Robyn Hitchcock - The Ghost in You and The Man Upstairs

In his bid to release more albums than any other man, Robyn Hitchcock will be unleashing The Man Upstairs in August 26. The record will include Roxy Music's To Turn You On, The Doors' Crystal Ship, Psychedelic Furs' The Ghost in You, I Was a King's Ferries, Grant-Lee Phillips' Don't Look Down as well as new versions of songs like Comme Toujours. Gillian Welch painted the cover, Joe Boyd produced the record, it shall be worth checking out.

 The Ghost in You

Hitchcock has performed The Ghost in You for years, here's some footage circa 1989.



There was a live version thrown out there as a b-side many years ago, you can check it out over at Flowering Toilet.



 The Man Upstairs Tracks:

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

 Hitchcock's last album Love from London only came out last year, so the guy's churning out records like it's the old days. Love it. But I still think his last album deserves more listens when he releases tunes like Fix You, you can get a bit more about that here.
 

Robyn Hitchcock - Fix You

Have you listened to Robyn Hitchcock's Love from London yet? It's superlative, like almost all of his 87 records or whatever he's up to now. But every few years Hitchcock flares up with a track that should be a big pop hit, and he's done it again. Fix You is an atypical fuzzy guitar, baggy jeans stomper, with brilliant female backing vox on the ear-worm chorus and some sneering, snarling verses - "They make you redundant and blame you for being a slacker! While a financial backer, is taking a call! With a strawberry mousse!"

Fix You



Be Still


Love From London Track by Track Side 1


Love From London Track by Track Side 2


Harry' Song (Crypt Sessions)

Neko Case Covers Robyn Hitchcock's Madonna of the Wasps

If you purchase the deluxe version of Neko Case's newest release, The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You, you will receive a bonus cover of a Robyn Hitchcock tune, Madonna of the Wasps. Neko even uses Robyn's "Madonner" pronunciation.



I don't remember this video at all.

Record Store Day Saturday, April 20 - Whitehorse, Robyn Hitchcock, Michelle McAdorey, Public Enemy, R.E.M.!

Tomorrow is Record Store Day, a day to celebrate stores where you can buy music, talk to other people that like music, listen to music, buy some music - you know. In Canada go here to find your partipating stores, in the U.S. or other countries go here, where you can also find more videos and extra info on RSD extravaganzas. In Winnipeg, you can go to:

Argy's Collectables

Into The Music

Music Trader

Planet of Sound

War On Music Workers Cooperative

Winnipeg Folk Festival Music Store

This year there are some Canadian artists getting RSD love treatments:

Michelle McAdorey - Leave The Main Road / Line Across My Heart 7" Vinyl


Whitehorse - Devils Got A Gun (live)/ Lipstick (unreleased track) 7" Vinyl (not the live version below - go get the 7"!)


Buck 65 - Wicked and Weird from Talkin‘ Honkey Blues Double LP


Gordon Lightfoot's Sit Down Stranger, LP
Handsome Ned - In Spite Of The Danger 7" Vinyl
Serena Ryder - Harmony LP
Daniel Lanois - Acadie LP
Billy Talent's Stand Up And Run/ Sudden Movements 7“
OLP - Curve LP
Austra + GINA X - Mayan Drums


Of course, there's even more joy for music collectors out there this year, RSD keeps getting bigger and better. Here are some items I am drooling about:

Robyn Hitchcock - There Goes The Ice
The Thermals - Desperate Ground Demos 7" Vinyl
David Bowie - The Stars (Are Out Tonight) 7" Vinyl
Soundgarden - King Animal Demos Vinyl
R.E.M. - Live In Greensboro CD EP
Public Enemy - Planet Earth: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Greatest Rap Hits LP
Phoenix - Entertainment 7"
Mercury Rev - Deserted Songs LP
JD MCPHERSON - Fire Bug 7"
Built To Spill - Live LP
Big Star - Nothing Can Hurt Me Vinyl
Brendan Benson - Diamond / Good To Me (Demo Version) 7"
THE THREE O‘CLOCK - Live At The Old Waldorf Feb. 1982 LP

Robyn Hitchcock - Be Still and Love From London

"Rock and Roll is an old man’s game now, so I’m staying in it.” That recent quote from Robyn Hitchcock is so good, I don't know what to say about it.

