Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! Explained

Bengali Bantam Youth Experience!
Type:studio
Artist:Black Star Liner
Cover:Black Star Liner - Bengali Bantam Youth Experience!.png
Released:1999
Genre:Trance rock
Length:41:31
Label:Warner Music UK
Prev Title:Superfly and Bindi EP
Prev Year:1998
Next Title:Twelve Inch Confrontation Mix EP
Next Year:2000

Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! is an album by the English band Black Star Liner, released in 1999.[1] [2] "Superfly and Bindi" was released as a single and peaked at No. 78 on the UK Singles Chart.[3] [4] The album was nominated for the 1999 Mercury Music Prize.[5] The band supported the album with a UK tour.[6]

Production

The album's sound was in part influenced by the music preferences of vocalist Choque Hosein's international relatives.[7] He was skeptical of being lumped in with the Asian Underground movement, although noted the increased attention.[8] Many of the songs are instrumentals that employ sitars and tablas. "Silvini" uses Yorkshire dialect to lampoon England's fascination with Indian culture. "Low BMW" is about the automotive preference of many English Indians.[9] "Pink Rupee" concerns gay life in Asian society.[10]

Critical reception

The Independent noted that "the band derives most of its idiosyncratic character ... from the Indian-Trinidadian vocalist Choque Hossein, whose declamatory toasting style is in the tradition of Bo Diddley and Beefheart and Big Youth: loud and enigmatic and often funny, too."[11] Music Week said that the album "features brief bursts of history-informed rock cross-pollinated with Eastern sounds and Choque's upfront personality."[12] The Observer opined that "at their best, their instrumentals evoke the urban tension of Massive Attack and the Specials' 'Ghost Town'."[13] The Guardian stated that "nobody has ever sounded like this, principally because Kraftwerk weren't born in New Delhi and the Future Sound of London never left their studio."[14]

In 2024, Uncut placed the album at No. 465 on its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of the 1990s".[15]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Donnell . Alison . Companion to Contemporary Black British Culture . 2002 . Taylor & Francis . 48.
  2. News: Wallace . Richard . Music . . 18 December 1998 . Features . 19.
  3. News: Bell . Max . Leeds' star of Asia Choque Hosein of Black Star Liner has a sense of humour almost as rich as his music . . 22 January 1999 . 33.
  4. Web site: Black Star Liner . Official Charts . 14 July 2024.
  5. Web site: Entertainment: Manics lead Mercury shortlist . BBC News . 1999-07-27 . 2012-04-27.
  6. News: Burnet . Andrew . Advance . . 28 August 1999 . 3.
  7. Williamson . Nigel . Global music pulse . . 13 February 1999 . 111 . 7 . 75.
  8. News: McLaren . Leah . Thank you, India? Bindi Boom . . 3 April 1999 . C22.
  9. News: Black Star Liner: Bengali Bantam Youth . . 7 February 1999 . 17.
  10. News: Bonnell . Scott . Black Star Liner Bengali Bantam Youth Experience! . . 21 May 1999 . D3.
  11. News: Gill . Andy . Pop: This Week's Album Releases . . 22 January 1999 . Features . 13.
  12. Reviews . . 23 January 1999 . 6.
  13. News: Spencer . Neil . Pop . . 24 January 1999 . Arts . 9.
  14. News: Simpson . Dave . Pop CD of the week: Choque'n'roll . . 29 January 1999 . T18.
  15. Robinson . John . The 500 Greatest Albums of the 1990s . Uncut: The Archive Collection . 2024 . 7 . 13.

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