the field mice
ltm catalogue

Formed by Bobby Wratten and Michael Hiscock in South London in 1988, The Field Mice released eight singles and three albums for Sarah Records. In the process the band became huge in France, and expanded from a duo to a five-piece before splitting at the end of 1991. Chief songwriter Bobby then formed Northern Picture Library, and currently fronts Trembling Blue Stars. The entire Field Mice catalogue is now available on LTM spread over three remastered CDs with new artwork. To purchase Field Mice CDs click here. To read Field Mice biography click here.


SNOWBALL + SINGLES LTMCD 2419 £10
CD combines the first Field Mice album Snowball (released as a 10" mini lp in August 1989) with all tracks from their first three singles. Emma's House and Sensitive were released on Sarah, while I Can See Myself Alone Forever was a limited 7" on The Caff Corporation, the boutique label curated by Bob Stanley of St Etienne. Snowball includes Let's Kiss and Make Up, the song covered by St Etienne for their second single. This embarrassment of riches is completed by That's All This Is, a compilation track. 17 tracks, 70 minutes of music. Full tracklist: Let's Kiss and Make Up, You're Kidding Aren't You?, End of the Affair, Couldn't Feel safer, This Love is Not Wrong, Everything About You, White, Letting Go, Sensitive, When Morning Comes To Town, Emma's House, When You Sleep, Fabulous Friend, The Last Letter, I Can See Myself Alone Forever, Everything About You, That's All This Is.

Reviews: "Exemplary and exhaustive reissues" (Uncut, 04/05); "If you have to pick just one, then this is it" (Magnet, 03/05); "These three reissues are approaching triumphant. In a quiet, swishing indie-pop sort of way, of course. 4 stars." (Record Collector, 04/05); "Opening with the lovely Let's Kiss and Make Up (later covered by St Etienne), the album contains gorgeous melodies, Byrds-ish guitars (you know, "jangly") and an overall low-key tone that echoes both dreams and quiet moments of the afternoon. That atmosphere, together with the precise and personal lyrics about love, made songs as disparate as the late-night farwell The End of the Affair and the more rollicking come-on Everything About You feel really intimate, and powerful in the way that the feelings come through as real" (Erasing Clouds, 02/05); "The quiet yet intensely emotional nature of these songs proves that rationality and logic have no influence over the powerfully sensual murmurs of the heart" (The Big Takeover, 03/05); "Listen to the pain that throbs throughout End of the Affair like toothache and then try telling me that The Field Mice dealt with nothing more emotive than chocolate stains or a badly grazed knee" (Melody Maker, 1998); "This band had a lot going for them. End of the Affair is a classic indie weepie, while Let's Kiss and Make Up shows that Wratten and Hiscock were paying attention to the rise of dance culture, and the tumultuous guitar avalanche of White is more redolent of My Bloody Valentine" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 2/05); "Fine ambient pop" (Leonard's Lair, 02/05); "Beautiful and sparse pop music" (Other Music, 12/05)


SKYWRITING + SINGLES LTMCD 2421 £10 (2xCD)
This second CD combines the second Field Mice album Skywriting (released in June 1990) with all tracks from the EPs The Autumn Store and So Said Kay. For this album the band expanded from a duo to a three piece, and now drew influence from the dance and ambient scenes. Hence nine minutes of sequenced rhythms on Triangle, and the extended sample-barrage Humblebee - whose 'chocolate/love/sex' mantra would become a bestselling teeshirt design. The Autumn Store (January 1990) and So Said Kay (September 1990, a Melody Maker Single of the Week) return the band to gentler pastures, with this wealth of middle-period material completed by two compilation-only tracks - Other Galaxies and This Is Not Here (1998) - as well as three previously unreleased tracks: I Thought Wrong, Right As Rain and A Heart Disease Called Love. Skywriting + Singles runs for over 90 minutes over two discs, features 21 remastered tracks. Full tracklist: Triangle, Canada, Clearer, It Isn't Forever, Below the Stars, Humblebee, Landmark, Quicksilver, Holland Street, Indian Ocean, So Said Kay, If You Need Someone, The World to Me, Song Six, Anyone Else Isn't You, Bleak, I Thought Wrong, Right As Rain, A Heart Disease Called Love, This Is Not here (1998), Other Galaxies.

Reviews: "Ambient, modernist pop pioneers" (Uncut, 04/05); "A complicated band. You'll hear rough rock guitars where you'd expect gentle ones; hear sublime dance beats where you're expecting more folksy sounds; hear bold lyrics where you expect timid ones. These reissues are loving tributes to a band that made pop music which was meaningful, riveting and complicated, and that hit close to the heart" (Erasing Clouds, 02/05); "There is a God sometimes. It's truly heavenly stuff, all told" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 03/05); "Aside from the effortless melodies, Wratten wrote some of the most affecting lyrics in modern pop" (NME, 1998); "Extended play of the week" (Melody Maker 1990)


FOR KEEPS + SINGLES LTMCD 2423 £10
Final CD combines the third album For Keeps (released in October 1991) with all tracks from the singles September's Not So Far Away and Missing the Moon. By 1991 the band were a five piece, with founders Bobby and Michael joined by guitarist Harvey Williams, drummer Mark Dobson and Annemari Davies on vocals and keyboards. These swansong records prove once again that The Field Mice were one of the most underrated and misunderstood bands of their era, representing the missing link between Postcard Records and Belle and Sebastian. The band's farewell ep Missing The Moon was made 'Total Absolute Single of the Week' by the NME in September 1991, praised as heralding the long-awaited meeting of Pop and Acid House. 15 tracks, 74 minutes of music. Full tracklist: Five Moments, Star of David, Coach Station Reunion, This Is Not Here, Of the Perfect Kind, Tilting at Windmills, Think of These Things, Willow, And Before the First Kiss, Freezing Point, Missing the Moon, A Wrong Turn and Raindrops, An Earlier Autumn, September's Not So far Away, Between Hello and Goodbye.

Reviews: "Four stars" (Uncut, 04/05); "Their finest moment. For Keeps features their most varied songwriting, along with a fine control of dynamics" (Other Music, 12/05); "For Keeps is like a more highly textured version of "typical" Field Mice songs. The dance elements of Skyrwriting have disappeared, but even in the most dramatic moments it feels really special. It's one more rewarding album filled with songs that sound lovely and also strip human emotions down to their essence, taking what people feel and vividly capturing them in song" (Erasing Clouds, 02/05); "The band's swansong, on which bold new ground is broken. Wratten and co were learning the art of stretching out, and building to memorable crescendoes in their own sweet time" (Whisperin' & Hollerin', 03/05); "Lovely lovely lovely" (Melody Maker, 1991)

Go to Field Mice biography
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Go to Northern Picture Library catalogue
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