Only just recently discovered them. 'Her Handwriting' is fantastic. Could listen to 'What Can I Say To Change Your Heart' on repeat for way longer than would be good for me.
Which album do I need to check out next?
― I for one am (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 28 July 2011 17:16 (twelve years ago) link
i would rate em
her handwriting > fast trains & telegraph wires > seven autumn flowers > last holy writer > lips that taste of tears = broken by whispers = alive to every smile
not that there's much to separate any of them, but i do find the shinkansen period (save for HH) hard going at times.
― Who? Well, I've never heard of Mogwai. (electricsound), Thursday, 28 July 2011 22:48 (twelve years ago) link
Thanks man, will follow you rating of the albums!
― I for one am (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 28 July 2011 22:53 (twelve years ago) link
I only ever had HH, Lips, Broken, and Alive. I've obviously missed out on a lot of their better stuff.
― Gukbe, Thursday, 28 July 2011 22:54 (twelve years ago) link
i should probably mention that i was pretty worn out on bobby's voice by the time of "lips" after being a field mice fan for years and years so that has probably affected my opinion. beth arzy definitely added something to TBS that it really needed
― Who? Well, I've never heard of Mogwai. (electricsound), Thursday, 28 July 2011 23:26 (twelve years ago) link
alive to every smile is marvelous. the only one that has a bit of diversity because of his talented friends chipping in probably. i love them all. hh is best though.
― keythhtyek, Friday, 29 July 2011 03:29 (twelve years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VytfzgNF28
― fauxmarc, Sunday, 14 August 2011 16:37 (twelve years ago) link
i like the new order bass.
does anyone remember her handwriting? that one should be a classic by now, i think.
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:19 (eleven years ago) link
Great track. Anything that sounds like LowLife / Here Comes Everybody + Field Mice is a sure thing to my ears.
― brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:28 (eleven years ago) link
i like these a lot, a lot more than i like NO
― syntax evasion (Noodle Vague), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 21:31 (eleven years ago) link
not in love with cath carroll's guest spot, would rather beth sing it tbqh
i was wrong here
― adam bandit (electricsound), Wednesday, 26 September 2012 22:32 (eleven years ago) link
One of my favorites of all time.
Seriously, ask me anything.
― Austin, Thursday, 27 September 2012 01:55 (eleven years ago) link
i think he was on to something. is he a pot smoker? i'm a fan of this guy. i forget every once in a while and then i hear stuff and i'm always impressed. he can be really spacey which i really enjoy. he's good at it. also: his old 90's beats still sound cool. his homemade beats. twee beats.
― scott seward, Thursday, 22 August 2013 02:00 (ten years ago) link
Track linked above is certainly gorgeous. I've always liked everything I heard for years but never went about acquiring any of it.
― Evan, Thursday, 22 August 2013 20:15 (ten years ago) link
So, apparently Correspondence was the final TBS release.
Shame, if so.
― Austin, Thursday, 22 August 2013 23:40 (ten years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7coSs3xOdw
― Austin, Thursday, 22 August 2013 23:41 (ten years ago) link
I've got no idea what Wratten is up to, or how he pays the bill, but I imagine there would nothing sadder than coming across the guy working at a checkout line somewhere.
What a great songwriter, though.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 23 August 2013 01:48 (ten years ago) link
weird to think that her handwriting is 17 years old
if this were 1980 the album would have been made in 1963
― flesh, the devil, and a wolf (wolf) (amateurist), Friday, 23 August 2013 02:52 (ten years ago) link
i looked for something i wrote about TBS and it was 13 years ago! i couldn't believe it. what i wrote was bad. i feel bad about it. it was written poorly. i was still learning.
― scott seward, Friday, 23 August 2013 02:57 (ten years ago) link
Well, unless he reboots with another new name, I guess we can look forward to another Occasional Keepers album.
― Austin, Friday, 23 August 2013 03:34 (ten years ago) link
unless he reboots with another new name
said reboot is under the name of lightning in a twilight hour, apparently
― föllakzoidberg (electricsound), Saturday, 1 February 2014 23:30 (ten years ago) link
Thank you for that. I knew it was only a matter of time.
― Austin, Saturday, 1 February 2014 23:47 (ten years ago) link
https://www.facebook.com/lightninginatwilighthour
― Austin, Saturday, 8 February 2014 01:55 (ten years ago) link
I hope lightning in a twilight hour will be more cure homage!
― JacobSanders, Saturday, 8 February 2014 03:30 (ten years ago) link
I've often said that Bob W picked up where Bob S left off.
― Austin, Saturday, 8 February 2014 04:19 (ten years ago) link
In all seriousness Trembling Blue Star/Field Mice/Northern Picture Library hold a special place with me, they've been my long walk music, then cross country driving soundtrack and at certain times my companion in heartbreak. I was listening today to The Orchids and Even As We Speak and was thinking about the Sarah version of electronica and how much I used to hate it when it first came out. I think it was Screamadelica that changed my feelings, and I started liking the Field Mice's electronic songs. I wonder how other people feel the electronic pop of Sarah records has aged?
― JacobSanders, Saturday, 8 February 2014 04:39 (ten years ago) link
i think ian catt's less 'fashionable' production (probably a feature of his budgets more than anything else) has helped a lot of that stuff avoid some of the more dated sounds of the period
― föllakzoidberg (electricsound), Saturday, 8 February 2014 04:47 (ten years ago) link
idyllwild from the last holy writer is a great song
― display name changed. (amateurist), Monday, 2 June 2014 14:38 (nine years ago) link
Yes it is!!
