Robyn Hitchcock Appreciation Thread

That's a beautiful song. Thanks for sharing.

 

Can't agree enough about this. On some days, is my favorite RH record of all time. On other days, it's at least in the top 3 with IODOT and Underwater Moonlight. "Luckiness" and "Evolve" are the real gems. Hard to believe that songs that brilliant are just hidden away on an album that the public at large hasn't noticed.

 

I love Hitchcock's 80's and 90's material, albums like Fegmania, I Often Dream of Trains and Queen Elvis are classics, but I seem to have lost interest in him after Jewels for Sophia. I see a lot of people here mentioning Spooked as his last great album. Is it as good as the classic stuff? I'd like to check out some of his newer material, but the few samples I've heard didn't thrill me that much.

 

After a nice jacuzzi in the spin-clean, she is an awful lot quieter. Still not the tidiest pressing I've ever heard - which is a shame for such a gentle record - but definitely more tolerable. Put this in the drawer marked "forehead palm."

 

Robyn's Facebook page announced that they found new CD copies of Luxor, Robyn Sings and Star for Bram and they are available online now:
Products / Robyn Hitchcock »

 

"If Bob Dylan hadn’t appeared in my adolescence, I would have probably been Peter Cook Part Two", Robyn Hitchcock told Brooklyn Vegan in a new interview written by Aug Stone: Robyn Hitchcock talks America, comedy, Dylan, Bowie and his upcoming tour with Eugene Mirman (BV interview) »

 

In an interview with The Ithaca Journal, Mr. Hitchcock said that his new album is basically recorded now, but it won't come out until 2017. He described the new album as "my world in Britain, but looked at through the prism of overseas and recorded through the prism of Nashville".

In the interview he also describes the occasion when he first heard a David Bowie song in April of 1967: Hear Robyn Hitchcock’s psychedelic whimsy in Ithaca »

 

"Brendan Benson [of the Raconteurs] produced and engineered it (the new album) and he prompted me to return one more time to the two-guitars, bass, drums and harmonies template, cut this time with Nashville players and a little pedal-steel".

"Q&A with Robyn Hitchcock: He began in the punk era but landed in Nashville" by Peter Whoriskey of The Washington Post: Q&A with Robyn Hitchcock: He began in the punk era but landed in Nashville »

 

The Washington Times new Robyn Hitchcock interview dated April 5, 2016: " 50 years later, I think The Beatles are the lasting influence on me, even more so than Dylan. Syd Barrett I loved. Listening to him showed me how to translate Bob Dylan into being English. In many ways Syd Barrett was “the English Bob Dylan.”"

"Robyn Hitchcock: ‘The Beatles, Bob Dylan and Me’", by Keith Valcourt: Robyn Hitchcock says Bob Dylan, Beatles among his influences »

 

Robyn Hitchcock performed three songs from his upcoming album.

The songs were recorded last April at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta for listeners of Just Off the Radar, a radio show which broadcasts on Georgia's WUGA station.

The songs are:

* “I Pray When I’m Drunk” (18.50)
* “Raymond And The Wires” (28.40)
* “Mad Shelly’s Letterbox” (38.50)

The numbers in parentheses indicate the mark, approximately, where the songs start streaming on this website: Episode #459: New PJ Harvey, Robyn Hitchcock Session »

 

Have loved RH's stuff for many years now. SPOOKED is a great album on par with his best solo material imo. I really enjoyed that one, played it a lot. Also, loved his two tracks on the Rachel Getting Married soundtrack - "Up To Our Nex" and "America" - which was released back in 2008. RH is a great blend of Syd Barrett and Bob Dylan with a bit of John Lennon thrown in. He was a leader of the Jangle Pop movement in the 80's - "Madonna Of The Wasps" a good example of that sound.

 

As a bit of an RH beginner, can I ask for some advice? I really like the track "to Be Human". Is there an album or collection with similar material? Thanks folks

 

"Robyn Hitchcock Lives in Nashville But He Hasn't Gone 'Twangy'"
"Robyn Hitchcock spent a good chunk of his life in England, including his tenure with the psych-rock band Soft Boys and through his solo career with and without the Egyptians. These days, however, Hitchcock’s living in Nashville, where he’s working on a new album".

"(...) Hitchcock has recruited some Nashville-based musicians, including guitarist Anne McCue, pedal steel player Russ Pahl and Wilco’s Pat Sansone (who’s a neighbor of Hitchcock’s) to sing harmonies along with (Emma) Swift."

