands and you’ll see a wealth of very diverse talent bubbling underneath, something that is emphasised really well by a band like Tiger Shadow who have too many influences to list and so many genres that they straddle, that they are the musical equivalent of a game of twister!

Their debut album The Rise Of Tiger Shadow would from the outside looking in have the look of a normal guitar group in the set up, but this four-piece have loftier ambitions than that as they encompass elements of funk, world music and a heavy dose of hip hop.

Tracks like This Is The Future, Vernacular Spectacular, Star Chaser and That’s Because It Is are instant favourites of mine, but in truth you won’t find a duff track on here….highly recommended stuff.
- www.thebeatsurrender.co.uk

Gentle strains of a harp being caressed, followed by melodic dew-drop twinkles soothe the ears before a instantly appealing, heavy beat explodes into the ears of lead track W'Happen. Leeds based Tiger Shadow began life as a home-based project for Jim Tycho (synths, acoustic guitar, bass) and vocalist Komia MC, before debuting live on the BBC Introducing stage at the Reading and Leeds festivals in 2008; adding guitarist Dave Pearson and drummer Karim Nashar to their line-up.

The most obvious touch-stone for their sound is Blowback-era Tricky, mixing a similarly light touch to their strong arrangments. This Is The Future is a really nice track, showcasing Komia MC's strong lyrical skills, which has an air of Rodney Smith's knack for splicing the absurd and the honest. It's a smart, lively track that earns them the right to bemoan; 'Hip-hop got rich and the public got tired.' It doesn't do anything particularly revolutionary in its sound, but that's what's really appealing about it.

This debut LP is laced with a variety of flavours, with each track managing to sound fresh and alive, filled with emotion, ideas, occasional polemic and a sense of humour - with Vernacular Spectacular referencing 'Reggae Reggae Sauce'. Escape balances Komia's lyrics against an arrangment akin to Hot Chip soundtracking a Sega Megadrive racing game, and it's brilliant. Narration is an excellent example of the group's talents in layering and transforming simple ideas, what begins as a laidback dub track gradually evolves with backing vocals and synths into both an uplifting and wry song.

Star Chaser has a musical background akin to Middle of Nowhere-era Orbital with Komia's lyrics again floating in and out, bulging with ideas and insight, playing around with modern and nursery rhyme conventions with skill; 'Pick-a pick-a pickled pepper/I picked myself up a pen and paper.'

Terracotta Blues is the group's calling card, laying out - in the plainest of terms - their stance on the state of modern hip-hop; 'I'm tired of hearing about guns and crack and bling and things.' It's one of those songs where I'd happily write out all the lyrics and stamp them 'I agree', and the balance of the song's message and it's music is powerful and inspiring and hopefully will get heard.

With other hip-hop acts seeking out catchy choruses that are ultimately meaningless and irritating, Tiger Shadow have taken things back to a style that is entirely more satisfying. Their songs are no less infectious than the latest Dizee Rascal chart-topper, but they are also lyrically interesting, intelligent, acerbic and performed excellently by a talented group of musicians. If they can keep this up with future records this is a band on the brink of big things. - www.godisinthetvzine.co.uk

Something of an unusual sounding bunch this lot, mixing hip hop with indie, adding a sprinkling of psychedelia, before propping it up with some funked up rhythms, making it an interesting listening experience at least. They are a four-piece band from Leeds, essentially the brainchild of main musician Jim Tycho and rapper Komla MC, who have only been together as a quartet for a little over a year and this is their debut album.

On the harder numbers here, like opening track “W’Happen”, they create an intense atmosphere in sound, with Komla’s vocals stabbing holes in the swirling musical backdrop, which at times holds resemblance with Pink Floyd. Whilst it is the vocals that have the greater prominence, Instrumentally they produce some adept arrangements, particularly on “Escape”, where keyboard and guitar breaks battle it out to shift pace, whilst the bass line persistently drags things back to the core for the rap to straddle.

The balance of material though is of a lighter, sometimes bluesy aura and so draws more obvious comparisons with bands like Massive Attack or Faithless. There’s certainly correlation with the former on “What Do You Know About It?”, which has a hugely infectious groove to it and some eloquent spaced out guitar strokes. The Faithless comparison is best heard on “Iron Filings”, where it clear to witness the influence of Maxi Jazz. Both numbers stand out in the collection and suggest that the stage performances must take the songs to a much higher plane.

Whilst there is diversity, the common ground is a stripped-down urban feel that tinges everything with a darker shade of pale. Respect is due for the fact that they have been careful to steer away from obvious dance influences and there are only hints of electronica in places. It’s refreshing for sure to hear a band that are prepared to not only tackle and tangle a number of genres but to also be unafraid to veer away from the mainstream in order to further their art. Both musically and vocally they have clear ability, only really let down by some of the numbers being comparatively weak. Bands like Massive Attack and Faithless craft mood provoking pieces with melodies that are channelled by carefully manufactured step-change arrangements. It is a complex art that Tiger Shadow illustrate promise towards but with some revision required. So it is that promise that we should focus on, because there is a gaping hole left in Trip Hop that I believe needs refilling and this lot sound more than capable of rising to that particular challenge. - www.shakenstir.co.uk