Northern Picture Library was a British dream pop group, formed in 1993 by Bobby Wratten and Annemari Davies, both former members of The Field Mice. They were soon joined by former Field Mice drummer Mark Dobson.

The group adopted a more abstract, ambient and synthesiser based sound than the more guitar pop approach of The Field Mice. Their debut single, "Love Song For The Dead Che", was a cover of a song by 1960s psychedelic group United States of America. Both it and the following album, Alaska, won critical acclaim, however sales were poor even compared to the Field Mice's records. The group members' personal problems (various members succumbed to depression, stagefright and substance abuse) made touring difficult, and thus also made it difficult for the group to promote their records effectively. Two more EPs followed before the group was dissolved. Wratten later went on to form Trembling Blue Stars, with Davies also joining the group in a later incarnation.



Northern Picture Library - isnt it time

The Wild Swans are a post-punk band from Liverpool, England, which originally formed in 1980 shortly after Paul Simpson (ex-keyboards) left The Teardrop Explodes and teamed up (on vocals) with Jeremy Kelly (guitar), Ged Quinn (keyboards), James Weston (bass) and Justin Stavely (drums). Stavely was later replaced by Alan Wills and although bass players came and went, Joseph Fearon played on both of the studio albums, recorded by a reincarnated Mark II version of the band.

The Wild Swans have not to date recorded any charting hits or albums, but they have enjoyed a degree of success and/or cult status in the US, Germany, UK, Japan, and especially the Philippines. The Wild Swans also spun off two charting splinter projects; Care and The Lotus Eaters. Members of The Wild Swans have also been members of such Liverpool-based UK chart acts as Echo & The Bunnymen, The Icicle Works, The Woodentops and The Lightning Seeds.



The Wild Swans - Dark Times

Blueboy formed around 1989 and initially consisted of Keith Girdler (on vocals) and Paul Stewart (on guitars), formerly of little-known band Feverfew.[1][2] They soon signed to Sarah Records, releasing the home-recorded single "Clearer" in 1991, and took on more members, including singer/cellist Gemma Townlet and second guitarist Harvey Williams (of The Field Mice/Another Sunny Day).[1] "Clearer" was followed by several singles and two albums on Sarah, If Wishes Were Horses and Unisex.[1] In October 1994, Blueboy recorded a session for John Peel's BBC Radio 1 show.[3] Their final release, The Bank of England, was released in 1998 on Sarah head Matt Haynes' new label, Shinkansen Recordings.[2] By then, Girdler and Stewart were the only original members of the band. Girdler and Stewart were also involved in two other bands, Arabesque and Beaumont,[1] and Girdler also recorded with Lovejoy.[2] Townlet later joined Trembling Blue Stars, as did Williams.

On May 15, 2007, Keith Girdler died after being diagnosed with cancer in 2004. Prior to his death, he was working as volunteer manager for Age Concern, in Eastbourne.


Blueboy.-  loony tunes

Thirty four bands released songs on Sarah. The most prolific ten accounted for almost two thirds of the material, and the top twenty for about ninety percent. At the other end, there were seven bands that released only one single apiece. Christine's Cat is the tiniest footnote, represented by Sarah 13, a one-track flexi, but Shelley, who arrived just in time for their three songs to constitute Sarah 98, the label's second to last single, are close behind. The self-loathing that chewed at the heart of many Sarah songs here lashes out, for once, with a withering denunciation of the urge to breed that seems utterly unconcerned with the demise of the species that would inevitably result (as with "Say Yes to Everything", "Reproduction Is Pollution"'s assumptions about the limited audience it addresses are integral and automatic). The narrator is so disgusted by the prospect of bringing children into an unraveling world that he can't even be bothered to invent a melody, and mutters the song in a disdainful, arrhythmic monotone. If he wanted to make the song ugly, though, he needed to have done something to get rid of the spiraling, luminescent music, something like textural early-Smiths guitar over a slow proto-hip-hop beat, and the breathy, elegantly atmospheric female backing choir. The combination of the two carries the heavy-handed sermon ("Don't talk to me about natural instinct. We've spat on Nature for far too long.") past pretension, for me, into breathtaking earnestness. The song attempts to be a paean to life ("Steep yourself in yourself", exhorts the chorus), despite also being a condemnation of life, and while I don't think it argues itself out of the contradiction, I'm mesmerized watching it try. (http://www.furia.com/)


Shelley - reproduction is pollution.

Boyracer was founded by vocalist/guitarist Stewart Anderson in 1990, and released their first single in 1991. Richard Adams left the group in 1993, after which the group released its first EP, Naked. They then signed with Sarah Records and released two more EPs in 1993. Both James Chadwick and Simon Guild departed early in 1994, and Anderson put together a whole new line-up before releasing the group's debut full-length for Slumberland Records. More lineup changes ensued in 1994 while the prolific group continued to put out releases at a frenetic rate, with a slew of 7 inch EPs and they toured the United States for the first time at the beginning of 1995. Later that year they signed with MCA subsidiary label Zero Hour Records. The label dropped them while they were doing a nationwide U.S. tour.[1] They then released several singles on independent American labels over the course of 1996. Early in 1997, the group split up, but in 2000 Anderson reconstituted Boyracer with several new members, and has been active with a huge amount of new material both as Boyracer as well as a plethora of new bands.

