Trembling Blue Stars: C/D, S/D?

I love those Occasional Keepers records! Really like the Future Conditional features that Bob did as well:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S43taUHWrI

The last song from that Future Conditional record called Your Love Leaves Me Colder is really nice. I still need to pick up Luxembourg Signal record.

Jeez, I didn't even know about that one. Thanks for the heads up!

Those first two albums. . . Damn.

Northern Picture Library were better, and we need more discussion on that era, but. . . Damn. Those first two TBS albums are un-mess-with-able.

I care about Bobby. I hope he's still chugging on. I hope he quits writing sad songs, someday.

Well, as stated above, he's Lightning In A Twilight Hour now. The new songs are no less slow, but more observational, less about relationships.

And you are indeed correct that the Northern Picture Library stuff is very mighty.

http://www.usedbinpop.com/aberdeen-it-was-the-rain-lost-recordings-1993-1995-pre-order-now/

Not sure how I missed this last year, but I'm hearing it now and I'm predictably falling in love.

that's a good call. krzysztof kieslowski's lullaby is a gem. the guitar and the voice haven't changed a bit. why does he change the name all the time? he does not seem to want people to listen to his music.

It's so good.

This is nice: https://the-tapeworm.bandcamp.com/album/quiet-actions

Yeah, I ordered one from Boomkat. Still waiting for it to arrive.

Should have shopped at Norman.

Boomkat was the only place that still had it in stock. Tapeworm site says limited to 100, so I jumped on it.

So, I'm an idiot. The tape arrived in the mail today and I now have realized that I donated my cassette deck when I moved from Reno two years ago.

I have the tape and no way to hear it.

I knew I wasn't out of options! My housemate has an old CD/Cassette/AMFM mini boombox and that's got a 1/8" headphone jack on it of course. So, I dove into my box of wires and cords (don't all of us have one of those tangled messes somewhere that we inexplicably hang onto?) and I'm now recording it into my hard drive.

Hooray.

'My Own Antarctica' is an incredible piece of music. I can relate with it almost too closely.

"I saw nothing wrong with feeling I did not exist, had somehow disappeared. I don't know what to do. Now it seems I can still be seen."

https://www.instagram.com/p/BpqnZuIAn5iRENu4P7zlNRNef47HdieOgSUbQs0/

heh, Les T. in the comments repping for the Philippines

Not sure it ever occurred to me to look for live TBS/Field Mice/Etc. stuff on the internet, but it's there!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WoY5B_HVlN0

^^^I love that clip Josh. That is historic footage in Andy's book.

Reviving to say that the Luxembourg Signal is about to release their third album in a few weeks time. The pre-release single is on Bandcamp and I'm finding it to be very promising for the rest of the record: https://theluxembourgsignal.bandcamp.com/album/the-long-now

I thought their first album was just okay, but Blue Field was a huge improvement and damn fine record. I knew they had something coming, but I didn't know when. The main thing this means in my book is that new music from Bob Wratten is probably also shortly forthcoming. And that's kind of exactly what Andy needs at this point; and I daresay the entire world as well. It's been too long that such a pure and fascinating musician like him has been ignored. I'd personally consider him someone like the Mark Hollis of jangle. His music has been very important to me for so many years and his more sporadic release schedule over the past few only seems to carry with it more weight with each release. He's moving in on his longest ever gap between releases, so needless to say, the anticipation is very high.

Have already pre-ordered the Luxenbourg Signal record with the hopes that it will be as good as the pre-release tune is; but also with the hopes that Mr. Wratten is going to make a cameo like he did on their last album. Exciting times.

Also, it now has come to Andy's attention that the band has set up an official instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/theluxembourgsignal/

Nice, I liked those first two from LS. Check out Beth Arzy's band Jetstream Pony's recent s/t album if you haven't already; probably the album I listened to most this summer. Been meaning to post about it but feels a little too slick for the rolling indie pop thread and too pop for the new shoegaze thread.

The Luxembourg Signal stuff leaves me cold, and not in a good way like Alaska by Northern Picture Library did... but this Jetstream Pony album is pretty great!

I don't understand why the Field Mice wouldn't want their LPs/singles reissued. They could sell dozens!

I was on the LTM website recently and thought I’d got lucky finding one of their expanded reissues of one of the Field Mice albums (‘Skywriting’, I think) still in stick but, alas, it was a mistake.

I did though get the LTM reissue of NPL’s ‘Alaska’ and have really enjoyed it - it’s like a midpoint between St Etienne and Disco Inferno or Bark Psychosis. Now keeping an eye out for the companion singles comp that LTM released and is now OOP.

I got all the LTM CD reissues when they came out, so I guess I should have been specific and said VINYL LP reissues.

Ah, fair enough! I should have got the LTM CDs when I’ve seen them over the years but didn’t so that’s on me.

I wouldn’t say no to vinyl reissues.

NPL's Blue Dissolve EP is really fantastic, worth tracking down.

Yes, the Jetstream Pony stuff is much more low stakes, but still very good. Beth does a good job of keeping her Instagram feed up to date with all of her various endeavours.

