Robyn Hitchcock?

The Floyd is good. Only the Pepper show is really suspect.

where can I find the Piper one?

The Piper one is on archive.org--

http://www.archive.org/details/robynhitchcock2007-05-26

Gerald McB-B are you on Fegmaniax?

Jon - not for years. The signal-to-noise ratio is way to much for me. I do, however, peruse the digests a couple of times a month to make sure I don't miss anything important.

Guess it pays to be connected...got a package in the mail today including a completely unexpected and unsolicited promo CD of Bible of Bop! The LP plus 3 unreleased bonus tracks. Hearing it for the first time...so far it's impossibly amazingly good. Minimal liner notes, a few paragraphs from Rew followed by some reviews and credits.

What label?!

CGB records, I think it's essentially self-released.

I had a tape of "Bible Of Bop" years ago, the samples on Amazon really brought it all back. Ordered! Thanks, Dan!

after a month and a half, my copy of Propellor Time finally showed up last weekend. Note to self: do not order direct from Yep Rock ever again.
but anyway! this album is sounding GREAT. Upon first listens, "Star of Venus," "Ordinary Millionaire," "John In the Air," the title track and "Primitive" are the standouts for me. Whole record has a wonderful sound though -- organic/rootsy w/o being boring. With the last two records, I've been glad that there are still some surprises up Robyn's sleeve. Some of this stuff sounds like nothing he's done before. Of course, something like "Born On The Wind" I think he has done before, as "Serpents At The Gates of Wisdom," but oh well.

Yeah I love how it's definitely an 'acoustic' 'rootsy' album and yet the sound picture has no lack of weird little production details, like the claps on 'John In The Air'. It's almost like the fully fledged version of what all those little jon brion marginalia were trying to accomplish on Jewels FOr Sophia tracks like 'I Feel Beautiful'.

yeah, definitely a lot of layers -- "John In The Air" has the neat effect of sounding like it's running backwards without actually having any backwards sounds on it. And the vocal on "Ordinary Millionaire" is really nice. Not sure how I feel about the decidedly un-subtle "Evolove", but it's got a nice melody for sure. And the line about giving Jesus a high five is lol-worthy.

He was almost deprecatory about 'evolove' in a recent interview. Like 'I know this is basically just a polemic, think of it as a bonus track' kind of.

yeah, almost seems like an NPR assignment or something -- "write a song about atheism" ... but that said, it is lovely sounding. Overall, this record has me pretty excited -- very cool that he's got such a good band behind him, and is sounding inspired.

It beats the living shit out of 'Dear God' I'll tell you that much.

true! that reminds me though -- is that Partridge/Hitchcock collab dead in the water? I remember reading that it was put off because Partridge's hearing problems, but that was a couple years ago ...

It was implied they had written more songs than just the one... and in an interview last year Partridge basically he said he was waiting for RH to find time to come see him to do more. Didn't know he was having hearing probs. Not tinnitus is it?

here's something (not very promising) from Partridge
PM: What happened with this collaboration you were doing with Robyn Hitchcock?

Partridge: Well [deep breath], I must admit that I’m not holding out any great hopes for this because Robyn seems to be permanently on tour. We started this a couple of years ago, and he’s just been permanently around the globe somewhere, and I think we’ve had about four get-togethers in two years, which to me that’s not hot off the press. I’ll ring him up and say, “Look, spare some time to get together?” And he’ll say, “Well, I’ve got a tour of Scandinavia,” or “I’m going around America with a matey from R.E.M.” or “I’m touring England.” He just seems to be permanently out on the road, and I think four days of getting together and trying to write is not intense enough for me. I would have liked to have done like four days a week two years ago for quite a while until we had enough material to say, “Well, let’s throw half of that away, and this half is a great album.” But right now we have something like four half-finished tracks that are just kind of OK-ish.”

PM: Are those demos you were doing?

Partridge: Well, we were sort of recording as we were writing. It’s not a process I’m crazy on, because I like to get a song finished up and working as a solid piece of architecture before you’re even taken into the studio. So I don’t know what’s going to happen with that. I actually sent him an e-mail before he went off on his latest U.S. tour saying, “Do you think this is going to happen? Is this thing dying of apathy?” So I’m going to be honest with you. He’s going to have to show some phenomenally frightening commitment I think for it to get finished.

PM: What was his response to your e-mail?

Partridge: He left me a phone message which I missed, and then a confused e-mail back from him, and then I got a postcard from him in San Francisco saying, “Hey, when I get off this tour, let’s record some more.” And I’m thinking: Ohhhhhhh. Can I even remember who he is or what he looked like?

PM: What was the driving force behind that project?

Partridge: I liked him. I got together with him one day to write something for an album of his, and we came up with about six ideas, one of which he finished up, and it was called “[‘Cause It’s Love] Saint Parallelogram,” and he put that on an album of his. He is so quick witted, and he is a very creative fella. No sense of rhythm. He’s very creative. He just grabs stuff from the air, which I find very stimulating because that’s kind of how I tend to work as well. So to some extent it was like dealing with a mirror reflection of myself creatively. Maybe this is why the thing is not happening. Maybe we’re too alike.

PM: Except for your work habits.

Partridge: No, no, I like to get in there and get working, and we’re doing an album, let’s do it. But I think he’s addicted to globetrotting by the sound of it. I don’t know. Like I said in my e-mail, it could be that thing where it’s two forces that get together, one fire and one ice, and all you end up with is lukewarm water.

sort of funny, partridge complaining that robyn is too busy to record -- how many albums have you put out in the last ten years, Andy?

SHOCKHOUND: Word has it that you’ve also been collaborating with Andy Partridge on some songs.

