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.
In 2005 the entire Northern Picture Library back catalogue was released on two CDs on the LTM label.
Famous quotes containing the words northern, picture and/or library:
“The northern sky rose high and black
Over the proud unfruitful sea,
East and west the ships came back
Happily or unhappily....”
—Philip Larkin (1922–1986)
“When you’ve been blind as long as I have, you learn to see through your senses. I can’t explain it exactly, but you get a feeling about people when you meet them. You see a picture of them in your mind. Not just what they look like, but what they really are. You see them much more clearly than you do with your eyes. Maybe that’s why they say looks are deceptive.”
—George Bricker. Jean Yarbrough. Helen Page (Jane Adams)
“That a famous library has been cursed by a woman is a matter of complete indifference to a famous library. Venerable and calm, with all its treasures safe locked within its breast, it sleeps complacently and will, so far as I am concerned, so sleep forever. Never will I wake these echoes, never will I ask for that hospitality again ...”
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941)