Black Star Liner | |
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Origin | Leeds, England |
Genres | House, techno, ambient house, reggae, dub, Asian |
Years active | 1994–present |
Members | Choque Hosein Tom Salmon Chris Harrop |
Black Star Liner were formed in Leeds in 1994, by Choque Hosein, Tom Salmon, and Chris Harrop. Their music consisted of a mix of Asian music (sitar and tabla), dance music and dub.
They formed Soundclash Records to release their initial recordings - "Smoke the Prophets" EP, and "High Turkish Influence". After receiving the single of the week award in the NME magazine for "Smoke the Prophets", [1] they recorded three Peel Sessions, [2] the first of which was broadcast in April 1995.
The Peel session enabled them to secure a recording contract with EXP, which was run by Graham Brown-Martin with A&R by Feargal Sharkey from The Undertones and Richard Norris from The Grid. Their debut album, Yemen Cutta Connection was released in September 1996, with a press launch on Dartmoor involving Jimmy Cauty and Bill Drummond from The KLF. The album received critical praise, including album of the week in The Guardian . [3]
After the demise of EXP, Rob Dickens from WEA signed Black Star Liner, and they recorded their second album Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! , which featured the single "Superfly and Bindi". Again receiving substantial critical acclaim, [4] [5] the album was also nominated for the 1999 Mercury Music Prize. [6] and their live act was also praised. [7]
Labelled as part of the Asian Underground, they worked with Tjinder Singh's Cornershop and are featured in the book, Brimful of Asia. [8]