My seventeen year old daughter suggested that we have a family Sunday out in Bristol. This roughly translates to Dad paying for train fare to Bristol and lunch, while daughter and mother wallow in four floors of Primark (Bristol has a Primark of gargantuan proportion). I agreed to this after calculating that it would take me roughly two hours to walk to Air Balloon Road and back from Temple Meads station, I guessed that after two hours wife and daughter would only be on floor three of four in the bargain vestment emporium.
So I walk across not the most picturesque areas of Bristol to Air Balloon Road. I arrive there and I now have to negotiate the awkward selfie with a road sign. This is not helped by teenagers who can’t believe that someone wants a selfie next to road marking, and they found this highly amusing.
Air Balloon Road is another collection of songs from the Sarah catalogue in a similar vein to There and Back Again Lane or the Shadow Factory. It caused controversy at the time of release because it was available on a CD format, but with a tracklisting as strong as this it would be a travesty if it was not made available to the masses. Notably The Field Mice End of the Affair which is one of the greatest love songs ever, and led to a girlfriend leaving me because I listened to depressing music all the time, anyway her loss. It has the first Sarah Records song; The Sea Urchins, Pristine Christine.
Various Artists : Air Balloon Road
The Orchids – It’s Only Obvious
Another Sunny Day – I’m In Love With A Girl Who Doesn’t Know I Exist
The Sea Urchins – Please Rain Fall
The Field Mice – If You Need Someone
The Orchids – Underneath The Window, Underneath The Sink
St. Christopher – You Deserve More Than A Maybe
The Field Mice – The End Of The Affair
Gentle Despite – Darkest Blue
The Golden Dawn – George Hamilton’s Dead
The Field Mice – Sensitive
The Wake – Carbrain
Brighter – I Don’t Think It Matters
The Sea Urchins – Pristine Christine
14 Iced Bears – Come Get Me
The Golden Dawn – My Secret World
The Springfields – Sunflower
Another Sunny Day – You Should All Be Murdered
St. Christopher – All Of A Tremble
Action Painting! – These Things Happen
The Poppyheads – Dreamabout
Another Sunny Day – Green
The Orchids – Blue Light
Brighter – Noah’s Ark
I was a Teenage Shoegazer 
Oh wow, there’s actually an Air Balloon Road? I’m jealous.
‘Tis indeed a fine compilation. The yoof of Bristol will probably be talking about the crazy guy who took a selfie with a street sign for many years to come – brilliant!
Nice compilation! I missed many of these bands the first time around. Thanks!
The best of the Sarah comps. My favorite song from the Orchids, Field Mice, Another Sunny Day. 14 Iced Bears and the Sea Urchins… all on one album!
I was on Air Balloon Road this week measuring up a nursing home for new curtains!! My colleague couldn’t understand why I was being such a fanboy about the place. It’s not much to look at that’s for sure.