Robyn Hitchcock Appreciation Thread

His recent solo album Propeller Time is my favorite since Perspex Island in 1991. I was watching the DVD "The Best of The Cutting Edge" last night, and he does a good performance of "Raymond Chandler Evening". Here is a rather poor quality version of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TY8rm8kMHiM

 

Here's a better quality version. Robyn starts @ 6:17

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FspQgQE9tKs

 

Robyn discusses his dislike of "Arthur's Theme" and quite a few other things:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/robyn-hitchcock-hates-arthurs-theme-like-he-hates,93246/

 

I know there are a few fans here.

In 2006 Robyn Hitchcock & The Venus 3 released Ole! Tarantula, one of the best albums of his career. In the years since we’ve gotten Goodnight Oslo, Propellor Time, three Phantom 45’s (a nice 6-song EP, if you will) Tromso Kaptein, and now Love From London.

Is there another artist enjoying such a relaxed and rewarding musical roll in the new millennium? I love the development from Tromso Kaptein to Love From London… retaining the cello in his ensemble, the Lennonesque piano-based tunes. The guy always delivers delicious songs.

Let’s hear it for Robyn Hitchcock.







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I just ordered his first vinyl box set on Friday when Yep Roc had their sale $39 plus shipping. I think it's 5 discs. I have lots of his music on cd but none on vinyl.

 

The man is an ARTIST! He seems to just keep getting better, or at least maintaining his songwriting and performing at a consistently high level.
I have his complete discography as well as hundreds of live concert recordings of his. He gets a lot of listens here, possibly more than any other musician.
I'll agree, ole tarantula is a career highlight.

 

Big fan for 35 years... I bought Underwater Moonlight when it was released without hearing it or knowing what The Soft Boys sounded like... I just dug the album cover. But then, I did that a lot back in the day - who didn't?
I asked him to sign my collection when he played here in Waterloo a few years back (almost 30 discs at the time), and he smilingly obliged. A true gentleman and one of the most amusing and entertaining musicians I've ever met.

 

i love Robyn Hitchcock but i disagree
he peaked for me in the eighties / mid nineties
Ole Tarantula was a true return to form , his best in ages

 

Agreed. His early, more eccentric stuff is classic. I've had trouble really getting into more than a few songs on his later albums.

 

The new album may be one of his best.

 

Thanks. That's about the best thing I've ever read.

Anyone who's seen Robyn knows his fanciful, cynical and acerbic comments between songs are almost as entertaining as his music.

 

I practically got whiplash with how quickly Guy's post was merged. I mean, we can't have more than one RH thread, now can we?

Anyway, having my first listen of LFL. Good stuff.

 

Nice post. I couldn't have said it better. RH has resided in my Top 10 for at least 25 years now, since I first heard Globe of Frogs.

I am still hoping to see the advent of the Robyn Hitchcock Album-by-Album Thread here on SH. As daunting as this undertaking sounds, I may take it on myself if someone else doesn't soon...

.

 

I got confused too. I thought that discussing his brand spankin' new album and recent works was different enough from a general all purpose appreciation thread, but I guess not.

Not that I mind, but it's a sobering reminder that my thread-starting abilities are in a sub-neophyte class. I think I've managed to close more of them than I've started.

 

I've really been getting into Robyn in the last year and a half. I'm especially blown away by The Soft Boys stuff. Got a nice little chunk of his discography now (pretty much all of the major releases through Fegmania, though I skipped Groovy Decay as I've never heard a kind word said about it), and a few things like Eye and Perspex Island, but I haven't had a chance to play them more than once. I've heard the new album and while it didn't do much for me, it may be that I really don't understand the jump between 1985 until now, having only heard a hand full of connecting singles.

What're the real highlights between 1985 and the present? I know that's asking a lot, but I really don't know what I'm in for, and I'm at a loss as to what I should pick up next - it's one overwhelming discography!