HITCHCOCK: Andy Partridge has invited me into his studio, his shed. He’s been off for a couple of years because he had a terrible hearing accident. He had his headphones on in the studio and the engineer was unaware of this and fed him high treble tones at full volume, and it pretty much drove him insane. He’s managed to find some hearing aids that fool his ears into thinking they don’t hear the high-pitched whine. Anyway, he’s back to doing some music, so I’m recording in his shed.

SHOCKHOUND: On paper, you seem like two guys who would drive each other completely nuts. How has it been working out?

HITCHCOCK: It’s a small shed, but so far we’re getting on well. So that’s happening…

While I worship every scrap from both men, I don't know if I can get mega-excited about the prospects. Separate thread, but what collaborations like this have produced great records? Dali's Car (Mick Karn & Peter Murphy) and Jack Frost (Steve Kilbey & Grant McLennan) jump immediately to mind.

Man. Andy strikes me as a guy who would not cope well with tinnitus. That's too bad.

'No sense of rhythm' LOL it's kind of true of RH I guess. The Drums n Wires/Black Sea/English Settlement was Andy's high watermark for me and it's all because of that incredibly strong rhythmic profile XTC had in those days.

yeah i don't know if the Partridge/Hitchcock thing would work, though it seems interesting. I guess I'd be most pleased if Robyn sort of took the reins as far as songwriting and Partridge took the reins on production/arrangement.

New interview with Kimberly:

http://popdose.com/popdose-interview-kimberley-rew/

ah, nice. still need to get bible of bop -- that sample at the bottom of the interview sounds ace.

a song from Bible of Bop posted with permission here:

http://acuterecords.com/blog/?p=426

cool, thanks, dan. stuart moxham thing looks intriguing as well. listening to the test card EP as we speak!

For those of you with DIME access, a fantastic soundboard set of covers from Robyn & Steve Wynn:
http://www.dimeadozen.org/torrents-details.php?id=312158

new album out aug 26 - The Man Upstairs, produced by Joe Boyd.

cool. Would be neat if they did a covers album based on Joe Boyd's White Bicycle tour, though I guess they already have that recorded and available anyway.

boyd says there will be at least a few covers mixed in there. i dunno, it can only be better than love from london. looking back i think that's my least favorite hitchcock album ever! at least i never wanted to listen to it.

Tracklist:

1. The Ghost In You
2. San Francisco Patrol
3. To Turn You On
4. Trouble In Your Blood
5. Somebody To Break Your Heart
6. Don’t Look Down
7. Ferries
8. Comme Toujours
9. The Crystal Ship
10. Recalling The Truth

Love From London is pretty horrible. Still, its better than Luxor. Heck, a wet fart is better than Luxor.

The cover, with art from Gillian Welch:

http://wp-images.emusic.com/assets/2014/06/the-man-upstairs.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52DUrv1gCUw

From the press release:

The Man Upstairs sees Hitchcock uniting with legendary producer Joe Boyd (Nick Drake, Fairport Convention) for one of the most unique recordings of his already quite idiosyncratic career. Rather than simply record a new selection of songs, Boyd suggested what he called 'a Judy Collins album' such as Elektra would have released in 1967 - part well-known favorites, part personal discoveries, and part originals. The multi-tiered approach offered Hitchcock the rare opportunity to record as a performer, not "just another singer-songwriter laying their freshest eggs."

Thus, modern standards like Roxy Music's "To Turn You On," The Doors' "The Crystal Ship," and The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You" are interlaced with lesser-known gems from such pals as Grant-Lee Phillips ("Don't Look Down") and I Was A King ("Ferries"), the latter featuring harmony vocals and guitar from the Norwegian indiepop combo's own Anne Lise Frøkedal. Meanwhile, new Hitchcock originals like "Trouble In Your Blood" and "Comme Toujours" stand among his most fragile and heartfelt, his stark vocal and guitar cast by Boyd against simple, autumnal backing from longtime collaborators Jenny Adejayan (cello), Charlie Francis (piano), and the aforementioned Frøkedal (harmonies).

"I've always wanted to make a folk record produced by Joe Boyd," says Hitchcock, "and now I have: thank you, universe!"

ha, he's been doing "ghost in you" for what ... 25+ years? sounds nice!

and i've heard him do "the crystal ship" elsewhere -- probably like him doing it more than the doors.

Finally a release date! The album was recorded in about a week according to some comments I saw from Boyd. Let's hope this one breaks RH's two album slump. I mean it has to, right? A Witchseason production of Robyn Hitchcock! I love the Elektra LP conceit. Maybe I'll make some fake RH Elektra albums in anticipation.

I'm amazed he didn't choose one of the several Roxy Avalon cuts he's had in his repertoire for decades.

yeah, just got out his old covers session bootleg from 1993, some great stuff on there.

"The Main Thing" in nyc on halloween 2003 was v memorable (also a spine-tingling "Chinese White" that night).

2. San Francisco Patrol

Somehow managed to misread this as "San Francisco Panini".

Erik I know we've been through this before but side A of Luxor is slow deep water satisfaction in a style unique in his discography. It's side B that blows.

I refuse to revisit Luxor to find out if you're right.

xp really? I'm a big fan of Solpadeine.

I've always loved his version of "The Ghost In You". I think he's an excellent interpreter of his favorite songs.

@RobynHitchcock
Mount Rainier - Haile Selassie - The Smurfs: the parade goes on. Is there anything that has no name?

what is with this guy

(he replied to my answer!)

Nice!

mmm

the man enjoys conversation. i once elicited a look of slight dissapointment on his face when, after a sonic youth show, i stupidly did a "hey, you're robyn hitchcock!" and kept right on walking rather than strike up a polite chit-chat. i was super young but there's no excuse really.

I once saw him outside the Virgin Megastore talking to a friend of his, "Well, maybe it's in the Soul section" he said. Cool dude, quite tall.