Robyn Hitchcock is celebrating his 60th birthday with a new album, Love From London (out March 5), which is how I hope I can celebrate my 60th. With another new Hitchcock record, that is. According to those in the know, he will also be performing at a "retrospective show on February 28th at the Village Underground in London where he will be playing songs from each of his albums, accompanied by some of his favorite British musicians". Uh, each of his albums? I assume that doesn't include box sets, compilations or live albums, or everyone will have to take pep pills -the guy has released a boatload of records.

Here's a song entitled Be Still from the new record: Love From London TRACK LISTING:
1. Harry's Song
2. Be Still
3. Stupefied
4. I Love You
5. Devil On A String
6. Strawberries Dress
7. Death And Love
8. Fix You
9. My Rain
10. End Of Time

Olympic Closing Ceremonies Done Properly by Scruffy

The British Olympic Organizers contacted me about a do-over for the closing ceremonies, something about the music not being "Great British-y" enough. I said I would do it only if I could get artists from all over the UK. Of course, the budget has been blown, and they have only given me 20 minutes to come up with new stuff, so here it is. John Lydon/Johnny Rotten is going to pop out of a cake. Not a fake cake, either, but real one, made by the British version of the Cake Boss. But that's only if the remaining members of the Sex Pistols will join him. If not, he will come out of some kind of pudding and just do a Public Image Ltd. tune.



Next Manic Street Preachers will putt-putt in on beat-up old scooters.



Ian Hunter will parachute in. 'Cause he's cool like that.



Echo and the Bunnymen will magically appear to ener the stage rowing a smallish boat.



Buzzcocks are going to be catapulted through a giant heart.



Robyn Hitchcock is going to be spewed out of the mouth of giant frog or giant spider, he hasn't decided yet.



The Darkness will flicker out of the Olympic Flame itself. The Olympic Organizers wanted Queen, but Mercury is dead - we can't just play video or have a bloody hologram, right?



Happy Mondays will find their way one by one out from a giant Kangol hat.



The Kinks' Ray and Dave Davies are going to walk in arm-in-arm on a cloud.



Judas Priest will roll in on skateboards. They may perfomr with the London Symphony Orchestra.



The Waterboys will ride in on garishly-festooned elephants.



Nick Lowe gets to play whatever he wants and enter the stage however he wants. He's frickin' Nick Lowe.



Billy Bragg will be carried by men in expensive suits.



There are a few more artists we are working on, they will have to wait for another post one we finalize them. Who do you think is a must-have?

Robyn Hitchcock - The Hat Trick Complete, R.E.M. Covering RH and more Odds and Ends

Since I've been posting artists covering Robyn Hitchcock songs, I thought I'd wrap up the hat trick by posting about the man, even though there's not much really especially noteworthy and new happening. However, I never really posted anything about his Chronology release, which is a fine place to get into the man's genius if you haven't been sucked in by any of my previous posts. Check out the tracks here.
 

Did you ever see this photocollage by Sir Peter Blake commemorating his 80th birthday? It's a tribute to his own iconic work of art, the Sgt. Pepper's cover. Go here to click over an enlarged version that will give you the names of everyone involved, unless you want to try to figure it out on your own first. Robyn and his non-relative Alfred are both there.

I did happen to stumble upon a fine little tumblr with the cheeky title that goes something like F*** Yeah Robyn Hitchcock. Some good RH bits, check it out here. Robyn has his own tumblr as well, which mostly features photos that reflect his unique worldview. Don't confuse that one with fan tumblr's like this one or that one or this other one, which are alright, yeah? Here are some songs. Before I die I will probably post every song he's done two or three times, so if I have posted these before, too bad.                                                                                                                                                                                   




Here's one more Robyn cover, R.E.M did a pretty good good job of making it their own while still sounding like the original.




To finish, here's a batshit cover of So You Think you're in Love. Wow...

The Hunting Accident - Trees and Parks 10" with Robyn Hitchcock Cover!

The other day I received a piece of wood in the mail. Not just any old piece of wood either, but the wooden cover for The Hunting Accident's Trees and Parks ep. Wow! With all songs timing under three minutes, these guys don't mess around. Power pop, post-punk, straight-ahead 90's flavoured rock, the music's all over the place, but hooky vocals, powerful drumming, tasteful keyboards, and jagged guitar always adds up to sweetness for me. As an added bonus the band has covered Robyn Hitchcock's Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl, certainly not his most easily accessible tune, but one of my favourites. The Hunting Accident even casually throws in some French lyrics, which is pretty cool for a non-Canadian, non-European band (from L.A., actually). You can buy the 10" here, it's officially released july 17 on the New Black. Every track is good, check it and see for yourself. Please leave a comment below, it keeps the engines stoked when you do that.