In 2010 the band played two shows in Los Angeles and San Francisco as part of the Slumberland Records 20th Anniversary showcase. During these performances Anderson announced that they would be the last time the band played live.



Boyracer - cog

At school, no one liked us. Any of us. Except Mary, who was school captain. So, it became our burning ambition to earn the love and respect of strangers. We made a band.

Initially, no one liked the band, so we put personal likes and dislikes behind us and tried to earn the love and respect of our audience by sleeping with them.

Several years later, still unloved, we had made many acquaintances. Finally our hard work paid off. We had wide airplay in the UK, were roaring up the UK indie charts and were signed to a credible label. The only problem was, we lived in Australia. So, knowing the love of strangers is more important than personal happiness, we set off for England, where we toured and played gigs and were on the radio often. We had a little blue transit van, from which we dispensed happiness to drab lives. 

They loved us. We loved them. 

We would have stayed and loved them more except that we had no money, slept on dirty floors (except Wayne and Jua’s, which was clean and lovely) and ate fried food at every meal. 

And, we had to keep our own company, and, as much as we love the company of strangers, we hate each other with the grim loathing typical of pop groups. 

So, we came back to Australia and went on holiday for 7 years. 

More recently we have started making some new music and will be putting out some unreleased back catalogue. 

What do we do? We are a pop band. Always have been. We love what everyone else loves. We like things to be bright, shallow, ephemeral, mass produced. If you sense subversive tendencies, your senses have deceived you. You are projecting something other onto our benign and likeable product. We love you. All we want is that you love us too? Is that so difficult? 

 

Even As We Speak are: 
Matthew Love, Mary Wyer, Anita Rayner, Rob Irwin, and Julian Knowles

 



Even As We Speak - blue eyes deceiving me

Indiepop duo of Mark d randall from The Fat Tulips ans Sarah Brown from Twa Toots!

Sundress - [01] Give Your Heart Another Day

BMX Bandits are a Scottish 1960s-influenced guitar pop band who have been making music from 1986 to the present day.[1][2] They have shared members with other Bellshill bands Teenage Fanclub and The Soup Dragons.

BMX Bandits were formed by songwriter and lead vocalist Duglas T. Stewart out of the ashes of The Pretty Flowers,[3] a group that featured Stewart alongside Frances McKee (later of The Vaselines), Sean Dickson and Norman Blake.[4] The group have had many line up changes throughout the years.

Their songs mix melodic qualities and humour with, at times, raw and heartbreaking pathos. Stewart has written many of the group's works solo including "Your Class", "The Sailor's Song" and "Doorways" but also has collaborated with many of the other members. Stewart's most regular songwriting partners have been Francis MacDonald, Norman Blake and, more recently, David Scott.



BMX Bandits -  Disco Girl #1

Northern Picture Library - Monotone

Northern Picture Library was a British dream pop group, formed in 1993 by Bobby Wratten and Annemari Davies, both former members of The Field Mice. They were soon joined by former Field Mice drummer Mark Dobson.

The group adopted a more abstract, ambient and synthesiser based sound than the more guitar pop approach of The Field Mice. Their debut single, "Love Song For The Dead Che", was a cover of a song by 1960s psychedelic group United States of America. Both it and the following album, Alaska, won critical acclaim, however sales were poor even compared to the Field Mice's records. The group members' personal problems (various members succumbed to depression, stagefright and substance abuse) made touring difficult, and thus also made it difficult for the group to promote their records effectively. Two more EPs followed before the group was dissolved. Wratten later went on to form Trembling Blue Stars, with Davies also joining the group in a later incarnation.

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Trembliing Blue Stars - Tailspin

Northern Picture Library was a British dream pop group, formed in 1993 by Bobby Wratten and Annemari Davies, both former members of The Field Mice. They were soon joined by former Field Mice drummer Mark Dobson.

The group adopted a more abstract, ambient and synthesiser based sound than the more guitar pop approach of The Field Mice. Their debut single, "Love Song For The Dead Che", was a cover of a song by 1960s psychedelic group United States of America. Both it and the following album, Alaska, won critical acclaim, however sales were poor even compared to the Field Mice's records. The group members' personal problems (various members succumbed to depression, stagefright and substance abuse) made touring difficult, and thus also made it difficult for the group to promote their records effectively. Two more EPs followed before the group was dissolved. Wratten later went on to form Trembling Blue Stars, with Davies also joining the group in a later incarnation.


Trembling Blue Stars - Tailspin

northern-picture-library
Northern Picture Library was a British dream pop group, formed in 1993 by Bobby Wratten and Annemari Davies, both former members of The Field Mice. They were soon joined by former Field Mice drummer Mark Dobson.

The group adopted a more abstract, ambient and synthesiser based sound than the more guitar pop approach of The Field Mice. Their debut single, "Love Song For The Dead Che", was a cover of a song by 1960s psychedelic group United States of America. Both it and the following album, Alaska, won critical acclaim, however sales were poor even compared to the Field Mice's records. The group members' personal problems (various members succumbed to depression, stagefright and substance abuse) made touring difficult, and thus also made it difficult for the group to promote their records effectively. Two more EPs followed before the group was dissolved. Wratten later went on to form Trembling Blue Stars, with Davies also joining the group in a later incarnation.





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