IN THIS PLACE CALLED NOWHERE Various Artists 1992

 

Discogs

 

Sarah Records compilation - Japan only release

Tracklist

1	St. Christopher–	Say Yes To Everything	4:29
2	The Orchids (2)–	Tiny Words	3:42
3	Blueboy–	Clearer	3:52
4	Heavenly–	Boyfriend Stays The Same	4:37
5	The Wake–	Carbrain	2:46
6	Secret Shine–	After Years	3:23
7	Another Sunny Day–	You Should All Be Murdered	4:39
8	Brighter–	Noah's Ark	5:12
9	The Field Mice–	Holland Street	2:53
10	Even As We Speak–	Beautiful Day	3:18
11	The Sea Urchins–	Pristine Christine	2:49
12	Action Painting!–	These Things Happen	2:50
13	The Hit Parade–	In Gunnersbury Park	3:08
14	The Springfields (2)–	Sunflower	3:55
15	Gentle Despite–	Shadow Of A Girl	6:43
16	The Sweetest Ache–	If I Could Shine	4:57
17	Tramway–	Maritime City	3:15

 

SARAHBAND II Various Artists 1991

by request

 

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	–The Wake	Holy Head	3:21
2	–The Field Mice	It Isn't Forever	6:00
3	–The Orchids (2)	The Sadness Of Sex Part I	5:01
4	–The Sweetest Ache	Sickening	3:16
5	–Tramway	Boathouse	3:38
6	–Heavenly	Cool Guitar Boy	3:12
7	–Brighter	Christmas	3:39
8	–St. Christopher	Say Yes To Everything	4:27

THERE AND BACK AGAIN LANE Various Artists 1995

 

Discogs

Tracklist

1	–The Field Mice	Sensitive	5:04
2	–Heavenly	Atta Girl	3:56
3	–The Sugargliders	Ahprahan	2:36
4	–The Springfields (2)	Sunflower	3:53
5	–The Orchids (2)	Peaches	4:31
6	–Blueboy	The Joy Of Living	4:29
7	–The Harvest Ministers	6 O'Clock Is Rosary	4:04
8	–Brighter	Inside Out	4:04
9	–East River Pipe	Make A Deal With The City	2:55
10	–The Wake	English Rain	4:17
11	–Secret Shine	Temporal	3:46
12	–Northern Picture Library	Paris	5:04
13	–Harvey Williams	She Sleeps Around	2:59
14	–St. Christopher	All Of A Tremble	2:32
15	–The Sea Urchins	Pristine Christine	2:46
16	–Boyracer	He Gets Me So Hard	2:33
17	–Action Painting!	Mustard Gas	2:09
18	–The Sweetest Ache	Tell Me How It Feels	4:55
19	–Another Sunny Day	Rio	2:53
20	–The Hit Parade	In Gunnersbury Park	2:56
21	–Even As We Speak	Drown	2:56

GLASS ARCADE Various Artists 1991

A Sarah Records compilation

Discogs

Tracklist

1	–The Field Mice	Holland Street	2:53
2	–Another Sunny Day	Rio	2:53
3	–Eternal (3)	Sleep	3:52
4	–The Sweetest Ache	Tell Me How It Feels	4:55
5	–The Orchids (2)	Farewell, Dear Bonnie	3:35
6	–The Sea Urchins	A Morning Odyssey	4:45
7	–The Springfields (2)	Wonder	3:50
8	–The Field Mice	So Said Kay	5:05
9	–Heavenly	I Fell In Love Last Night	5:20
10	–The Orchids (2)	Something For The Longing	5:25
11	–Even As We Speak	Goes So Slow	2:27
12	–The Field Mice	Quicksilver	5:01
13	–Eternal (3)	Breathe	3:19
14	–St. Christopher	Salvation	2:35
15	–Even As We Speak	Nothing Ever Happens	1:27
16	–The Sweetest Ache	If I Could Shine	4:48

AIR BALLOON ROAD A Sarah Compilation 1990

Sarah Records Compilation

Discogs

Tracklist

1	–The Orchids (2)	It's Only Obvious
2	–Another Sunny Day	I'm In Love With A Girl Who Doesn't Know I Exist
3	–The Sea Urchins	Please Rain Fall
4	–The Field Mice	If You Need Someone
5	–The Orchids (2)	Underneath The Window, Underneath The Sink
6	–St. Christopher	You Deserve More Than A Maybe
7	–The Field Mice	The End Of The Affair
8	–Gentle Despite	Darkest Blue
9	–The Golden Dawn	George Hamilton's Dead
10	–The Field Mice	Sensitive
11	–The Wake	Carbrain
12	–Brighter	I Don't Think It Matters
13	–The Sea Urchins	Pristine Christine
14	–14 Iced Bears	Come Get Me
15	–The Golden Dawn	My Secret World
16	–The Springfields (2)	Sunflower
17	–Another Sunny Day	You Should All Be Murdered
18	–St. Christopher	All Of A Tremble
19	–Action Painting!	These Things Happen
20	–The Poppyheads	Dreamabout
21	–Another Sunny Day	Green
22	–The Orchids (2)	Blue Light
23	–Brighter	Noah's Ark

TREMBLING BLUE STARS Her Handwriting 1996

Discogs

 