Kelly Hogan - I Like to Keep Myself in Pain by Robyn Hitchcock

Kelly Hogan recently released an album entitled I Like To Keep Myself in Pain on which she interprets songs written by luminaries like Robyn Hitchcock, Vic Chesnutt, The Magnetic Fields, The Mekons’ Jon Langford, The Handsome Family, Freakwater’s Catherine Irwin, John Wesley Harding, Robbie Fulks, M. Ward and Andrew Bird. Having worked with Neko Case, you can get a general idea where Hogan is coming from, but she's got her own brand of heartbreak and unique vocal style to lay on you. Listen to the live versions below if you don't believe me.

Robyn Hitchcock is Unfrozen - Free mp3s Now, New Album Forthcoming

Kaptein Robyn Hitchcock Strikes Again

Scrufy's personal King of Cool, Robyn Hitchcock, is back at it, releasing another new collection that you should buy post-haste. Why? Because it's more Hitchcock at his best, finely-crafted melodies, unusual lyrical turns, joyful harmonies, sonic drama, whimsy and deep thought...do you need more? Pre-order now at his website and you'll get the digital version immediately. Here's the info from the horse's mouth:

"Norwegian label Hype City release a new collection of songs by Robyn Hitchcock on April 8th, TROMSØ, KAPTEIN (pronounced ‘Tromser, Cap-tine’), on LP and CD. Produced by Paul Noble, the record features 8 new RH compositions and well as a re-recording of ‘Raining Twilight Coast’ from EYE and a new Norwegian language version of GOODNIGHT OSLO. The record will be available outside Norway in surviving record shops, and also available by mail order from this site."

Flowering Toilet has some more details if you desire. Here's two new tracks and some older Hitchcock videos that are essential viewing.

Robyn Hitchcock - Dismal City by Hype City Recordings

Robyn Hitchcock - Light Blue Afternoon by Hype City Recordings

Robyn Hitchcock's Birthday Today. We Celebrate.

Robyn Hitchcock is the greatest ever. Approaching sixty (slicing up eyeballs reminded me, see the nice vids posted there), he's stil putting out lots of music, more than most if you include the extensive remasters coming out over the last few years.



Robyn is touring the U.S. this month with Joe Boyd, here's the dates.

March 9: Alexandria, VA: The Birchmere - http://www.birchmere.com/

March 11: NYC, NY: Le Poisson Rouge - http://lepoissonrouge.com/

March 12: North Adams, MA: MASSMoCA - http://www.massmoca.org/

March 14: Philadelphia, PA: World Cafe Live - http://www.worldcafelive.com/

March 18: Detroit, MI: Detroit Institute of The Arts - http://www.dia.org/

March 19: Chicago, IL: 7:00pm Old Town School of Music -http://www.oldtownschool.org/

March 19: Chicago, IL: 10:00pm Old Town School of Music -http://www.oldtownschool.org/

And one date without Mr. Boyd:

March 26, 2011 - Tucson, AZ at Barrio Festival (solo with Peter, Scott, Linda & Steve who are also performing as The Baseball Project)

Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians - Alright yeah by SKIEL

Robyn hitchcock & the egyptians - Ride by SKIEL

Robyn Hitchcock - The Man Who Invented Himself [Original Version] by floweringtoilet

Robyn Hitchcock - Star Of Venus by lighthouseflashing

Robyn Hitchcock - Light Blue Afternoon by Hype City Recordings

Robyn Hitchcock by terjely
















Buy Sir Robyn Hitchcock's stuff here and here.

Robyn Hitchcock Streams for You: Bowie, Dylan, Cash, Nick Drake Covers

For your holiday pleasure, Robyn Hitchcock has made a whack of covers available for streaming on his website. A bunch of Bowie songs (recorded live at the annual Medecins sans Frontieres benefit show, Changes is my favorite Bowie cover ever), Bill Monroe's Blue Moon of Kentucky featuring Nick Lowe, and much more. None of the tracks below are included in Hitchcock's stream, it's just a weird hodgepodge of old and new Hitchcock and Lowe, old Bowie (because there IS no new Bowie), or some amusing covers, because I'm still in a giving mood.

