Robyn Hitchcock/Soft Boys: Classic or Dud?

thanks for breaking all that down! on first glance, it doesn't appear quite as exciting as it seemed when they announced it, in terms of unreleased stuff ... but Robyn's gone through his demos/outtakes quite a bit over the years, so it's not too surprising there isn't all that much "new" stuff here. The "I Wanna Go Backwards" tune sounds good. But the A&M records (Globe of Frogs, Queen Elvis, Perspex Island and Respect) are the ones that really need the deluxe reissue treatment. Anyone know if that's in the works?

Hmph. There's not a lot on there I need. I think I'll be cherrypicking the dozen or so unreleased songs off emusic.

This is mostly just moving a bunch of previously available stuff into new configurations. Also NO LOBSTERMAN WTF ROBYN I AM HAVING A HARD TIME RESPECTING YOU

I'm torn; I've bought these in multiple configurations before, but I'm not seeing much incentive this time. I want the unreleased stuff (being a total Hitchcock geek), but listening to them at the Yep Roc site makes me think there is a reason these were left off of the Rhino reissues.

One correction to your incredibly helpful list Mr. Odd - big thanks, by the way, it is most helpful - it looks like "Aether" moved from You & Oblivion to I Often Dream of Trains.

I wish they were publishing the tracklist to the second boxset; I'm assuming/hoping many of the tracks that appear to be dropping from Rhino reissues are just being reassigned. Relegating "Polly On The Shore" to the dustbin of history would be shameful.

One correction to your incredibly helpful list Mr. Odd - big thanks, by the way, it is most helpful - it looks like "Aether" moved from You & Oblivion to I Often Dream of Trains.

I thought that initially as well, but listening to it on the stream showed it's something different, or a demo of what wound up on _Y&O_. Also, I have found that the version of "The Abandoned Brain" (one of my faves) is a demo with an even more moving vocal take.

For starters, it would be nice if the CD versions of his 80s albums would be available in Europe again. I didn't discover him properly until they were deleted, and now I'm stuck with burned copies based on downloaded stuff.

Geir -

do you mean the A&M years? Because this Yep Roc project will redo all the other 80s recordings, and they have international distrobution deals.

The A&M stuff really needs a proper archive. There's plenty of extra stuff too - I'd love to hear the full set of solo covers that made the rounds on an A&M promo tape.

Can someone please clarify - the bonus tracks for Eye don't look familiar to me, are they previously unreleased? Also, aren't the last three bonus tracks for "I Often Dream..." also previously unreleased?

Those ones you mention are all previously unreleased. Mr. Odd has done a good job attributing all previously released material.

Wait-- how can the vocal on Abandoned Brain be more moving?! That seems impossible...

Just thought I'd bump this now that the reissues are out in the wild. I haven't compared the sound to the Rhino or other previous releases, but did listen to the first disc of While Thatcher Mauled Britain. The previously unreleased stuff fits in nicely with the other demos and oddities. It is nicely paced - no major dips or lags.

Anyone else pick this up?

And Mr. Odd was right - this latest version of "The Abandoned Brain" is actually more moving. Definite standout track.

you know what's particularly good here? the bonus tracks on Black Snake Diamond Role. Nothing that wasn't released on either Invisible HItchcock or the Rhino reissue, but taken together, it's like a great, lost circa 81-82 Hitchcock solo record. The songs are:

1. All I Wanna Do Is Fall In Love
2. A Skull, A Suitcase ...
3. It Was The Night
4. I Watch The Cars No. 2
5. Give Me A Spanner Ralph
6. It's A Mystic Trip
7. Grooving On An Inner Plane
8. Happy The Golden Prince

Anyway, I've just got promo burns of the box set, but I'm considering shelling out for the real deal.

long interview over at avclub.com today. most interesting bit is this:
"In January, there is a record coming out called Shadow Cat, which is unreleased recordings from the '90s. But that's only coming out in Britain to start with, on a label called Sartorial, which is run by a friend of mine called Terry Edwards. And then, sometime in the spring, the Egyptians-era stuff is coming out, which we've just started work on. That will have Element Of Light, Fegmania!, and Gotta Let This Hen Out! and a bunch of related stuff, and then I'm hoping that the Soft Boys material will come out next autumn on Matador Records, and by then, the new one with The Venus 3 will have come out as well."

I've been diving in for the past two days. Agreed about the Black Snake bonus tracks being the high point so far. Overall, seems worth the splurge, at least for the CD versions - really pretty inexpensive.

i'm considering getting the box but i don't like how they mauled I Often Dream of Trains as i know it with the bonus tracks

if there was ever an album that was improved by sticking the bonus tracks in the middle it was that one

yeah, i think i kinda agree, IODOT in its expanded version (with the bonus trax in the middle) is how I was introduced to the album -- and where's "Mellow Together"? That one is great.

I saw him in Minneapolis last week, with Sean Nelson. Great show, and he played a beautiful new song that he said was written for an upcoming Brian Epstein biopic.

I went to the Milwaukee show - also great. Bought a copy of the box set too, and got it signed.

Is the download version of the box really only $9.99? Seems pretty bargainous!

uh, yeah, is it really $9.99? That is like the deal of the century. that's how downloads should be priced!

if it is then i really hope they do the egyptians box at that price, too. that would be extremely sweet. the thing that makes me think it might be a mistake on their website is that the individual album reissues are also that price.

So who has the physical object? More to the point, how's the booklet? I'm tempted to just buy the DL unless the booklet's substantial...

Also, the three album reissues have been up on eMusic for about a month, but not the Thatcher Mauled Britain part. And now Amazon is claiming exclusive for the download version of the entire box (about $50 from them). Where's this $9.99 info coming from?

However, I noticed eMusic does carry the Sartorial label, so Shadowcat should be available from there when the time comes.

$9.99 is coming from the Yep Roc website:

http://store.yeproc.com/album.php?id=12810

I haven't really looked through the box properly yet (I bought it as a gift for someone), but I don't recall anything substantial booklet-wise.

Hmm, it looks like a lot of the juiciest tracks are not part of the downloadables though.

If you buy the actual cds there's a little piece of paper pointing you to a free "extra" track you can download - a demo of "It Sounds Great When You're Dead".

Nice little touch.

OK, so I just bought the download. You do indeed get all 102 tracks in DRM-free 192kbps MP3s for $9.99! The only annoying thing is that they haven't tagged the discs separately - I've emailed to see if they can sort that out. Anyway, I can highly recommend this.

Thanks, toby, you're making me feel better about having decided not to drop $55 for the box at the show!

Price has jumped up to $39.99 now, so I guess it was a mistake, after all.

_Shadow Cat_ is now available through Sartorial's shop on eBay. It's clearly second tier material with a handful of gems.

this sounds really dumb to lots of you, i'm sure, but what would be the best two two or three albums to start with? i'm a hitchcock newbie...

Not dumb at all! I would suggest the live album, _Gotta Let This Hen Out_ for a survey of his early stuff with great renditions. For his more recent work I'm partial to _Jewels For Sophia_ and his latest, _Ole Tarantula_.

thank you! I'm always nervous about live albums for some reason, but will have a look for that one, and the two others. Greatly appreciated!

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.