Robyn Hitchcock Appreciation Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mark Kaufman, Feb 15, 2010.

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  1. Mr. Odd

    Mr. Odd Forum Resident

    Location:
    Boston, MA, USA
    I'm with you on _Love From London_, but Groovy Decay/Decoy has some great tunes - in fact I love pretty much all of it. Robyn's other clunker is _Luxor_.
     
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  2. arob71

    arob71 Capitol JAX

    I Saw Nick Drake

     
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  3. dogpile

    dogpile Generation X record spinner.

    Location:
    YYZ - Canada
    His cover of Roxy Music (Bryan Ferry) song "More Than This" is amazing!
     
  4. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.
    Ugh, that was me typing late in the day at work and meaning Nick Lowe.
     
  5. arob71

    arob71 Capitol JAX

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  6. Chrome_Head

    Chrome_Head Planetary Resident

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA.

    Must say I am looking forward to hearing this. There are few as delightfully weird as Hitchcock that have endured in pop music, cult figure or not.

     
  7. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
  8. ad180

    ad180 Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    It sounds more like the Venus 3 to me than the Egyptians. Definitely more of a modern rock sound.
     
  9. bRETT

    bRETT Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston MA
    I wasn't huge on "Spooked" but don't think it was a bad album, just that what he got up to with Welch and Rawlings was less up my alley. (Do like a lot of Love from London, though).
     
  10. Sprocket Henry

    Sprocket Henry Forum Resident

    Yeah - storng Venus 3 vibe on this. Cracking single. Bodes v.well for the album.
     
  11. arob71

    arob71 Capitol JAX

    Robyn is opening for The Psychedelic Furs starting the end of next month. He didn't come anywhere near me from from 1992 to 2006, but as of April, I will have seen him 3 times in 3 years. Would REALLY like to see him with a full band again.

    Tour
     
  12. marc with a c

    marc with a c Forum Resident

    Location:
    Orlando, FL
    I have a feeling that with the vibe of the upcoming album, you may get your wish very soon.
     
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  13. arob71

    arob71 Capitol JAX

    Second single from the upcoming album!

     
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  14. dlemaudit

    dlemaudit Forum Resident

    Location:
    France, Paris area
    great song , The Egyptians are back , great news
     
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  15. Sprocket Henry

    Sprocket Henry Forum Resident

    I've mentioned this in a couple of the other threads, but Robyn's new one is extremely good. For some reason the record came out a week early in Australia. I was at my local record store laying down some dosh for the new On Fillmore set when I saw Robyn's CD there on the counter and promptly snapped it up. The material here is absolutely top-notch. I think this is one of Robyn's best produced albums - it sounds absolutely gorgeous...rich, warm, very cosmic and psychy.

    Lots of highlights for me - "Virginia Woolf", "Mad Shelley's", "Sayanora Judge", "Autumn Sunglasses", "Time Coast" are just magnificent.
     
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  16. Adrian Adkins

    Adrian Adkins Forum Resident

    Yay can hardly wait to get my copy.
     
  17. kevimetal

    kevimetal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Exeter, UK
    I've been a fan of Robyn Hitchcock since I heard "Listening to the Higsons" on Trinity College Radio (Hartford, CT) back in 1986 or so. I've seen him live more than 10 times. I have all of his records up until 93 or so but lost track after that, this thread is making me reconsider that I need to buy some of the more recent releases. My fave is IODOT by a long way but other faves are Eye, Fegmania, BSDR and yes, I'm saying it- Groovy Decay/oy.

    One thing I'm surprised hasn't been mentioned on here, but it looks like he did a few shows in NYC earlier in the year where he did BSDR in it's entirity with Yo La Tengo as the backing band. I haven't seen RH with a band since the Egytptians were together and wow, I would have loved to have seen that show. Anyone here in attendance? There are a few videos on YT, here is a link to the whole show- audio only. Great to hear him doing these tunes again with a band.

     
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  18. Instant Dharma

    Instant Dharma Dude/man

    Location:
    CoCoCo, Ca
    I like Luxor. It fits in there nicely with Trains, Eye and Moss.
     
  19. bzfgt

    bzfgt The Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler

    Excellent choices! Throw in "Sayonara Judge" and those are my favorites...
     
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  20. bzfgt

    bzfgt The Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler

    Ha!! I must have been distracted...sorry for the clueless post, you clearly have excellent taste!
     
  21. levi

    levi Can't Stand Up For Falling Down In Memoriam

    Location:
    North Carolina
    Sayonara Judge is my current favorite. A terrific record from start to finish, imo.
     
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  22. bzfgt

    bzfgt The Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler

    I've been really, really into this album. It seems almost like a miracle that a rock artist could put out something this good, so late in his career. Not exactly because it would be so rare--there are lots of good late albums, although as a genre rock seems to often involve a decline at some point--but also it's the kind of thing that could have just as easily been his third album, for the most part, although that's not to say it's not mature. In other words, what's remarkable is not simply that it's good, but the particular way in which it is good.

