Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

I would seriously consider listening to some live bootlegs, too - his solo shows from the early 90s are some of my favourite things to listen to. They're rather unrepresented here, but I'm sure there's also some good stuff:

http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=collection%3Aetree%20AND%20creator%3A%22Robyn%20Hitchcock%22&sort=-date

I never listened to the albums (other than Eye) all that much in comparison to the live tapes/CDs I had, so the box set has been something of a revelation to me - I've been playing it a lot lately, and also pulling out all the live CDs I have. One thing I'd forgotten, listening to them, is how many great songs he's never released; I'm pretty obsessed with "If we had a baby" at the moment.

"i often dream of trains" was the first solo hitchcock i heard, and it's still my favorite, fellow emily.

brilliant - thanks everyone!

I just got into Hitchcock solo recently, and the first album was I Often Dream Of Trains, which I adore.

moss elixir still the solidest front to back (to me). im sure ive repped it elsewhere in ilm.

this from spooked popped up unbidden on my player yesterday and cheered me-

"Press 1 for Famine, 2 for Pestilence, 3 for Condoleeza, and 4 for Death.
Please note that Pestilence closes at six."

i started with globe of frogs and I think that's probably a very good place, but maybe other people don't like it, dunno. it and element of light seem like the quinessential hitchcock albums to me (and 'trains' the essential non-band album).

I can't do it. I'm going to cry. I'm going to fucking cry. Jesus, leave me alone. He makes me cry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hck2K6uuqwE

I can't stop crying.

"acid bird" from "black snake diamond role" = yes.

Aw yeah. Black Snake Diamond Role. I haven't heard that one in a long, long time. Thanks.

Looking forward to the latest box set, Luminous Groove, featuring the pre A&M Egyptians records, Fegmania, Element of Light and Gotta Let This Hen Out, plus two discs of live and unreleased material. The live stuff in particular should be lovely -- I've got a couple recordings of Robyn, Andy and Morris that are blissful.
Wonder when that new Venus 3 record will be out? Last one was aces.

And anybody who's a fan should check out that IFC documentary from last year (available on Netflix!). Good stuff, including a bizarre jam session featuring: Peter Buck, Nick Lowe, John Paul Jones, a dude from Presidents of the United States of America, Scott McCaughey and Robyn. Grumpy ol' Pete Buck is funny throughout, as he not too subtly disses his day job band.

I can't believe that the Luminous Groove box set is going to confine "The Can Opener" to the dustbin of history. I like these reissues - they sound great, and the included extras are fine - but I wish that previously released stuff wasn't pushed to the side.

yeah it's true -- all of the most recent reissues give you reason to hold on to those Rhino discs from the 90s. some of it does seem like fiddling for fiddling's sake ...

He says in the aforementioned documentary that when he is writing them he has no clue which of his songs are keepers or which are fluff; sadly, it appears he hasn't figured it out over time, either.

Off the Top of my lightbulb head

Acid Bird
Insanely Jealous
I wanna Destroy you

all classic

oh and 'The Queen Of Eyes'...

EZ SNAPPIN, I kind of like that Hitchcock has always been pretty filter-less -- he's definitely not a very fussy songwriter, like say, Elvis Costello. And as a result, I think that he is able to get a lot more across. Sure there are bound to be duds on pretty much everyone of his albums, but it sort of sets up an interesting tension. Even on songs that I've known for years, there will be the odd line amidst a bunch of throwaways that will knock me out.

Agree that during his best years, his records are filler free in that he wasn't ever just painting by numbers. The songs all have distinct personalities, even the ones that might be in need of a little correction. In recent years, though, I do get the feeling that he's sometimes just pushing out product.

S: Wading Through a Ventilator

Other S:

Leppo and the Jooves
I Want to Be an Anglepoise Lamp
I Wanna Destroy You
Queen of Eyes
Acid Bird
St. Petersburg
Trash
Insect Mother
Raymond Chandler Evening
Flesh #1
Queen Elvis
Clean Steve
Linctus House
She Doesn't Exist
Alright, Yeah
Dark Green Energy
Dark Princess
Television

He is my all-time favorite, and I'm glad to see he's getting around A&M Records by putting out demos and live versions of lots of those songs; but losing tracks I consider classic seems such a shame. "Mellow Together", "Eaten By Her Own Dinner", "Polly On The Shore", "Mr. Rock 'N' Roll" are all now in the dustbin.

