ditto!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 28 August 2012 01:29 (eleven years ago) link
Apparently working on his next album, "File Under Pop", due out very early next year.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Tuesday, 28 August 2012 03:24 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― toby, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 05:08 (eleven years ago) link
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-thebut tbh i think i got most of the material for both from toby, ez and gerald.
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 14:43 (eleven years ago) link
That does sound like a cool show. If only...
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 14:45 (eleven years ago) link
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, 29 August 2012 14:52 (eleven years ago) link
I haven't seen him since 2000! I haven't been within 150 miles of a show since then.
― EZ Snappin, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 14:55 (eleven years ago) link
It looked like this:
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8304/7886720400_e451ee5652.jpg
― toby, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 15:00 (eleven years ago) link
amazing!
― tylerw, Wednesday, 29 August 2012 15:18 (eleven years ago) link
Stream of that gig:
http://soundcloud.com/villunderlondon/robyn-hitchcock-i-often-dream
― toby, Friday, 5 October 2012 15:51 (eleven years ago) link
― 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.
― bass line has no point of view (Jon Lewis), Friday, 5 October 2012 15:59 (eleven years ago) link
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).
― tylerw, Friday, 5 October 2012 16:08 (eleven years ago) link
guess he's playing at mccabe's in santa monica tonight, where i saw many great hitchcock shows. urgh!
― tylerw, Friday, 5 October 2012 16:43 (eleven years ago) link
the "quicksand" cover is lovely, don't know if i've ever heard him do that one.
― tylerw, Friday, 5 October 2012 17:18 (eleven years ago) link
A 60th birthday concert at the same venue:
https://villageunderground.ticketabc.com/events/robyn-hitchcock-2/
― toby, Thursday, 22 November 2012 10:22 (eleven years ago) link
Very cool. Also excited that the new album has a date!
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 22 November 2012 13:29 (eleven years ago) link
new song for today, too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csWyalb2PQQ
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 22 November 2012 14:32 (eleven years ago) link
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?
― you only write about... pleassssure (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:15 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― EZ Snappin, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
Would love to see some more action from the Windsor/Noble/Edwards lineup.
― you only write about... pleassssure (Jon Lewis), Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
cool news. new song sounds good!
― tylerw, Tuesday, 27 November 2012 18:45 (eleven years ago) link
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 other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Friday, 30 November 2012 22:11 (eleven years ago) link
(My all-time favorite guitar solo on 'The Pigworker', in case anyone's curious)
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Friday, 30 November 2012 23:08 (eleven years ago) link
that's one of those weird rare songs where i don't like it all that much but think the solo rules
― arby's, Friday, 30 November 2012 23:15 (eleven years ago) link
the solo on 'When I Was A Kid' almost equals it. Rew is a monster of body vibrato.
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Friday, 30 November 2012 23:29 (eleven years ago) link
haha yeah, the guitar work on pigworker is insaaaaaane, like hendrix playing w/ beefheart.
― tylerw, Friday, 30 November 2012 23:36 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 1 December 2012 02:03 (eleven years ago) link
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).
― colette, Saturday, 1 December 2012 02:35 (eleven years ago) link
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.
― tylerw, Saturday, 1 December 2012 02:41 (eleven years ago) link
You & Oblivion and Invisible Hitchcock would both be in my top 5. Rest in pieces, you odds and sods masterpieces.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 1 December 2012 02:54 (eleven years ago) link
maybe some enterprising label will convince him to put you & oblivion out as a double LP on vinyl or something. has anyone ever asked him about the creepy little girl in between the tracks on that album?
― tylerw, Saturday, 1 December 2012 02:56 (eleven years ago) link
no idea. Pre-internet interviews are sometimes hard to find. I don't remember him doing tons of press for the Rhino reissues - lots of the same press release quotes everywhere, and the liner notes, but not much else.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 1 December 2012 03:06 (eleven years ago) link
― colette, Saturday, December 1, 2012 2:35 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This was me, not realising I was logged in as my wife.
As far as I know If We Had A Baby was never released: http://www.jh3.com/robyn/base/song.asp?squid=318
― toby, Saturday, 1 December 2012 11:15 (eleven years ago) link
I have 'If We Had A Baby' somewhere. I think on the 'Demos And Rough Sketches' boot comp that also includes 'Lobsterman' (which would go on the playlist if it could).
He played 'September Cones' memorably at the Maxwell's Hoboken all-request shows in 2004. I had just moved to NYC. Here, Archive has it!:
http://archive.org/details/robynhitchcock2004-11-14.flac16
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 16:37 (eleven years ago) link
Also, I should have included in my list of 'damn you spotify!' (or rather 'damn you A&M!') unavailables the amazing 'Chinese Bones'. The best song on its album some days (other days it's 'Vibrating').
And I added 'I Wanna Destroy You' and 'Queen Of Eyes' at the very last minute because even though I myself am completely sick of them, they're great songs and everyone loves them and I can't have people thinking I'm crazy.