    "I Want to Tell You About What I Want"--the album starts with probably the weakest track, I would have opened with "Mad Shelley." But it's still really good--catchy and amusing, nothing to dislike.

    *"Virginia Woolf"*-- Then it really kicks in with this, very high energy stuff, really exciting and again, catchy. As soon as the riff starts, the album is elevated. "Virginia Woolf, she was hit for a quote/Virginia Woolf knew that stones do not float"...I love this.

    "I Pray When I'm Drunk"--The third song, when an album is supposed to be getting down to business, is an enjoyable but minor country number. Good lyrics, good song, nothing earth-shattering though. I do love country music, but his country songs are rarely my favorites (although all I can think of right now are this and "Sleeping Knights of Jesus," so maybe that's not a well-considered statement). It seems like the album drifts a little at this point, and one wonders where it's going...although it's not unheard of for a Hitchcock album to be sort of all over the place. I like this, like everything on this album, but it's not a highlight for me at this point.

    *"Mad Shelley's Letterbox"*--Good Lord. This is exceptional. Just today I realized the letterbox "filled with birthday cards" is meant to convey that she is old, I was slow on the uptake there. This is one of the best songs of the year so far. This song could be from 1987, 1977, or 1967, it has a classic feel--chugging and soaring power pop with great, affecting lyrics.

    *"Sayonara Judge"*--Killer ballad! Stately, clever, and moving. A highlight. Conveys a sense of freedom accompanying losing everything, a paean to non-attachment, perhaps.

    "Detective Mindhorn"--This is one of the tracks I think of as almost like filler, although in the best possible way. It's really good pop, kind of psychedelic in the poppy, English sense, and is a lot of fun although it doesn't stay with me as much as some of the other songs. "Everyone is guilty 'til their innocence is proved/And your innocence just moved"--what the hell does that mean? Or do I have the line wrong? This always perplexes me.

    "1970 in Aspic"--This one almost earned an asterisk (for the outstanding tracks, I know there are a lot of them but it's earned). Kind of west coast early 70s kind of stuff, I think--really groovy, if you'll allow the word. It is very satisfying to be wrapped in this groove. The steel guitar is beautiful. The track is sort of reminiscent of New Riders of the Purple Sage, or CSN(and/or Y) without the harmonies.

    "Raymond and the Wires"--Another near-highlight, but it just misses that status for me. Every song on this album is excellent, so take it as a relative assessment. Again, poppy psychedelia, this time about his dad and trolleys.

    ***"Autumn Sunglasses"***--This is my favorite song on the album, and maybe my favorite by Hitchcock. The backward guitar gives it an extra psychedelic flavor. Who can deny that if Tim Presley did this it would be his best song? It would definitely fit in with much of the neo-psych that circulates nowadays, particularly from California, although more the dopey, melodic stuff like some of Presley or Kelley Stoltz's stuff, maybe, rather than the pounding, garage-y Thee Oh Sees or Ty Segall-type material. This song almost kills me, it's so beautiful and perfect. How do they do that?!

    *"Time Coast"*--It took me a while to get into this, because on the first several listens I was so blown away by "Autumn Sunglasses" that this sort of just rolled over me. Most of the album goes down very smoothly in such a way that it takes several listens to fully appreciate it, even though it is very accessible stuff. This is another highlight, more poppy psychedelia, sort of opaque lyrics...something about an "amniotic sea" opening up for him...who knows what this is about? I wish there were lyrics available online because I can't make out all of this one.

    Right now this is my favorite Hitchcock album, and, while the newness of it is influencing me, I'm not sure if that will change. To me it sounds every bit as good as fegMANIA!, which is probably his best prior to this one (although I don't feel strongly enough about that to argue with a proponent of I Often Dream of Trains, for example...).

    So yes, my highlights are identical with those of Sprocket Henry, who is clearly a discerning listener!
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2017
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  23. SoundAdvice

    SoundAdvice Senior Member

    Location:
    Vancouver
    Amazon.com: Storefront Hitchcock: Robyn Hitchcock, Deni Bonet, Tim Keegan, Tony C. Jannelli, Jonathan Demme, Andy Keir, Edward Saxon, Gary Goetzman, Peter Saraf, Steve Shareshian: Movies & TV
    have you ever seen this?

    I'm hoping for a blu-ray release, especially with the recent passing of Demme.
     
  24. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident

    Storefront Hitchcock could really do with a comprehensive reissue, since the film, CD and vinyl are all different. There must be a lot of different tracks, takes and banter in the archives.
     
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  25. Walt

    Walt Forum Resident

    Location:
    Baltimore, MD
    I was at the second show and it was amazing. I was front row at the stage in front of him. My neck hurt for a week... so did my face from grinning.
     
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