Robyn Hitchcock - Ordinary Millionaire by charmfactory

Robyn Hitchcock - Adoration Of The City by charmfactory

Robyn Hitchcock - I Saw Nick Drake by charmfactory

Robyn Hitchcock - Luckiness by lighthouseflashing

Robyn Hitchcock -Vibrating by cristalette

"I Trained Her To Love Me" by Nick Lowe by Rogboy

Nick Lowe - So It Goes by ARCHERS

Nick Lowe - I love the sound of breaking glass by Little Geoff

COOLRUNNINGS-I LOVE THE SOUND OF BREAKING GLASS (NICK LOWE).mp3 by DRACULA HORSE

The song below translates as The Sound of Breaking Glass (from the original Swedish). It doesn't sound like a cover of the Nick Lowe tune, so I don't know what it is, I'm hoping one of you can enlighten me.

Ljudet av krossat glas(Nick Lowe) by Charlie Persson

Massive Attack & David Bowie - Nature Boy by Latitudinarian

Keren Ann - Life on Mars (David Bowie Cover) by bangkokerror

Franz Ferdinand - Sound & Vision (David Bowie Cover) by microfideu

Changes (David Bowie) by manolodivago

Buy Robyn Hitchcock and Nick Lowe at Yep Roc. Buy Bowie anywhere. And tell him to make some new music, it's been far too long.

Leave a comment below. Aren't you still in a giving mood?

Wey Wey Hep Uh Hole, Robyn Hitchcock: Soft Boys Reissued. Again. With Less Songs.

Yip-a dang. The Soft Boys recently had underground (underwater?) classics Underwater Moonlight and Can of Bees reissued by Yep Roc. The Soft Boys getting back together for the Nextdoorland album and tour was absolutely the best reunion of my life, including Kiss coming back with the make-up and costumes. I never thought it would happen, because Soft Boy Robyn Hitchcock said it wouldn't, but I made the trek to Minneapolis, and it was one of the best shows ever. It was electrifying, quite different from Hitchcock's solo shows, which so far have been the only Hitchcock sightings in my town.

Robyn Hitchcock's personal revisitation of The Soft Boys' short musical life is uniquely humourous and imaginative, just like everything he does, and you can read that at The Quietus. You can listen to Underwater Moonlight and many of the bonus tracks that have accompanied reissues over the years here, or you can stream it The Line of Best Fit. The shiny bits of plastic or glossy vinyl only contain the tracks found on the original albums, but buyers receive bonus tracks digitally - purchasing Underwater Moonlight will net you a whopping 30 bonus tracks. So the "less tracks" part of the headline above only concerns the physical album.



This is the best song of all time. I Wanna Destroy You from Underwater Moonlight:

The Soft Boys - I Wanna Destroy You by charmfactory

Underwater Moonlight from, yes, Underwater Moonlight:

The Soft Boys - Underwater Moonlight by alexnycman



Human Music, from Can of Bees:

The Soft Boys - Human Music by theEndofRadio

The Pigworker, from Can of Bees:

Soft Boys - The Pigworker by thehopelessone

If you want more info on the reissues, The Flowering Toilet has some news for audiophiles and otherwise. Of course, the 2 albums do not include The Soft Boys splendiferous single I Want To Be An) Anglepoise Lamp, but you can find it online somewhere - maybe here? Other rare Soft Boys tracks can be found at Know Your Conjurer.



Buy The Soft Boys and Robyn Hitchcock from Yep Roc. You can buy both cds for $19.99, which is a pretty fine deal.

Robyn Hitchcock is All Shook Up with Elvis in Memphis

Scruffy all-time favourite Robyn Hitchcock releases the second of his Tram Watch video series, this time he's in Memphis doing a tribute to Elvis and All Shook Up. The Elvis impression at the start of the song is just plain goofy, but then he gives it up and uses his own voice. Who will he do next? A Guided by Voices song when he's in Dayton? A Spoon tune in Austin? A Telepathic Butterflies track in Winnipeg? Only time will tell?

Robyn Hitchcock Gives You Free Time & Violet Rain

photo by Nathan Gallagher

Ah, it's been raining for days and nights, it feels like someone's idea of England. Which is fitting, because this morn I awoke to find my favourite English guy, Robyn Hitchcock, has chosen to once again give us a couple more free mp3s in his Phantom 45's series, and one of them is entitled Violet Rain. Well, the rain in my part of the world hasn't been violet...yet. Here's to hoping. Anyway, you want the tunes, you must be quick, the songs are only free for one week at The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock.

