field mice???

While viewing another thread, I was made aware of this ensemble. Similarities to NO? Where should i start?

with a lump of cheese.

Anyone who spend five minutes listening to a Field Mice or Trembling Blue Stars LP will know that they are HUGE fans of NO. It's transparent in practically every song.....

only album got is FOR KEEPS. must dig it out, coz it is a great album i think its on dust row somewhere in me house

Most obvious influenced-by-NO track: Missing The Moon. They have a marvellous double CD compilation that has all of their gems. And although it's influenced by NO, it still sounds very different.

Quality & very underated band. Just get one of the modern cd releases, save forking out for the old Sarah rec. vinyl stuff

I am a huge fan of the 'Mice...

As well as Missing The Moon, which is definitely NO-influenced, check out It Isn't Forever and Triangle...

Trembling Blue Stars (the lead singer, Bobby Wratten's band after the 'Mice disbanded) have some top tunes as well... Again on a NO-tip, check out With Every Story (Alive To Every Smile album), To Leave It Now (Broken By Whispers), The Rainbow (Lips That Taste Of Tears)... Both bands also some some top-notch jangly indie-pop and heartbreakingly beautiful acoustic stuff...

The 2CD Field Mice comp mentioned above (Where'd You Learn To Kiss That Way?) is out of print, though it does appear on EBay from time to time, but LTM have rereleased the bands three full-length albums (originally on Sarah Records), with all sorts of singles and extra tracks...

LTM have/are also going to be rereleasing TBS's first 2 albums (Her Handwriting & Lips That Taste Of Tears) which were originally on Shinkansen Recordings... The other three TBS albums should still be available from Shinkansen, Elefant or Sub-Pop in the US...

Bobby also collaborated with Caesar and Carolyn from the Wake for a recent CD under the name The Occasional Keepers (also available on LTM)... Bit more ambient that one...

Links: Mice Stars Shinkansen Recordings Keepers

SHEDi xxx

Also, if we're talking criminally under-rated bands, with a bit of NO-influence...

The Orchids

SHEDi xxx

Mentioned this about 18 months or so ago, and sent a load of mp3's out to NOOLers... For a really New Ordery sounding song look no further than The Hollow-What you give is what you get. Good track.Anybody else wants it, drop me an email and I'll be happy to send you it.

Off out for a Carvary now So I'll do it later on

Boatraceface wrote:

Off out for a Carvary now So I'll do it later on

Never heard of the Field Mice before, but I just listened to a few song clips on amazon, and they sounds pretty good!

Shellshocker wrote: Never heard of the Field Mice before, but I just listened to a few song clips on amazon, and they sounds pretty good!

They rock! (Well, in a twee, non-threatening way... )... If you're gonna get the reissues, I'd start with For Keeps - their strongest album and has Missing The Moon on as well... As well as And Before The First Kiss which is my favourite FM track... The original releases on Sarah are going for silly money these days, but the reissues give you pretty much everything they recorded over 3 CDs... Can't argue with that...

SHEDi xxx

EDIT: Any other FM fans out there, who are interested, I have some early demos of theirs - mail me if you want a copy...

Thanks to my wife Lorraine, I have also become familiar with this band (and a few of the other Sarah bands like Orchids, St Christopher, Brighter, Heavenly and The Wake - who used to be New Order rip offs on Factory didn't they?).

Sheddi seems to be the most obsessive fan though - even though I recently mentioned that Lorraine had a Field Mice t-shirt with the words "Chocolate - Love - Sex" on it. :)

Their "Missing The Moon" single definitely could give NO a run for its money - I first heard it and thought - "who the fuck is this? Sounds SO like New Order - especially the huge ending !!!" They must be NO / Factory obsessives cos their record sleeves are all very minimalist with barely any info on it and even one track on that lilac album (title?) has a bassline that is 100% pure Hooky circa Low Life-era NO.

I mentioned in another thread about that EP of theirs with the Mondrian cover (green rectangles) - what's the title Sheddi?? - that one is their best record though cos it's got something like five songs on it which veer from country & western to guitar pop to thrash to electro / acid house to bizarre sound collage. It's quite uncategorisable for a band who are thought of as a cute anorak indie band!

Skywriting is the one with the green and white cover... though the reissues have different sleeves... Their first mini album (10" vinyl ) had a plain purple cover... Yeah Skywriting is very diverse - 5 tracks - Triangle is 9 minutes of sequencers and stuff, Canada is a pretty little C&W ditty, Clearer is jangly indiepop, It Isn't Forever is another NO-reminiscent stormer, Below The Stars is acoustic beauty and Humblebee is a bizarre collage of samples and loops - that's the one with the Chocolate-Love-Sex sample that made it onto T-Shirt... Of the other bands By 'Eck mentioned the Orchids were pretty similar to FM, going from jangle to dance/indie stuff with ease - recently reformed with a new album due out later in the year... Brighter were fantastic too, beautifully layered guitars, very delicate and moving... Heavenly were FUN, jangly, silly (at times), quite PUNK at times too... Another really underrated band on Sarah were Even As We Speak whose cover of BLT is my favourite NO cover...