He's never had a filler-free work, though the two odds-n-sods are pretty close; Invisible Hitchcock and You & Oblivion (even to some extent the recent Shadow Cat) are pretty much packed to the gills with memorable stuff. I love the weird old nuggets, but I'm with Contenderizer in that of late there's been a steeper drop off (again, Shadow Cat rescues a whole bunch of great weird stuff, including some out there vocal processed acappella songs).

As excited as I am that the classic 80s albums are returning to print I'm a little saddened that they aren't as "Complete" as they could be. Plus, I'd love to only own one copy of each and be able to give my Rhino editions away to friends.

He's never had a filler-free work, though the two odds-n-sods are pretty close; Invisible Hitchcock and You & Oblivion...

-- EZ

yeah You & Oblivion is def. up there as one of his greatest collections, which is crazy since I'm assuming that it is going to stay out of print ... "September Cones," "Ghost Ship," "Victorian Squid," "Birdshead" etc. Some of my fave Hitchcock songs of all time there.
if you haven't listened already, this has been on my stereo for a while now: http://www.archive.org/details/rh2008-05-31
great recording, great setlist, and the tunes with the violinist at the end are sublime.

Thanks for the heads-up on the new archive shows. If you don't have it yet, the NHK radio show from 2005 is one of the best I've ever heard:

http://www.archive.org/details/rhitchcock2005-10-06.flacf

is there any bonus for preordering the new box from yep rox this time?

I don't believe so. I'm getting it from my local store.

what about the soft boys box that's coming later this year, any info?

Yep Roc has been silent - I think press will start up in a month or two, after the push for Luminous Groove.

so the new robyn hitchcock box set has been released, anyone heard it yet?

I'm a sucker for all things Hitchcock so I picked this up yesterday. Some good, some bad; the sound quality for the three albums is better than the Rhino or any other edition, but the extras (except for the live stuff added to Hen) are pretty meh.

The two-discs of unreleased material (entitled A Bad Case Of History) I found less interesting than the stuff on the previous set. The Egyptians outtakes and demos are a mixed bag. Their versions of songs that were released in other forms ("I Am Not Me", "Beautiful Queen", "Agony Of Pleasure") aren't that exciting, though it may be familiarity trumping the new; most of the others are inferior to anything that made actual albums, with the exception of "Zipper In My Spine" which is as punk as anything he did with the Soft Boys.

The live disc is all over the place. Instead of being a particular show it is random tracks from different shows and tours; the audience is often so far down in the mix that most of them seem like rehearsals. The stuff from Respect is probably the best - "Wafflehead", "Railway Shoes", a beautiful "Wreck of the Arthur Lee". They could do anything they wanted in the end. Overall, it doesn't come near to Gotta Let This Hen Out!, especially with the new added tracks. One weird thing - the additions to Hen come from 1989, and a few of the tracks on the bonus live disc seem to be from the same show.

haven't picked this up yet (anyone know of any deals?), but I'm excited to have a good quality version of "Surfer Ghost" finally. That's been one of my fave unreleased songs of his for ages now.

but yeah, i agree that the bonus stuff here seems chosen kind of haphazardly -- looks like stuff that would go better with the A&M albums than the ones present here. but oh well ... looking forward to hearing it all, regardless.

I got it for under $40 w/tax.

"Surfer Ghost" is good. It just got buried between "I Am Not Me" and "Beautiful Queen" so I missed it when I was skimming the listing.

