Wey Wey Hep a Hole Ding Dong: Robyn Hitchcock the song by song, album by album thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Lance LaSalle, May 15, 2020.

  1. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    The Abyss

    Some amazing singing here! When he goes for that high note, wow! He nails it. And then the verses are more hushed. Fabulous.

    The cello adds just the right amount of understated drama.

    The only thing I’m not sure about is the harmonica - I’m not sure if it fits.

    But overall, this is a great track.

    4.5/5
     
  2. pocketcalculator

    pocketcalculator Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    "The Abyss" - the music and vocal make it sound like the Abyss is quite a pleasing place; maybe that's what sucks you into it. I love all the space in the arrangement, and the use of unobtrusive accents by the drummer. I agree that the harmonica pulls you out of the pleasing mood; but that may have been deliberate. Or it may have been just a Dylanism leftover from Robyn playing the song with just his acoustic guitar. 4/5.
     
  3. Shriner

    Shriner Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ann Arbor, MI, USA
    Abyss -- 4/5. Another really good song.
     
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  4. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    I like the harmonica. 4.3/5
     
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  5. MattR

    MattR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sheffield, UK
    Bit of a tangent, but I've just got back from Martin Newell's Golden Afternoon gig at Colchester Arts Centre, and who should be the special guest but Kimberley Rew! With Lee Cave-Berry, he played a stonking version of Queen of Eyes dedicated to Matthew Seligman. A nice surprise, and the whole show was terrific. Martin is a real unsung national treasure - his solo/Cleaners From Venus stuff is definitely worth a listen for Hitchcock fans if you haven't heard it.
     
  6. Melele

    Melele Groover

    Location:
    Wanderland USA
    Dipping back into the thread after a long absence to say that Tromso Kaptein was a very pleasant surprise, especially given at that time I had to special order the LP from Norway and, like someone mentioned, assumed it was a tossed off odds ‘n sods collection for fans only (why else would one release a record only in Norway?!). I love the mood that holds the whole thing together. As a fan since Fegmania!, this is the first record in a long time where I felt in sync with Robyn in terms of life perspective (I was going to say “maturity” but that sounds too….. mature?) and musical arrangement choices. The album reignited my fandom that had waned since around the Spooked timeframe. Like the Planet England tracks (jumping the gun), these are not as memorable as the early years but they resonate more with the current me, if that makes sense.
     
  7. pocketcalculator

    pocketcalculator Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    I love so many of Martin's songs, but he really seems pretty indifferent to how his recordings sound (mostly, not good). The few records that were recorded by people other than Martin (The Greatest Living Englishman, The Off-White Album) sound so much better. I wish he would let someone else produce them, but I don't think he can be bothered.
     
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  8. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for "The Abyss"

    1-0
    2-0
    3-0
    4-4
    5-5
    Average: 4.4111
     
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  9. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today's song is "Godnatt Oslo", written by Robyn HIthcock and produced by Paul Noble. Recorded by Marc Waterman.


    Robyn Hitchcock: vocals, guitar, harmonica
    Paul Noble: bass, guitar, vocals
    Jenny Adejayan: cello
    Stephen Irvine: drums
    Jennifer Macro and Lucy Parnell: vocals

    This song is a re-recording of "Goodnight NOrway" -- in Norwegian. The original English song was discussed here. Wey Wey Hep a Hole Ding Dong: Robyn Hitchcock the song by song, album by album thread
     
  10. pocketcalculator

    pocketcalculator Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    Here is a link to the album version on Tromso, Kaptein:
     
  11. pocketcalculator

    pocketcalculator Forum Resident

    Location:
    New York City
    "Godnatt Oslo" - I haven't listened to the original again, but this version seems slower, more deliberate, and a little more urgent in the vocal. In whatever language, the sense of dread and foreboding, the ship pushing forward through the fog to an unknown shore, remains. 4.5/5.

    Ok, I just listened to the English version, which is more claustrophobic, and maybe more full of dread for that, and the ending is a little better finessed. It has a bigger sound, for sure. I like it more, but the Norwegian version is still excellent, too.