By Jon Solomon, Westword.com: Robyn Hitchcock Lives in Nashville But He Hasn't Gone "Twangy" »

 

Crikey, that sounds promising. I wasn't that enamored with the unadorned tracks previewed on the radio show, but I look forward to hearing the album when it drops.

 

Saw him play "I Pray When I'm Drunk" live last month. Not a fave. I do like "Raymond and the Wires". "Mad Shelley..." is growing on me.

I really dig ALMOST all of Robyn's work. I still can't bond with LOVE FROM LONDON. Part of my problem with that album may be the horrible mix. WAY too bass heavy!

 

Digging the demo of "Raymond and the Wires" on soundcloud. (www.soundcloud.com/robynhitchcock).

 

Love From London is one of my least favourite RH albums. Up there with the general wretchedness of Groovy Decay. The mix is the big part of the issue, but I find a lot of the songwriting well below par.

 

"Looking ahead, I'll be releasing a 7 inch vinyl with Robyn Hitchcock later this year. We co-wrote the songs together on the Isle of Wight and then recorded them with Scotsman Norman Blake from Teenage Fanclub at Spaghetti Studios in Canada. The artwork is currently being designed in Australia. It's a transcontinental effort! Stay tuned for the release date, which is likely to be around October."

- Emma Swift
(source: artist newsletter).

 

There's a pre-order page for Robyn Hitchcock and Emma Swift's Love is a drag - new 7 inch single out November 15:
Robyn Hitchcock & Emma Swift 'LOVE IS A DRAG' 7 inch »

 

Setlist – Saturday, October 22, 2016 at Philharmonic Music Room, Liverpool:

1. I Pray When I’m Drunk
2. My Wife And My Dead Wife
3. Saturday Groovers
4. Bass
5. N.Y. Doll
6. I’m Only You
7. Glass Hotel*
8. Life Is Change*
9. Love Is A Drag*
10. Victorian Squid
11. Dismal City
12. Queen Of Eyes
13. I Often Dream Of Trains
14. Mad Shelley’s Letterbox


Encores:

15. Visions Of Johanna (Dylan)*
16. The Prettiest Star (Bowie)*
17. Just Like A Woman (Dylan)*
18. Queen Elvis*


*with Emma Swift

.

 

Some photos from last night:

 

A bit of a belated post regarding Robyn and Emma Swift's superlative gig at the Grace Emily in Adelaide back on the 15th December last year. I've been on vacation for the past two weeks in Thailand, so my presence around these parts has been duely distracted.

But what a gig! The Grace is my favourite pub in Adelaide and was perfect for a Swift/Hitchcock double bill. It's a small-ish pub and traditional in the Australian sense with a long bar, small band room and beer garden. One of its key features is the vast array of memorabilia, kitsch art and vintage items that festoon the bar and surrounding areas. Robyn seemed particularly taken with the moose's head that looms over the fireplace near the bar.

Emma's set was an excellent mix of material from her mini-album and some newer 'apocalyptic love songs' played on the newly acquired Crucianelli electric guitar. Although the main attraction was obviously Hitchcock, Swift's got quite a few followers here in Adelaide - including myself - and it made for a very enjoyable opening act.

Robyn hit the stage about half an hour later. My memory's a bit sketchy, but the setlist I think was as follows:

I Pray When I’m Drunk
My Wife And My Dead Wife
Saturday Groovers
The Cheese Alarm
I’m Only You
Glass Hotel*
Love Is A Drag*
Neitzsche's Way *
Full Moon In My Soul
Airscape
Dismal City
Queen Of Eyes
I Often Dream Of Trains
Mad Shelley’s Letterbox
----
Visions Of Johanna
The Ghost Ship
Just Like A Woman*

* w/Emma Swift

Some lovely highlights with an extended "Cheese Alarm" and ridiculously spaced-out interlude during "I'm Only You". Robyn strapped on Emma's electric for a few numbers, including a stunning rendition of "Airscape". The newer numbers ("Drunk" and "Mad Shelley") really shone and I'm getting pretty stoked for the new album when it materialises in a couple of months. Vocally, Robyn was in the best form I've ever heard and was visibly having a great time onstage and soaking up a hugely appreciative audience. A cracking way to see out last year.

 

Was going to start a Robyn appreciation thread, but I found there's no need as I found this one!

Been enjoying his stuff for many years now, after picking up Eye used on vinyl probably ten years ago at a record store.

Got to catch him in LA opening for Nick Drake several years ago, just Robyn on solo acoustic. Very funny moment where he swatted at an invisible fly mid-song, and kind of staggered offstage befuddled only to return seconds later. Really tripped people out in the crowd.

 

Opening for who? I'm not sure who you mean as THE Nick Drake died in 1974.