Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

twilight coast is just guitar and cello, so, no full band on that. it's pretty good though.

It's mixed really oddly - the cello is a bit overwhelming, don't you think?

On that song or the whole album?

That particular song, but there's other spots on the album where the mix felt strange - al,ost like certain instruments weree too far up in the mix. I need to give another listen and make some notes for a proper review.

First impression of this is that it's not very good. Not Luxor levels of suck, but an uninteresting throwaway. I like "Savannah" with it's "I Am The Walrus" strings, and even in Norwegian "Godnatt Oslo" is one of the best songs in his entire catalog.

I agree that the mix isn't helping; it's too punchy. Anything in the lower registers - cello, bass, etc - is slapped into the front more than seems necessary for the material.

it's ok, it seems like a trifle of a record though, not as good as propeller time or most of the other recent albums. but it kind of seems like an afterthought record anyway, with what are basically two cover versions of his own material

"Tromso, Kaptein" just arrived in the mailbox. It has a fairly tossed off feel to it, his singing is a bit flat in places - "Dismal City" for example. The new version of "Raining Twilight Coast" pales in comparison to the original, the female backing vocals just detract. On the plus side, "Old Man Weather" is wonderfully soulful and I appreciate that Robyn seems to be trying something different. A decidedly minor addition to his catalog.

Is the mix better on the actual disc than on the downloads?

haven't head the new one yet, but i'll get to it. in the meantime ... anton barbeau and the egyptians? http://www.pledgemusic.com/projects/threeminutetease

I'm clearing out stuff in preparation for moving, and came across roughly 35 CDRs of Robyn shows from (mostly) the 1990s - nothing especially rare, I suspect, but all pre-mp3 CDR trades from 10 years ago, or occasionally stuff downloaded from DIME and burned to CDR. Includes a complete UK tour from 99 or 2000, I think. Anyway, I don't have time to rip this stuff to mp3 and tag etc, so it's no use to me.

I don't think my mail here works, but if someone living *in the US* (sorry, don't want to mess around with airmail) wants them, post here and I'll get in touch and send them to you.

hi! i'd be into getting these, maybe sharing some of them on my blog...

Webmail sent.

he played a great set in whitechapel last week. was the first time i'd heard anything by him tbh. will def be checking some more stuff out. nice dude.

http://www.hells-belles.org/2011/05/robyn-hitchcock-plays-captain-beefheart/

urgh, that show sounds rad. hitchcock can actually do a convincing beefheart impersonation.

Noticed in my email that RH will be at Bell House in Brooklyn on November 19. It's been a longer span than usual without a US tour for him.

Wonder if it'll be rawk band or solo troubador format...

cool, kind of hope it's with a band? and that he does an actual tour ... still never seen him with the venus 3 somehow.
this sounds great (from his website)
Robyn re-opens Eye
To commemorate its 21st anniversary, RH plays a definitive version of his second entirely solo record EYE, at St. Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch, London. First released in 1990, and subsequently in various formats (most recently by YepRoc), the record has contained different track selections. In this show where RH will be joined by Jenny Adejayan on cello, and Lucy Parnell & Jen Macro on harmonies, he will attempt to present a ‘director’s cut’ of the piece.

Doors are at 7:30pm. TICKETS are £15 in advance HERE.

Hmm maybe it's that in NYC. That would be fine w/me because his IODOT show with small ensemble was totally amazing (same show as the CD release).

yeah the Trains CD was a a pleasant surprise -- nice reimaginings, w/o being super radical about it. EYE with a backing band is intriguing ...

I have a spare (free) ticket for his London show tomorrow night, post if you're interested: http://www.villageunderground.co.uk/events/robyn-hitchcock

If I wasn't thousands of miles away I would be all over it. Hope you find a taker!

ditto!

Apparently working on his next album, "File Under Pop", due out very early next year.

OK, this was pretty great! 5 musicians on a rooftop in perfect weather. We got IODOT + a Roxy Music cover, Quicksand + Queen Elvis. Maybe not quite as good musically as the IODOT show I saw in Boston a few years ago, but the atmosphere was awesome.

ah, that sounds cool.
i'll point these things out on my blog -- http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/29493804365/ghost-ship-heres-a-short-but-extremely-sweet and http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/26576660442/the-soft-boys-underwater-moonlight-live-the
but tbh i think i got most of the material for both from toby, ez and gerald.