RH has assembled what he calls a "new psyche 'n' western group" called The Hungry Moment. For him, that means banjo, fiddle, guitar and three voices, mostly voice for these two tunes, all recorded in Nashville (which seems to be the "western part" of the description). Sounds like regular acoustic Hitchcock to me.

photo by Michele Noach

Thank You, Time Girl


photo by Robyn Hitchcock

Violet Rain


Here's a couple of previous Phantom 45s.

Commetoujours by scruffy the yak

Halomary by scruffy the yak

RH has also debuted the first instalment of Tram Watch on his site's video page, which is purported to have new footage up every week and find the man performing in unexpected locations. Such as my back yard, I hope. The first one didn't happen in my neighbourhood, but I have two words for you: musical saw.



There's also some footage I haven't seen anywhere else, such as "Robyn Hitchcock visits Trolleybus 215", with his guitar shimmering brightly. Here's a typical Robyn Hitchcockian video of a track found on his latest album, Propellor Time.



Buy Robyn Hitchcock stuff here.

Guitar Heroes of the Non-Video Game Kind Pt .1

photo by stev.ie

Pop Dose recently threw up their list of the top 50 guitar players of all time. I was surprised by some of the omissions and decided to create a post or two to respond, then I noticed that Pop Dose's list was actually created in response to the LA Times magazine's top 50. Okay, so a number of the players missing on one list can be found somewhere on the other. One list skips the Edge, Robert Fripp, Angus Young and Randy Rhoads, but then we see Eddie Hazel, John Mayer, Charlie Hunter, Neal Schon and John Frusciante. Huh? Of course, there are always complaints about lists like these, who got snubbed, who is wrongly placed at the top or bottom, and so on. Sometimes I think the choices are coloured by how much a guitarist sticks out, especially to other musicians or guitar god wannabes (Yngwie Malmsteen, anyone?)So, since I'm a non-guitarist (no musical ability whatsoever, actually) I've compiled a short list of stringbenders I like without any thought to how technically proficient they are, how difficult their music may be to play, or how wizardly they wield their axes. They might not be flashy, might just be rhythm players, but they've made some noises I like and they're not always included on favourite guitar player lists.

Wherever possible, I've tried to include live videos so you can see guitar grandeur without studio trickery.

Jamie West-Oram has made his career with The Fixx, a band some might mistakenly characterize as a synth band because they were lumped in with new wave bands of the 80's. But I always loved his quirky contributions, and he never overplayed or tried to be a rock god, just propelled or served the song.

Saved by Zero



Tom Verlaine has never reached mainstream acceptance and never really attempted to do so. He's been acclaimed by indie rock guitar geeks and critics, mostly for his work with Television. But the TV-love, to me, is part and parcel of his guitar tandem work with Richard Lloyd, with guitar lines intertwining, separating, snaking together again, clashing, and endlessly building ascending and spiralling soundscapes. Verlaine's solo work is not always so dense, but it does contain a similar unique glory.

A Town Called Walker



Elliot Easton's work with The Cars always included tasty licks and and sturdy rhythm to complement Ric Ocasek's more straightforward lines.

Candy-O



Robyn Hitchcock could make my list on his own, and if you've seen him play a solo show, you know what I mean. However, when Hitchcock plays with a foil, such as he does nowadays with Peter Buck in the Venus 3, he seems to be spurred on to different levels. Kimberly Rew in The Soft Boys is another fellow who lifts Hitchcock up to such great heights.

Queen of Eyes



Bob Mould, especially with Husker Du and Sugar, created blisteringly beautiful walls of sound, waves of melodic distortion, and curtains of metallic noisy pop.

Makes No Sense At all/ Love is All Around (Mary Tyler Moore Theme)

Today is Earth Day, Tomorrow is Robyn Hitchcock Day

photo by Michele Noach

Criminally underrated Robyn Hitchcock would now like you to have two more free songs courtesy of his Phantom 45s page.Comme Toujours (Here I Stand) and Halo Mary are your free just for visiting here. The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock says that Halo Mary was written "Written for the movie Elektra Luxx, where Carla Gugino plays a recovering Catholic and porn star. Catholicism and sex…what a team! Paul and the boys bring out all the flaming colours in the prism of guilt, in under 3 minutes." A swirling, driving Hitchcockian version of powerpop, with poppy yet desperate vocals, tasty organ, and a nifty little buzzing guitar solo.

