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

Oh, you left out the word "doesn't"

 

If you think that's dull, check out Luxor.

 

Rob

Robyn loomed large in my life. REM introduced me to him cuz they raved about him to Creem Magazine probably. Bought Gotta Let This Hen Out and was floored. I got to meet him and enjoy his company on a couple of occasions. Some very special occasions like my stag, my wedding (he was at those in some sort of spirit) and in person atop St Catherine’s Hill in Winchester Summer Solstice 1990, and later at CBC Studios for a taping/broadcast. There he introduced me to his manager Peter Jenner. I wrote him once, sent photos, got a hand coloured postcard back. We lost touch. Haven’t listened to him much in years. But about 20 years ago wow he was something special to me.

 

Luxor is bad but everyone is in agreement that it's bad.

 

New video, “The Raging Muse”

 

Wow! Love this, really looking forward to the album!

 

I like the music, the intro reminds me of Get Up by REM and the piano evokes Aladdin Sane era Mike Garson.

Not so keen on the lyrics; more bloody fish. And once again, given this is an artist with one of the greatest imaginations in rock, the video's absolutely dreadful.

 

New track on the CD with the November 2022 issue of Uncut:

Midnight Tram To Nowhere

Paying tribute to archaic transport over a psychedelic blues shuffle, “Midnight Tram…” combines a few of the singer-songwriter’s obsessions. It’s also a highlight of Shufflemania!, Hitchcock’s first LP in five years.

 

Got the new record from Tiny Ghost yesterday. That cover…. well, it isn’t too far afield of some of his Instagram photo collage concoctions, so not a surprise. A party record? It didn’t strike me that way on first listen, but there is a low-key breeziness, to my ears, on many of the tracks. On 2nd-3rd listen, it is starting to grow on me. “The Feathery Serpent God” is a current favorite. Sound-wise the album is a little compressed (I got the black vinyl edition), but no more so than the previous S/T vinyl. I need to give it some more spins before speaking coherently about it. An early surprise as I wasn’t expecting it until next month.

 

Once the entire album is releaesd digitally, I'll give it a week and then I'm going to hold it up for discussion. I haven't received it yet, and I'm sure it will be some time before I do since his stuff comes from Nashville, typically. My understanding is that the digital album isn't coming out unti the end of next month, so maybe in mid-November, I'll start holding the songs up for discussion! Can't wait!

 

Got my CD (and Tubby shirt!) in yesterday from Tiny Ghost. First impressions are very positive. Don't go in expecting a more uptempo record based on The Shuffle Man (The Sir Tommy Shovell is a great rocker though). You can see how this album may have been similar to something like Eye before he sent the songs to other musicians to flesh out. However, despite this approach it has a very cohesive sound.

 

My CD copy arrived this morning, so these are my first impressions on one listen. There aren’t any real spoilers here but if you want to approach the album with a totally fresh pair of ears, then you may want to opt out now.

The first thing to say is that the contents are far better than the artwork which I don’t like at all. The back cover image (minus the silhouette) would have been much better on the front. Musically the record seems to be pitched somewhere between Eye and the eponymous last album, fuller than the former but less upfront than the latter. It’s also not a million miles from Propellor Time.

I’m already familiar with The Shuffle Man and The Raging Muse thanks to the videos but both benefit from decent amplification and not having the words appearing in front of you as you listen. Of the others, early favourites are The Man Who Loved The Rain which has a brilliant opening line and excellent lyrics throughout, The Sir Tommy Shovell with Kimberley Rew on guitar is the most Soft Boys-like track (I’m sure the title refers to a pub not a person) and The Feathery Serpent God which features a sitar, albeit less frantically than on Positive Vibrations.

The Inner Life Of Scorpio has Johnny Marr on several instruments including, according to the sleevenotes, drums (?!?!) although it sounds to me like a programmed rhythm track. To be honest, I wouldn’t have guessed he was on it from the overall sound and my initial thoughts are that it’s not a patch on Ordinary Millionaire.

For me the album suffers from a sag in the middle, with the slow blues of Midnight Tram To Nowhere and the loungey and overlong Noirer Than Noir in particular. I’m not much of a fan of either genre, nor am I convinced that they suit Robyn’s style. The album finishes very strongly and I’m sure it’s no coincidence that the presence of Sean Ono Lennon makes the closing song One Day a sort of RH take on Imagine, with its Beatles feel and state of the world lyrics. As ever Morris Windsor’s backing vocals on this song are pitch perfect.

Overall it’s a very good listen and obviously repeated plays will uncover further textures and layers. Quite a lot of RH’s albums have grabbed me immediately but this one feels as if it could be more of a slow grower. I’m looking forward to finding out in the coming weeks.

Happy listening one and all.

 

This is such a cool thread.

 

I’ll wait to comment during Lance’s review next month, but wanted to mention how nice are Emma Swift’s harmony vocals on several tracks. They add a haunting dimension that nicely compliments and elevates Robyn’s vocals.

 

Shufflemainia is officially out next Friday; I've already received my CD. The cover is so ugly it's actually kind of cute.

The digital version wont'be out until Friday the 21st though. I'm going to hold off on talking about the songs on the album until those of us inclined have had time to digest it. So, I guess that I'll start up the song by song commentary on it on the 4th of November.

 

In his email newsletter Robyn just sent a free download of “The Feathery Serpent God” - nice!

 

Still waiting for my preorder LP to show.

 

Great new interview with RH in the December 2022 issue of Uncut, now out!

 

Tiny Ghost is going to release a remastered Underwater Moonlight next year.

 

An audience with Robyn Hitchcock: "Life veers between the inane and profound, the banal and the terrifying"

 

Let me guess: with the wrong 'Old Pervert' again!

 

I'll be impressed if they just manage to make it stereo.

 

...why he prefers the UK to his native Nashville... ??

 

That explains the big cowboy hats and headsets he performs in.

 

I have found out that the digital version of Shufflemania is not coming out until November 21st. For that reason I am going to hold off until that day to start discussing the album, because I want to be able to provide links ot the songs and so on. Seems weird to release the digital version after the physical version but I guess hwen you are an independent artist like this who needs to recoup all he can from the investment, it makes sense.