That does sound like a cool show. If only...

i know i've complained about it (probably on this thread) but it's going on 7 years since i've seen hitchcock live. and before that i think i had a streak of seeing him pretty much every year from 1994-2005.

I haven't seen him since 2000! I haven't been within 150 miles of a show since then.

It looked like this:

http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7886720400_e451ee5652.jpg

amazing!

Stream of that gig:

http://soundcloud.com/villunderlondon/robyn-hitchcock-i-often-dream

i know i've complained about it (probably on this thread) but it's going on 7 years since i've seen hitchcock live. and before that i think i had a streak of seeing him pretty much every year from 1994-2005.

― tylerw, Wednesday, August 29, 2012 10:52 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This. My at-least-once-a-year streak lasted until the tour for Goodnight Oslo (with that unforgettable arrangement of 'The Lizard'!) but since then, nada.

this IODOT gig sounds cool! nice to hear some different keyboard touches (i guess they didn't want to haul a real piano up to the roof).

guess he's playing at mccabe's in santa monica tonight, where i saw many great hitchcock shows. urgh!

the "quicksand" cover is lovely, don't know if i've ever heard him do that one.

A 60th birthday concert at the same venue:

https://villageunderground.ticketabc.com/events/robyn-hitchcock-2/

Very cool. Also excited that the new album has a date!

new song for today, too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csWyalb2PQQ

Can't believe motherfucker is almost 60. I've been hunkering down with his stuff for 27 years.

What's the skinny on the new album? Electric band? Troubador mode?

It's not the Venus 3, but other than that I don't know. He's been playing a lot with the band in that clip, so it could be a Robyn & friends record.

Would love to see some more action from the Windsor/Noble/Edwards lineup.

cool news. new song sounds good!

This is mostly for Gerald McBoing-Boing, who pestered me for awhile about my claim that every RH record can and should be boiled down to a brilliant EP. It's my long playlist of the finest of Robyn (within the constraints of what's included on Spotify). Roughly chronological order. If this were on CD-Rs it would be a 6CD boxset.

Verities & Verdigris: The Gold Of Robyn Hitchcock

http://open.spotify.com/user/1213493496/playlist/2tcoKqzbBfeKPg2NlA1a47

(The most tragic omissions due to Spotify unavailability are:
'It's Not Just The Size Of A Walnut'
'Salamander'
'I Wanna Be An Anglepoise Lamp'
'Luminous Rose'
'The Ghost Ship' (playlist is pretty much worthless without this)
'Lysander'
'Birds In Perspex'
'Watch Your Intelligence'
'Arms Of Love' (had to sub in the live one)
'Ring Them Bones'
'City Of Women'
'I Love Lucy'
'Sudden Town'
'Strings'
'Narcissus'

But what can ye do?)

(My all-time favorite guitar solo on 'The Pigworker', in case anyone's curious)

that's one of those weird rare songs where i don't like it all that much but think the solo rules

the solo on 'When I Was A Kid' almost equals it. Rew is a monster of body vibrato.

haha yeah, the guitar work on pigworker is insaaaaaane, like hendrix playing w/ beefheart.

Oooooo, lovely! I will dig into this over the weekend but a cursory look shows we're well on the same page: "September Cones", "You've Got" and "She Reached For A Light" jump out at me! The only glaring omission I see is "Glass" from "Fegmania", that's one of Robyn's fairly straightforward, deeply penetrating songs.

September Cones is such a great song. I still hope to see him play it one day (and If We Had A Baby, which really isn't going to happen).

is if we had a baby on anything or is it just a bootleg thing?
september cones really is an incredible song -- i guess he was playing it live a bit a few years ago. a shame that the you & oblivion album is kind of written out of his history at this point. i might even put that in my top 5 hitchcock albums.

You & Oblivion and Invisible Hitchcock would both be in my top 5. Rest in pieces, you odds and sods masterpieces.