Where do I start with a band like The Tiger Lillies? 36 studio albums...soundtracks...live albums...film work...books...theatre production.... the list goes on, and all from a group that sings of death, disease, murder, bestiality, drug addiction and general horror. Their subject matter revolves around the worst side of humanity and seems to know no boundaries. Before we go any further watch this...
Formed in London in 1989 by singer and multi-instrumentalist Martyn Jaques they have been described by Tim Arthur thus...."Imagine Kurt Weill conjuring up images of pre-war Berlin while a falsetto vocalist screams, squeaks and squawks his way through every number like some rambling madman, and you've got the picture" but this hasn't stopped them reaching cult status amongst their legion of fans across the world.
Their live shows and stage productions are truly something to be seen, Jaques looking like a satanic panda in full black and white painted face, backed by long time bassist Adrian Stout and relative new-comer percussionist Jonas Golland, making merry and relishing the re-telling of tales of misery and desolation.
With song titles like 'masturbating Jimmy',' kick a baby' and' killed my mother' you can see this isn't for the faint of heart. Sung in Martyn's unmistakeable falsetto tones, heavy with piano and accordion their sound is one of their own making, peerless.
In 1998 Martyn wrote the music for the stage production 'Shockheaded Peter' based on a
book written by Heinreich Hoffman in 1845. This was received with critical acclaim and was nominated for numerous awards and won an 'Olivier' no less. It tells of the stories of several naughty boys and girls who don't do what they are told...and end up dead as a result.
In 2012 Mark Holthusen had them trapped in a giant 3D cartoon on stage for their macabre adaptation of Samuel Coleridge's epic poem 'Rhyme of the ancient mariner' a melancholic and magical nautical nightmare where they are punished and tormented for killing an Albatross at sea.
They even had a crack at a bit of Shakespeare with a musical stage show of Hamlet complete with circus performers, video projections and giant puppets.
Even though they have been around for over thirty years there are no signs of them slowing down releasing four dark and twisted albums last year, two about co-vid, one about street life in Greece and 'the whore of Babylon', a reinterpretation of the myth of the great Harlot..
"If hell had a house band...the tiger lillies would be it."
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