Northern Picture Library was a British dream pop

Dream pop

Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...

 group, formed in 1993 by Bobby Wratten and Annemari Davies, both former members of The Field Mice

The Field Mice

The Field Mice were an indie pop band on the indie label Sarah Records. Initially a duo from South London suburb of Mitcham comprising Robert Wratten and Michael Hiscock, their first EP, Emma's House, was released in November 1988, and reached number 20 in the UK Independent Chart...

. 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

Pop music

Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...

 approach of The Field Mice. Their debut single, "Love Song For The Dead Che", was a cover

Cover version

In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 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

Trembling Blue Stars

Trembling Blue Stars is a London-based band that currently includes members Robert Wratten and Beth Arzy . Begun as a side project of Wratten's previous band Northern Picture Library, Trembling Blue Stars became Wratten's main band when Northern Picture Library broke up in 1995...

, 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.

Singles

• "Love Song For The Dead Che" (12"/CD, Vinyl Japan, September 1993)
• "Blue Dissolve EP" (12"/CD, Vinyl Japan, June 1994)
• "Paris EP" (CD, Sarah Records
  Sarah Records
  Sarah Records was a UK independent record label active between 1987 and 1995, best known for its recordings of indie pop.The label was formed in Bristol in 1987 by Clare Wadd and Matt Haynes, and grew out of the fanzine scene at the time, Haynes having previously edited Are You Scared To Get...
  
  , September 1994)

The "Paris EP" was also issued as two separate 7" singles, "Paris" and "Last September's Farewell Kiss".

Albums

• Alaska (1994)
• Still Life (singles compilation, 2000)
• Postscript (singles and out-takes, 2004)