Re: You & Oblivion and Invisible Hitchcock, I mean they're both pretty much on I Wanna Go Backwards all mixed up with each other, and in fantastic sound quality. But I know what y'all mean, I miss them as entities.
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 16:45 (eleven years ago) link
True, most everything is somewhere. But Invisible Hitchcock used to be my easy primer for the breadth and depth and weirdness of Hitchcock; a perfect introduction for someone who at best knew Balloon Man or something. Alas, now no perfect sampler exists.
― EZ Snappin, Saturday, 1 December 2012 16:47 (eleven years ago) link
There are some interesting 88 and 89 Egyptians shows up on Archive now, by the way. The 89s in support of REM. Short 10 song sets but it looks like they varied their set lists a lot. The 88 one is well recorded as is one of the 89s.
Also, Stewart Russell has posted some 2001 Edinburgh shows including a solo electric instrumental I never noticed before: 'Your Feelings Are The Last Thing To Die'. It's really beautiful!
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 17:37 (eleven years ago) link
And ooo! ooo! I found another RH Incredible String Band cover! 'Nightfall' in this Edinburgh show:
http://archive.org/details/Robyn_Hitchcock2001-08-04.aud.flac24
Which makes, to my knowledge:
'The Yellow Snake''Chinese White''Way Back In the 60s''Nightfall'
If an RH cover of 'Job's Tears' turned up I would shit and die.
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 17:58 (eleven years ago) link
Alas, now no perfect sampler exists.
Yep Roc put out a tiny sampler called "Chronology" recently but, good lord, how is there no comprehensive career overview for a man with such a huge back catalog? You could pick up the A&M "Greatest Hits" and the Rhino "Uncorrected Personality Traits" comps but then you still have no Soft Boys or anything since "Moss Elixir"!
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 1 December 2012 18:53 (eleven years ago) link
I hate a lot of the choices on "Chronology" I gotta say
― my other pug is a stillsuit (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 1 December 2012 18:57 (eleven years ago) link
new old Hitchcock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqRq2T1cJuA
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:24 (eleven years ago) link
nice -- don't think i've heard that one before? also don't think i've ever seen that clip for one long pair of eyes there at the end....
― tylerw, Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:35 (eleven years ago) link
I'm excited to hear he's combing the archives. Did I hear right at the end? He sorta says there will be a live show broadcast on the youtube channel? I'm assuming he mean's the birthday show, and if so, that'd be amazing.
― EZ Snappin, Thursday, 20 December 2012 18:41 (eleven years ago) link
OK, Robyn, OK, I subscribed to your YouTube channel.
BTW, I pared down my RH 'box set' to a much more more concise double disc of strict cream:
http://open.spotify.com/user/1213493496/playlist/3dfBUkUJrekhx5v6UQsXF4
― the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Friday, 21 December 2012 18:29 (eleven years ago) link
In my email just now:
Yep Roc Records is excited to announce the March 5, 2013 release of the new Robyn Hitchcock album, Love From London.
Hitchcock describes his songs as "paintings you can listen to." Love From London "celebrates life in a culture imperiled by economic and environmental collapse," he says. "We are surfing on the momentum of chaos. If a consensus on global warming comes from the people, then the media, the politicians, and the corporations will have to adapt to it. Rock and Roll is an old man's game now, so I'm staying in it."
The record was produced and engineered by Paul Noble, and features Noble on bass, guitar, keyboards and vocals; Jenny Adejayan on cello and vocals; Lizzie Anstey on vocals and keyboards and Jenny Macro, Lucy Parnell and Anne Lise Frokedal on vocals.
Personnel list leads me to think this will be in the same general sound world as Tromse Kaptein...
― the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 22 December 2012 03:32 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, that was my thinking as well - and I wasn't impressed with "Tromso" aside from a few tunes. Granted, he's just come off a trilogy of his best work but still...
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Saturday, 22 December 2012 05:07 (eleven years ago) link
Same reaction to Tromso over here. We'll see...
― the clown's reflection is incorrect (Jon Lewis), Saturday, 22 December 2012 05:17 (eleven years ago) link
Tromso was a bit boring, yeah, but I thought that was as much the songs' fault as anything else -- if he's got a good collection of tunes, i'm optimistic.
― tylerw, Friday, 28 December 2012 15:38 (eleven years ago) link
That's my hope-- that Tromso was the second tier of this batch.
― Q-Tip—blessed Q-Tip! (Jon Lewis), Friday, 28 December 2012 16:29 (eleven years ago) link
I think Tromso sounds like all the songs the Venus 3 rejected over the past x number of years. There are a few solid ones, but as always, it takes other people -- for the recent past that's been the Venus 3 -- to let Robyn know what is good and what is naff. I hope to hell someone in the current circle of friends can do the same.
― EZ Snappin, Friday, 28 December 2012 16:35 (eleven years ago) link