I think he doesn't expect the A&M albums to get back in print, so he's trying to rescue some of that material. Would have loved a box that was just various live versions of all the A&M stuff. That would take serious balls to put out though, especially if he ever hopes to get the rights back.

it is pretty wacky that the A&M years are so inaccessible now ... when I interviewed him a few years back he said this about it:

"Well, it's just some warehouse in Burbank, and there's some guy sitting there with this supply of candles. And he waits until one candle burns right down to the stub and then he blows it out. And then he pulls a lighter out of his pocket and lights a new candle and puts it on top of his desk. And the camera pans back, and you see that he's all alone in this huge, dark warehouse. Bright California sun is beating down outside and he's sitting there with one glowing candle and thousands of master tapes, the whole A&M back catalog. I'm not sure I'm even going to attempt to dig that stuff up. But I do have the rights to the rest of it."

Insanely jealous of those of you who attend Robyn's Symphony Space concert in November, when he'll be playing all of I Often Dream of Trains. At least they're taping it for later simulcast on Sundance ...
http://www.symphonyspace.org/event/2684

Holy shit, wow, that's great.

I have front row tickets for the IODOT show in Somerville. Not 100% sure I will be able to go, though, as I have to catch a 6am flight to Japan the next day.

Awesome, I got the mailer for the NY show and assumed it was a one-off, had no idea he was touring. Toby, though I sympathize with your dilemma, either way seems like a good outcome: you could see the show and sleep all the next day on the plane, or if you decide to pass this time I'd be happy to take the tickets off your hands.

Hey here's Storefront Hitchock if you want to see it.

http://www.hulu.com/watch/39076/storefront-hitchcock

IODOT show was fantastic - best show I've seen him play in a few years. Really, really great - one of those shows where a song you've never noticed much (That's fantastic mother church, in this case) gains a whole new perspective.

otm! it was amazing. genius. but, why the hell wasn't it sold out? boston is weird. embarrassing! comparable to the pitiful turnout boston gave to John Cale at the Paradise a while ago...

otoh, it was a great weekend for me--RH at Somerville Theater on Friday, Stars of the Lid at the Regent Theater on Sunday!

The new Venus 3 album, Goodnight Oslo hits next month. As expected, it is out in the wild already. On first listen - Wow! The difference between this and Olé! Tarantula is bigger than expected; whereas Olé! sounded like Hitchcock songs with some new backing, Oslo sounds much more organic and cohesive. These songs sound like they were written with the band in mind. The production is also notable; there is a 70s feel to much of it, with some great horn parts, female backing vocals, and general AM radio vibe. Not that I wasn't going to get this day of release, but I'm psyched. More thoughts after I've heard it more than once.

Cool -- I've been hearing good things about this one.

Out today! CD sounds better than the leaked MP3s. Digging it immensely - P4k wrong as per usual. Popmatters review was much better.

Finally got this last night, listened on the bus this morning ... sounds good -- and different? I dunno, just doesn't seem quite as by-the-numbers Hitchcock as some of his more recent output. (Don't get me wrong, I like by-the-numbers Hitchcock). I guess there were just a few curveballs ... I'll have to listen more.

Hey-

have more people listened to Goodnight Oslo? One of the best albums of his career, and a high point in a mediocre year.

yeah, i agree, this album is killer, a lot of great songs, and the Venus 3 sounds wonderful, up there with the Soft Boys and Egyptians now, but supporting Robyn in a different way than those other groups. apparently, there's an all-acoustic Venus 3 record already in the can? Peter Buck mentioned it in an interview recently ....

There is a live I Often Dream OF Trains coming out this fall, recorded on the tour he did last year. Truly hitting on all cylinders these days.

Wonder if the novel he wrote in the late 90s/early 00s will ever get published?

Is the Trains release a DVD, or is it coming out on CD too? Dunno about the novel -- if it's anything like the liner note short story things that crop up occasionally, I can't imagine that publishers would be leaping to get it in print. Not that they're bad or anything -- I think they're fun! -- just not a ton of commercial appeal ...

His website is saying DVD and CD. Wonder if it'll be different tracks on different formats like Storefront was.

I Often Dream Of Trains In New York is out today - CD & DVD for the price of a CD. Sounds great so far, look forward to seeing the show. One track different between the two, I'm guessing encores. "America" is on the CD and "I'm Falling" is on the DVD.