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

Named in honor of a passage from Pauline Reage's infamous novel The Story of O, the melancholy Trembling Blue Stars heralded the return of singer/songwriter Robert Wratten, best known as the frontman of the British indie pop band the Field Mice. Ostensibly a solo project with significant input from producer Ian Catt, Trembling Blue Stars originally emerged in the wake of the dissolution of Northern Picture Library, the project Wratten mounted after the demise of the Field Mice with then-girlfriend Annemari Davies; 1996's Shinkansen label debut Her Handwriting explored the couple's breakup in heartbreaking lyrical detail, couching its elegiac songs in airy, evocative guitar soundscapes. As of 1998's Lips That Taste of Tears, some measure of reconciliation had apparently been reached, as Davies' ethereal vocal presence again surfaced. 2000's Broken by Whispers was issued in the U.S. on Sub Pop. That same year the band added Keris Howard (formerly of Brighter) on bass, Beth Arzy (formerly of Aberdeen) on backing vocals, and Jonathan Akerman on drums, and began playing live shows in the U.K. before journeying to the U.S. for the first time. With the help of another Sarah Records vet, Harvey Williams of Another Sunny Day, this same core group recorded 2001's Alive to Every Smile. Since then the band's lineup remained stable, but they left their longtime label, Shinkansen, and moved to Spanish indie Elefant before the release of 2004's The Seven Autumn Flowers. Bar/None released the album in the U.S., and the band returned for a few dates to promote the album. After the release of the Bathed in Blue EP in early 2005, the group recorded and released their sixth album, 2007's The Last Holy Writer. Wratten announced shortly before the release of their next album 2010's Fast Trains and Telegraph Wires, that it would be the group's last. 

Tracklist

1	A Single Kiss	3:08
2	For This One	4:41
3	What Can I Say To Change Your Heart?	5:56
4	Abba On The Jukebox	7:22
5	The Far Too Simple Beauty	3:31
6	Less Than Love	4:28
7	Less Than Love (Reprise)	0:28
8	Do People Ever?	3:42
9	Last Summertime's Obsession	4:12
10	A London Story	5:14
11	Saffron, Beautiful And Brown-Eyed	4:26
12	Nobody But You	2:26
13	Two Octobers	1:26
14	To Keep Your Heart Whole	6:45

THE FIELD MICE Skywriting 1990

Discogs

Artist Biography by Jason Ankeny

The flagship band of the legendary Sarah Records, the Field Mice neatly encapsulated the label's trademark wispy, lovelorn pop sound and remain among the most beloved British cult bands of their time. Debuting in 1988 with the single "Emma's House," the Field Mice were originally comprised of singer/guitarist Robert Wratten and bassist Michael Hiscock; initially dismissed in the U.K. press as little more than twee pop fluff, over the course of subsequent releases like 1989's "Sensitive" and the So Said Kay EP, the group earned not only a devout following, but also grudging critical respect, in the process becoming Sarah's best-selling band. Later growing to a quintet with the additions of guitarist Harvey Williams, keyboardist Annemari Davies, and drummer Mark Dobson, the group held fast to their label's singles-only policy (or mini-LPs) until a much-requested compilation LP, Coastal, was finally released in mid-1991; a studio album, For Keeps, appeared just a few months later. However, in the wake of a November, 1991 Glasgow live date which ended in on-stage fisticuffs, the Field Mice essentially disbanded, playing one final London farewell gig before splitting for good; Wratten, Davies, and Dobson later reunited in Northern Picture Library and Trembling Blue Stars. 

 

Tracklist

Triangle
Canada
Clearer
It Isn't Forever
Below The Stars
Humblebee

 

NORTHERN PICTURE LIBRARY Alaska 1993

Discogs

 

Review

by Dean Carlson

Northern Picture Library's debut is largely impulsive, frayed, and capable of creating an affecting, almost inactive atmosphere. Sandwiched in between the on-stage self-destruction of the Field Mice and the creation of Trembling Blue Stars, Alaska underplayed indie traditionalism as it took an unexpected, interesting tenure into dream-based ambient pop. Annemari Davies and Robert Wratten's compositions were frequently free of guitars, lyrics, or drums. By avoiding an emphasis on found sound, however, songs like "Glitter Spheres" and "Skylight" were also connective and built from melody, while "Dreams and Stars and Sleep" seemed to anticipate the predatory, childlike dub gospel of Saint Etienne's Sound of Water and Dusted's When We Were Young. Northern Picture Library would break up soon after its release, but Alaska's better moments, its quieter moments, were some of the more memorable, most overlooked yields of all of the Field Mice's offshoots. 

 

Tracklist

1		Untitled #1	0:39
2		Into The Ether	4:02
3		Catholic Easter Colours	7:08
4		Glitter Spheres	1:09
5		Insecure	5:09
6		Dreams And Stars And Sleep	6:02
7		Lucky	4:49
8		L.S.D. Icing	2:18
9		Truly Madly Deeply	4:36
10		Isn't It Time You Faced The Truth?	3:44
11		Untitled #2	0:58
12		Skylight	3:59
13		Of Traffic And The Ticking	2:55
14		Lucky (Reprise)	1:39
15		Monotone	8:34