Stay cute!

SHEDi xxx

Gnome Alone wrote: Skywriting is the one with the green and white cover... though the reissues have different sleeves... Their first mini album (10" vinyl ) had a plain purple cover... Yeah Skywriting is very diverse - 5 tracks - Triangle is 9 minutes of sequencers and stuff, Canada is a pretty little C&W ditty, Clearer is jangly indiepop, It Isn't Forever is another NO-reminiscent stormer, Below The Stars is acoustic beauty and Humblebee is a bizarre collage of samples and loops - that's the one with the Chocolate-Love-Sex sample that made it onto T-Shirt... Of the other bands By 'Eck mentioned the Orchids were pretty similar to FM, going from jangle to dance/indie stuff with ease - recently reformed with a new album due out later in the year... Brighter were fantastic too, beautifully layered guitars, very delicate and moving... Heavenly were FUN, jangly, silly (at times), quite PUNK at times too... Another really underrated band on Sarah were Even As We Speak whose cover of BLT is my favourite NO cover...

Stay cute!

SHEDi xxx

Cheers for that info Shedi! "Skywriting" it is then is it! So that Chocolate-Love-Sex came from "Humblebee" ? - must have completely overlooked the title.... that's a weird track anyway - nightmarish sounds like a bad trip!. Funny though, when I first heard that opening track - the long 9 minute acid-house one - I thought it was by someone like Candy Flip - my wife was not amused!

Didn't know about Even As We Speak doing a New Order cover, mind..... when was that one??

I have one of their tracks called 'If You Need Someone' on an old indie compilation from 1990.Does betray quite a NO influence i always thought

I've just bunged "Sensitive" on the turntable and given it a play - FFFFFFUCK ME! Award for the most ironic song title of the day goes to this band. This track nearly bit my ears off!

Even the sleeve is perverse - it's got BLUE penguins on it fer fuckssakes. But the track kicks fucking scuzzy sludge-rock ass like Iggy and The Stooges. It's LOUD! And the guitar outro goes on for ages.....

I think this band definitely need to be taken more seriously!

Is the Trembling Blue Stars stuff as good as these older tunes I wonder?

By 'Eck! My Neck! wrote:

Didn't know about Even As We Speak doing a New Order cover, mind..... when was that one??

It was Bizarre Love Triangle, on their first single on Sarah - Nothing Ever Happens EP... EAWS's Feral Pop Frenzy is a cracking album, hopefully LTM will get around to rereleasing it soon...

SHEDi xxx

By 'Eck! My Neck! wrote: I've just bunged "Sensitive" on the turntable and given it a play - FFFFFFUCK ME! Award for the most ironic song title of the day goes to this band. This track nearly bit my ears off!

Even the sleeve is perverse - it's got BLUE penguins on it fer fuckssakes. But the track kicks fucking scuzzy sludge-rock ass like Iggy and The Stooges. It's LOUD! And the guitar outro goes on for ages.....

I think this band definitely need to be taken more seriously!

Is the Trembling Blue Stars stuff as good as these older tunes I wonder?

Sensitive, for all it's waal of sound guitar is actually incredibly fragile... Or something... "Feelings are hurt so easily"...

TBS pretty much carried on where FM left off (allowing for Bobby's other short-lived project Northern Picture Library)... All of their albums are pretty consistent, bit of electronic/dancey stuff, acoustic stuff, POP... Lips That Taste Of Tears would be a good place to start... Shame Bobby doesn't seem to want to play live anymore, as they were rather good... No big show or anything, just really well played sets...

SHEDi xxx

Anyone like the Sea Urchins then

Andrew Sayer wrote: Anyone like the Sea Urchins then

Yep... Them were the days... Flexi discs and fanzines... I love virtually everything on Sarah Records, except for St Chris and Boyracer, I suppose... Field Mice, Orchids, Brighter, Even As We Speak and Blueboy are my faves though... Anyone got a copy of Pristine Christine they want to sell me?

SHEDi xxx

the Field Mice reminded me of New Order on a shoestring budget. the cheap lo-fi production of their records are endearing.

Incredibly rickety drum machine on their early stuff... Later FM and Trembling Blue Stars stuff is a bit more hi-fi... I prefer the early bedroom sounds...

SHEDi xxx

They appeared to have got a live drummer on their last record "For Keeps" though - Lorri rates that album as one of the greatest records ever made. It's sweet and sad in equal measures, but certainly not mopey or morbid like, say, early Smiths ( don't tell Lorraine I said that though).

Are they fans of Loop by any chance? I ask this cos the last instrumental track on "For Keeps" sounds like something by that band - really loud heavy drony guitar psychedelia stuff...and very repetitive.

which album would you suggest to someone new to them?