I HATE THE 90s Volume 16

I don't get comments on my compilations anymore. Are you all still interested in them? Let me know in the comments.

 

1. THE KISS OFFS Never Been Kissed
2. PETE KREBS AND GOSSAMER WINGS Johnny Come Lately
3. ROBERT POLLARD Make Use
4. ECHO AND THE BUNNYMEN Don't Let It Get You Down
5. THE ORIGIN Jumping to Fall
6. BRIGHT Point
7. THE ROSEHIPS Rag Doll
8. THE VOLEBEATS Desert Song
9. MACHA Salty
10. ABRA MOORE Four Leaf Clover
11. TREMBLING BLUE STARS For This One
12. THE WELCOME MAT Space Madness
13. GLIDE Why You Asking?
14. THE RAYMOND BRAKE Easter
15. AMERICAN ANALOG SET On My Way
16. THE FROWNIES Take Hold
17. MOPED Does Your Back Hurt
18. COMET GAIN Villain
19. PLAGUE OF ETHYLS Warped and Twisted
20. ASH Day of the Triffids
21. GRENADINE Goya
22. MOVING TARGETS Taang Intro
23. SUBMARINE Chemical Tester
24. COMBINE Life, Death & Saturday Night

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