 

We'll be seeing him next month at Webster Hall. He's virtually unique for an artist of his age in that I'm hoping he'll focus on songs from his last few albums. My iPod currently features everything from Ole! Tarantula onwards, then I have Moss Elixer & Mossy Liquor from 1996, and then I jump back to the mid-80's with Fegmania! and Element of Light. Those last two are amongst his best and I like pretty much everything the man has recorded, but I enjoy his current work every bit as much as the oldies.

He is victim of his own consistency though. A lot of people who like the guy no longer follow him because they figure they've gotten everything they need from Robyn Hitchcock as an artist. I've fallen into that trap with a few artists (who are still active and releasing quality work). But with Hitchcock I find the I enjoy his latest as much as his "heyday" from 30-odd years ago. He's still in his heyday to my ears.

 

Eye is definitely worth more than one play. One of his best.

 

Agreed, it was really good, I just haven't had the time to give it the attention it deserves yet.

 

Moss Elixer is a nicely varied set; he organized the ensembles around the songs rather than uniformly applying a group of musicians to all the material he wanted to tackle. The "sister" album, Mossy Liquor includes six alternate takes and six fresh songs... worth having, but not as good as Moss Elixer.

Jewels For Sophia and "sister" album A Star For Bram are both swell.

Then there was a somewhat fallow period after he left WB: a Dylan covers album, the acoustic bluesy Luxor, an archival release or two and some small label stuff.

Ole! Tarantula with the Venus 3 was a real return to form. Goodnight Oslo, Propellor Time and now Love From London are all first rate. Tromso, Kaptein was something of a one-off project in that it was on a small label and he re-recorded two older songs, but it's also excellent... I like it a lot.

 

I Often Dream of Trains & Eye are my personal favorites.

 

I forgot to mention Robyn's other great album from recent years, Spooked. It was released in 2004 and was produced by David Rawlings. He and Gillian Welsh both play on it... a nice collaboration. Full Moon In My Soul and Television from Spooked are up there with Hitchcock's finest songs.

I would say that Obliteration Pie and Shadow Cat are for diehard cult members only. You & Oblivion is a demos and outtakes collection that falls into the same category as does While Thatcher Mauled Britain, which features much of the same material. There are also some BBC session albums that are okay, but nothing all that special. The Dylan album - Robyn Sings - has it's moments, but is a mixed bag of mostly live recordings (on 2 CD's). And the Soft Boys reunion album - Nextdoorland - from 2002 was a bit flat somehow... it's hard to pinpoint what was out of balance, but it lacks the joy and enthusiasm of an album like Ole! Tarantula.

So... plenty of albums to recommend for you to catch up on, but a fair number of lesser releases that should be passed-by for the choice stuff.

 

you should not believe what people may say about Groovy Decay , personnally i think its great

Anyway , eighties Robyn is untouchable , not a weak release as far as i am concerned

 

I saw Hitchcock & Buck play in Exter, Devon UK a few years ago. I knew some of his music beforehand but must admit I went primarily to see Buck play. I rated them at 50/50 equally awesome by the end of the show!

 

Groovy Decay has some good songs, but Steve Hillage's production wasn't too sympathetic and the last CD reissue - Gravy Deco - includes many alternate recordings. The album isn't like XTC's Skylarking where the artist's frustration with the recording process clouded their assessment of the work itself; Robyn didn't like Groovy Decay for good reason... it has a few too many elbows (Hitchcock may well be responsible for that, not Hillage).

I would say Hitchcock's most recent decade is untouchable, not a weak release from Spooked onward.

And back to my post from a few days ago, is there another artist as prolific as him in the new millennium that you can say the same about? Neil Young pitches more surprises, but a lot of them wind up on the shelves. I listened to Love From London again last night and like it better each time. It sounds like he learned some lessons from the variety of material he brought to Goodnight Oslo. LFL doesn't have the same genre-dabbling, but the varied pacing works beautifully, as does the varied sonic density. He does dabble in some decidedly-dated drum sounds on a couple of tracks and it works very well to my ears - a nice palette. I also listened to Jewels For Sophia last night and didn't like it as well as I remembered, basically because it's not as accomplished as Love From London.

 

Anyone ever successfully made a personal RH compilation spanning all eras for their own usage? I've tried to based on the releases that I already have, and I still can't keep it under two discs.