Halomary by scruffy the yak

Comme Toujours was "originally conceived for Bryan Ferry as Humphrey Bogart, a man alone consoling himself with a cigarette. Finally brought into being for Annie-B Parson and Paul Lazar, who very kindly named their play after it. Sublimely accompanied on cello by Jenny Adejayan." I'm pretty sure this is the first Hitchcock tune featuring another language. Mellow, delicate, and yes, I'd like to hear Ferry do it.

Commetoujours by scruffy the yak

On Record Store Day I bought two Robyn Hitchcock discs, Propellor Time and I Often Dream of Trains in New York. The latter is now one of my top records of the last ten years, if not forever. It comes with a dvd of the show, and many of the songs are better than the originals. It's true, I wouldn't make that up. I have a difficult time understanding why Hitchcock isn't more popular despite his sometimes-unusual voice. He writes catchy melodies and amazing, oft-funny lyrics, his live shows are always entertaining and include amusing, between-song banter, and he rocks mean polka-dot shirts. What more can you ask for? Anyway, some video recently surfaced of Mr. Hitchcock playing live.

ROBYN HITCHCOCK from Black Cab Sessions on Vimeo.

This one's from Feb 2009 but has just come to my attention. If the collection of songs is too long, try the interview segment.

The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock: Free new songs, new website

The most consistently great artist of my lifetime, Robyn Hitchcock, has had his website re-jigged, re-made, and re-modelled. The Museum of Robyn Hitchcock seems to be having a soft opening; there's still areas under construction, but there's two free unreleased songs here if ya wanna hand over some kind of letters/and or numbers that resemble an e-mail address.

When I was still a young pup, I was reading about this unusual character named Robyn Hitchcock in Creem magazine. I'd never heard his music. The writers' descriptions of his songs were confusing, but also intriguing. He writes songs about sex, death, and fish? He plays guitar in a un-rock star-like way, is neither entirely bizarre nor even momentarily mundane, employs what seem to be non-sequiteurs one minute and lyrical genius the next?

But I couldn't find any of his records anywhere in my little burg. After searching aimlessly and receiving blank stares from record shop clerks (remember those?), I somehow stumbled upon a copy of Fegmania! in a place called Kelly's on Portage Avenue. I spent most of my Christmas gift cash on it, and I was hooked ever since. To me, Fegmania! remains the consummate Hitchcock album. Egyptian Cream told a dreamy tale of a woman who grows "hair all over her skin" and "When they told her ,"You're pregnant," she threw up her hands/ And thousands of fingers grew out of the sand". My Wife and My Dead Wife" is a perfect pop tune, with a spooky synth line, requisite chiming and ringing guitars, pretty harmonies, and a wry tale about a man and his live wife and his deceased one: "My dead wife's upstairs, she's still wearing flares." The Man With the Lighbulb Head uses a vaguely Eastern-sounding guitar and rhythm section and features Robyn imitating a squeaky-kid voice - "Daddy, it's the man with the lightbulb head!" Insect Mother utilizes percolating synth and Robyn's trademark cyclical jangly guitar to propel lyrics such as "In velvet and in onions you will soon be mine". The Fly continues the bug theme with a tapping glass pulse, buzzing six-strings, and a surprisingly child-like string of words. Heaven marries an insistent beat with a slightly accordian-sounding, spooky keyboard sound, welded together with beautiful chorus harmonies and joyfully curious vocals telling the listener, "You've got arms, you've got legs, you've got heaven" (Robyn's called it a floating cathedral prairie song in a live setting).

The Man With the Lightbulb Head


My Wife and My Dead Wife


Heaven


One of my most anticipated releases of the new year is Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3's Propellor Time on Yep Roc (March 10th , to be precise). I haven't been able to afford I Often Dream of Trains in New York (I bought the original twice) or the box sets Luminous Grooves and I Wanna Go Backwards (again, I already own the original albums...), but every proper Hitchcock album is full of unique guitar work, distinctive lyrics and vocal melodies - I can't wait.



Here's a few samples of his greatness. From the fairly-straightforward rock-goes-pop with Hitchcockian whimsy and sublime harmonies of Adventure Rocketship, to the fragile beauty of Glass Hotel, over to he Beatles-meets-Byrds-meets-Velvet Underground groove of I'm Falling, and back to the delicate, melancholy sounds of I Often Dream of Trains.









Hitchcock is also an exceptional visual artist. Some of his work has graced album covers, but others haven't been seen very widely. Here's some samples courtesy of the Museum of Robyn Hitchcock. They reflect his artsistic sensibilities and offbeat sense of humour very neatly.

Hooded One in New York

Black Skier Unsettles Nude Caucasians