― JacobSanders, Tuesday, 3 June 2014 06:15 (nine years ago) link
not bobby related but beth's latest thing the luxembourg signal has a new album out and it's p good lightly gazey indie
also the remixed version of the first aberdeen single they have up on their bandcamp for free has cleaned up incredibly well
― outback bumfuc (electricsound), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 23:54 (nine years ago) link
also the lightning in a twilight hour album is apaz in the can, i assume elefant is probably doing it
― outback bumfuc (electricsound), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 23:55 (nine years ago) link
I can't wait.
― austinato (Austin), Thursday, 2 October 2014 00:33 (nine years ago) link
Also, they are listed on the Elefant site:http://elefant.com/en/grupos_elefant
But the link just redirects to the front page for now.
― austinato (Austin), Thursday, 2 October 2014 00:37 (nine years ago) link
New song!
http://elefant.com/bands/lightning-in-a-twilight-hour/new/825/lightning-in-a-twilight-hour-new-project-by-bobby-wratten-and-free-sneak-peak-song-mp3-free-download
― austinato (Austin), Sunday, 30 November 2014 02:15 (nine years ago) link
God, I love this man.
(and this new song)
― austinato (Austin), Sunday, 30 November 2014 19:25 (nine years ago) link
hmm so it's TBS with the field mice bassist back on board.
i always assumed 'cold colours' was about annemari but seeing her back on board makes me wonder..
― don't ask me why i posted this (electricsound), Sunday, 30 November 2014 21:27 (nine years ago) link
They're making me wait until next February for a short EP.
I think he stopped writing about AnneMari around Broken By Whispers/Alive to Every Smile-era TBS.
'Cold Colours' though — great track.
― austinato (Austin), Monday, 1 December 2014 03:16 (nine years ago) link
wratten does amazing things with his pretty limited songwriting and vocal range. have loved his work for 20+ years.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Monday, 1 December 2014 04:27 (nine years ago) link
New EP is all kinds of great.
― austinato (Austin), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 03:36 (nine years ago) link
I've only listened to the first track. I like it.
Took me forever to realize it's not a TBS record. I'm getting tired of all the Bobby Wratten monikers.
― daavid, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 04:30 (nine years ago) link
what's his new monicker?
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 04:37 (nine years ago) link
Lightning In A Twilight Hour
― daavid, Wednesday, 11 February 2015 05:05 (nine years ago) link
egads, that's terrible. but i'll give it a listen.
― I dunno. (amateurist), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 05:25 (nine years ago) link
lineup is more field mice than tbs (well really a mixture of both)
― don't ask me why i posted this (electricsound), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 06:33 (nine years ago) link
The Fiona Appled Mice
― erry red flag (f. hazel), Wednesday, 11 February 2015 15:32 (nine years ago) link
Album out today.
First listen right now. . .
― austinato (Austin), Tuesday, 21 April 2015 01:14 (nine years ago) link
Initial thoughts after one listen. . .
It's a really quiet, slow album. Not in a bad way, it just is.
There's a few ambient tracks spread about that make the whole thing cohesive, but also kind of not, as they feel less like bridges between the proper songs and more like interruptions. It would have been nice to relegate that stuff to one section of the album.
There's not really a big knockout song like there has been on his past few releases. There's no 'Cold Colours', no 'Sunrise on Mars' and no 'November Starlings.' Instead it's more of a "takin' it steady" kind of album where acoustic guitars dominate.
Kind of overwhelmed with excitement right now, so I'll need more listens (away from the computer), but it does strike me as a bit of a disappointment right away.
Still good though.
― austinato (Austin), Tuesday, 21 April 2015 02:01 (nine years ago) link
Gearing up for my end of the year favorites mix and this has opened up to me as one of the best songs on said mix:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXJXDLpzblo
Album has just gotten better and better as the weather has cooled off. I knew it would, but I was just ready to be wowed right away. Shoulda known better with old Bobby.
― Austin, Monday, 9 November 2015 04:12 (eight years ago) link
ppl in this thread hating on broken by whispers make me sad, it's a great record
― tremendous crime wave and killing wave (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 9 November 2015 04:26 (eight years ago) link
Oh man, I love Broken by Whispers. It's got 'Fragile' on it!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s79dt5wKtdg
But this is all coming from a guy who thinks Wratten's never written a bad, let made a whole bad album. So, grains of salt and whathaveyou.
― Austin, Monday, 9 November 2015 04:33 (eight years ago) link
in lieu of anything else ambient-y from bob and friends so far, i made a playlist of all of the ambient/wordless/found sound songs from throughout his catalogue: rjw kankyo ongaku+ambient.
― "Why is the voice of reason treated as the unreliable narrator?", asked (Austin), Tuesday, 26 July 2022 04:51 (one year ago) link
so future conditional was an offshoot thing from piano magic and bob guested on a couple tracks and i was under the impression that it was a one-off. decent album, fun side project.
apparently they've made another album and bob is guesting with beth now and there's maybe a new order cover involved? okay, sure.
― ミ💙🅟 🅛 🅤 🅡 🅜 🅑💙彡 (Austin), Saturday, 17 September 2022 17:19 (one year ago) link
i missed this. fuck.
― .austinuos, plug forth. (Austin), Tuesday, 7 March 2023 21:05 (one year ago) link
still haven't heard that. it was another of bob's tapeworm collabs — presumably another ambient thing. wonder what it sounds like.
anyway, do love when bob breaks out the 12 string—https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUUI9ddDeOM"abba on the jukebox" (1996)
― "another slice of death, please." (Austin), Saturday, 4 November 2023 17:42 (five months ago) link