The last really great single Sarah Records ever released (Matt and Claire really did decide to pack in at the right time, because there's a definite decline in quality in the label's final year or so), "Paris" is the grand high point of Northern Picture Library's short career, a hazy, careening five-minute slice of neo-psychedelic atmospherics and a sense of palpable heartbreak. Unfortunately, Northern Picture Library are mostly forgotten these days as the brief bridge point between the Field Mice and Trembling Blue Stars, the other two bands formed by singer/songwriter Bob Wratten. Their records are exquisite, however, and I'm going to go so far as to say that Northern Picture Library are a better band than either of their brethren, largely because Wratten largely keeps his mouth shut and lets Annemari Davies (who's simply a better singer than Wratten ever was, or has been since) handle the lead vocals. Don't get me wrong, "Emma's House" and "ABBA On the Jukebox" are great, but "Paris" is, for me, the pinnacle.

-Stewart Mason