northern picture library
ltm catalog

Formed by ex-Field Mice members Bobby Wratten, Annemari Davies and Mark Dobson, Northern Picture Library released three singles and one album between 1991 and 1993 for labels including Sarah Records and Vinyl Japan. Bobby currently fronts Trembling Blue Stars, and is also a member of The Occasional Keepers. To read band biography click here. To purchase CDs click here.


ALASKA/LOVE SONG FOR THE DEAD CHE LTMCD 2436 £10
Formed after The Field Mice split in 1991, NPL was a less highly-strung project, less song-based and more dark and ambient than before, drawing influence from Talk Talk, Brian Eno and ambient/dance crossover. Melody Maker described the band as "state of the art, post-ambient electropoppers who write some of the most beautiful songs in existence." 72 minutes, 18 remastered tracks. This embarrassment of riches is completed by all three tracks from Love Song for the Dead Che, the companion ep recorded at the same sessions. Full tracklist: Untitled *1, Into the Ether, Catholic Easter Colours, Glitter Spheres, Insecure, Dreams and Stars and Sleep, Lucky, LSD Icing, Truly Madly Deeply, Isn't It Time You Faced the Truth?, Untitled *2, Skylight, Of Traffic and the Ticking, Lucky (reprise), Monotone, Love Song for the Dead Che *1, Love Song for the Dead Che *2, The Way That Stars Die.

Reviews: "The sense throughout is one of movement and texture, like being caught in a gentle wind or on an open but quiet train car. The gentle pop rush core at the heart of Wratten's work remains constant" (All Music Guide, 5/05); "NPL's sole album draws a clear line under The Field Mice. Emotive songs are mixed with strange diversions and ambient interludes, the whole comparable to St Etienne, My Bloody Valentine and High Llamas" (Magic, 05/05); "NPL have a small but perfectly formed back catalogue, and on Alaska their melodic instincts often supply the finest moments. Lucky is warm, fragile, dub-like pop, Truly Madly Deeply a crestfallen piano ballad as tender, resigned and dignified as you like, while Catholic Easter Colours marries Wratten's twin obsessions - ambient/crossover and weepie indie songwriting" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 09/05); "Divine - one of the debut albums of 1993" (Melody Maker); "Love Song for the Dead Che boasts a shuffling, cavernous beat, sepia-tinted cooing female vocals, weird samples - pretty delightful" (Melody Maker, 1993)


POSTSCRIPT LTMCD 2388 £10
This remastered 66 minute collection gathers together all 8 tracks from the 1994 eps Blue Dissolve (on Vinyl Japan) and Paris (on Sarah), as well as rare compilation cut Something Good (from a Sound of Music tribute) and three previously unreleased tracks. Snowscene is an outtake from the Alaska sessions, Ammonia Train from a projected Stars of Heaven tribute, and Welcome to California a radical NPL remix of a track by Katmandu. Full tracklist: Paris, Norfolk Windmills, Last September's Farewell Kiss, Signs, Dear Faraway Friend, Here To Stay, Untitled No 3, Breaking, Something Good, Snowscene, Ammonia Train, Welcome to California.

Reviews: "On Alaska Bobby Wratten staked an initial claim to more avant territories, but this roundup of eps and rarities proceeds to more familiar, if slightly spacier, climes, with his customary stately, chiming songs of pallid regret" (Uncut, 1/06); "Essentially The Field Mice slimmed down to a threesome, but this change also brought about a more ambient sound which was just as informed by dance music as the quintessential Englishness writ large over the erstwhile band's work. Postscript is a handy round-up of eps and unreleased tracks, abundant with heavenly harmonies and aching guitars. NPL deserve more than just footnote status in Bobby Wratten's prolific career" (Leonard's Lair, 10/05); "The pick of these songs are reminiscent of The Field Mice's poppier moments, and are among Wratten's best work" (Exclaim!, 11/05)

Go to Northern Picture Library biography
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Go to Occasional Keepers catalogue

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