    Does anyone know the story behind this album? Did Robyn just decide to record an album solely for release in Norway, and so decided to redo this song in the language for the locals? Did the label owner say, "Hey, I really like "Raining Twilight Coast", can you do a new version of that?"
     
  12. chrism1971

    chrism1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glos, UK
    Did Kimberley do his hairdo long? I have seen Martin Newell at a minor poetry festival in a Wiltshire pub... funny guy.

    I like this version of G O probably as much as the English version in a different way. The atmosphere very much reminds me of the novel Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow (which is Danish/Greenlandish but has the same chilly sense of dread)....

    4/5
     
    Last edited: Sep 20, 2021
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  13. Great Face For Radio

    Great Face For Radio Sing Hosanna, the jazz snobs are all going home.

    Location:
    London N13
    Obviously this is a great song, one of his best ever and the stand out performance from last week's St Albans gig. I prefer the more urgent and jangly English language version and, obviously, being able to understand the words makes a big difference. But it would still be a brilliant track in Cantonese, Serbo-Croat, or Urdu.

    Godnatt Oslo 4.5/5.
     
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  14. brownie61

    brownie61 Forum Resident

    Godnatt Oslo

    I gave this song 4/5 when we discussed it previously, and said the lyrics were the weak link for me. Singing in Norwegian makes the link even weaker for me. I don’t see the point.

    3.5/5
     
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  15. chrism1971

    chrism1971 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Glos, UK
    گڈ نائٹ اوسلو
     
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  16. Great Face For Radio

    Great Face For Radio Sing Hosanna, the jazz snobs are all going home.

    Location:
    London N13
    :laughup:
     
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  17. TexasBuck

    TexasBuck Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, TX
    I've been checking out this thread from time to time. (I just don't have the endurance to dedicate myself regularly to Hitchcock's extensive and complicated discography) Hitchcock is an odd artist for me. I generally prefer his more recent work to his prime stuff. The Hitchcock I listen to most is "Goodnight Oslo", "Propeller Time" and the most recent self titled. "Perspex Island" is probably next in line.

    Anyway, I noticed some pretty solid scores coming in for "Tromso, Kaptein" here. I had not heard this one before so I decided to check it out. Very glad I did! It seems, on first listen, to be roughly on par with my other favorite Hitchcock albums. Very solid from start to finish. I appreciate the "heads up" on this one!
     
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  18. TerpStation

    TerpStation "Music's not for everyone."

    Location:
    Maryland
    "Godnatt Oslo" 4/5...not quite the original, but its a great song no matter what language its in.
     
  19. MattR

    MattR Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sheffield, UK
    It's a fair point, some of the early Cleaners stuff is very gnarly! I do love his DIY spirit though so it doesn'tbother me too much, and with the advances in home recoridng equipment, his newer stuff really isn't that lo-fi. I really like Golden Lion of The Sun and Broken Dreams for Boys off his newest. Agree that you can't beat The Greatest Living Englishman though!

    Anyway, back to that other quintessentially English songwriter that I'm supposed to be discussing round here... :)
     
  20. bzfgt

    bzfgt The Grand High Exalted Mystic Ruler

    Goodnight Oslo is a 5/5, I'm not sure how to rate the foreign lyrics version...if I was a Norwegian speaker maybe I'd like this better? I always skip this, though, since I know if I want to hear it I would listen to the other one...I'm going to abstain
     
  21. zobalob

    zobalob Senior Member

    Location:
    Glasgow, Scotland.
    Like some others here, this is an album that passed me by...until now. Didn't even know of its existence, my bad because I have just about everything else. Anyway, bought the mp3 download having listened to the tracks on YouTube, as linked to in this thread. It's right up there with his best work IMO, thanks Lance :>)
     
  22. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

  23. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Our votes for "Godnatt Oslo"

    1-0
    2-0
    3-0
    4-4
    5-2
    Average: 4
     
  24. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Today, Tromso, Kaptein.
     
  25. Lance LaSalle

    Lance LaSalle Prince of Swollen Sinus Thread Starter

    Tomorrow, on the 22nd of January, September, I'll begin holding up songs from the album Love From London.
     
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