If you didn't like this song from the previous Luxembourg album, Andy would recommend listening a second (or perhaps third) time =)

We bought all of the LTM CD reissues of the Field Mice / Northern Picture Library / Trembling Blue Stars stuff when they were new. We were working at Tower at the time, so we were able to get that sweet, sweet employee discount.

I have all the Field Mice and NPL on vinyl except Emmas House, the Caff 7", and the Blue Dissolve EP (hurts me). I just want it available for everyone else too. I do need the earlier TBS albums on vinyl. Those are crazy expensive on discogs. Anyone selling?

Was Lips That Taste of Tears ever pressed on vinyl?

The Long Now

We listened pretty much exclusively to the new album all weekend and I have to say that it has exceeded Andy's expectations. It very much feels like a classic-minded dreampop record, with slight modifications in production techniques. It's not really an album that I think would have been able to be made twenty or thirty years, yet it's absolutely reminiscent of those kinds of sounds. The songs are easily the most consistently pretty the band has yet done, but with that presence of slight melancholy that the best British guitar music has always possessed. And nearly every song seems to inevitably hit a moment of sheer beauty at one moment or another. At ten songs, it's concise and direct, wasting no time. Very much feels like their best work to date. Very pleased.

i see someone mentioned that we got the tape a long while back upthread, but for the closure that no one asked for on that front, here's that archived tape rip of quiet actions:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-TsqoYxdQBQ

andy has had it on my youtube channel for a year or so, but set it to unlisted. in case anyone wanted to hear it, here's your chance. it's just two long ambient-ish tracks full of deep harmonies and lots of meditative repetitions. we've been playing it every night before bed the past week or so and it's so perfect. engaging, but not overbearing. first track almost has a disintegration loops (but in reverse?) quality to it. highly recommended.

also: bobby's on instagram (!!!). beth arzy mentioned some months back that she was visiting a studio to work on vocals for the next liath record. really looking forward to that.

Maybe my favorite
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt6BU4WlNAM

Lovely. Very (consciously?) "Disintegration."

otm. "all eternal things" was possibly an intentional nod to the cure.

the later tbs stuff had a lot of disintegration qualities to it. always seemed like it was on purpose to me.

dunno if i've posted it in here before, but "this is bliss" is maybe my favorite tbs thing. pornography goes twee. pretty epic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3FTTsqvvyA

(and an amazing mixtape closer, btw)

and here's something new. can't hear it just yet, but i'm excited.

New songs are predictably good. A side is an ethereal folk rock tune and has a very pleasant riffy thing that's reminding me of something I can't place at the moment. B side is an ambient drone; quite pleasant because that's what it's supposed to be. I imagine it's quite representative of what's to come and that pleases me greatly.

Pre-orders for the new album is on Bandcamp. "The Circling of the Seasons" has been in constant rotation and it's grown on me a lot. This is an early album of the year hopeful for me.

LIGHTNING IN A TWILIGHT HOUR <nore✧✧✧@lightninginatwilighth✧✧✧.bandc✧✧✧.c✧✧>
2:56 PM (4 minutes ago)
to me

Greetings Austin Anderson,
Thank you for your pre-order of Overwintering by LIGHTNING IN A TWILIGHT HOUR. The full digital album has just been released!

cue Jack Nicholson in Batman: "Gentlemen! Let's broaden our minds!" (presses play on boombox)

Okay, one listen and the man can do no wrong and it's good BUT—

This is a lot for an hour long album. I expected more ambient stuff (there is none). It's a very mellow album; I think there was maybe one song on the second half that had drums in it? Some of the lyrics are weird, even for him. Most of it is very reminiscent of the stuff he did on the two Occasional Keepers albums, but even more acoustic strummy and dream poppy. That being said, it's probably among the prettiest music he's ever done and there's two songs that hit me as instant band classics ("Delphinium" and "Slow Motion Spirits"). Very preliminary thought is that it's better than the first album, but doesn't quite have the sustained wow factor of the All the Ships at Sea EP. I would certainly consider "Delphinium" one of the best songs he's ever done. Four mics, for now.

Whoa, All Music going to bat for Bob! That's the highest overall rating they've given any of his bands since Northern Picture Library.

No, I'm mistaken: that's the highest overall rating since the Field Mice!

So I've been living with this album for about a month and it's stayed in pretty regular rotation. I love it and it is my so far album of the year. Agree with my initial assessment of about 4 mics/4 stars/8.0 and that "Delphinium" is the easy highlight. On further listens, some of it is very reminiscent of the more atmospheric Northern Picture Library material: "The Cinematographer as Painter" is one of the weirdest calm songs I've ever heard and "Natural Light" has a purposely discordant progression that never resolves — just kind of unsettled and tenuous; something he's never really done before (or at least, not to this degree). I knew what to expect and it's not the best thing he's done under this band name, but I still feel like Overwintering exceeded my expectations pretty easily.

I'm hoping he decides to follow tradition and put out a quick EP in the next year or so before disappearing again.

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.

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.

i missed this. fuck.

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)