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Friday, December 28th, 2007
- "Oceanside", Robyn Hitchcock, Live at the Cambridge Folk Festival. Not produced as well as the version on Perspex Island and I think they are playing at a faster tempo.
- "Keep on the Sunny Side", Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Will the Circle be Unbroken. Can't say much about this. It is totally unironic and is Maybelle Carter's signature piece; I love it but it brings back unpleasant childhood sing-along memories.
- "Penny Lane", Robyn Hitchcock. Lousy. I ought to take this concert off my iPod, there is no reason to keep it. The banter following the song -- "One of the things that really distinguished the '60s from the present was that they didn't have these things that say 'if you like that, try this!'" -- struck me as kind of humorous but not really up to RH banter standards.
- "Rukus Juice Blues", Big Bill Broonzy. Awesome. Broonzy says "rookus", not "ruckus"; at first I thought he was talking about "ruby juice".
- "Birds in Perspex", Robyn Hitchcock LCFF. Maybe my favorite RH song ever. But again, not up to the level of the album version -- this record could probably come off the iPod as well. It is impossible not to sing along with "come alive" even though I'm in public, sitting on a bench on the street.
- "Pretty Little Dog", Critton Hollow String Band. Instrumental. Just right after #5. (from the "String Theory" compilation)
- "This is the Last Time I'll Say Goodbye", The Sirens -- from the Apostropher's Don't Bogart That Groove compilation. I hadn't noticed before what a remarkable song this instrumental piece is. The music has a really structural feeling to it like it's building a walled passageway that you travel through -- the notes are textural elements in the structure. This has to maybe have something to do with percussion -- I've gotten the same feeling from some tracks on Perspex Island that have really strong drums.
- "Johnny B. Goode", The Dead 2/27/77 -- this random set is trending toward songs that are totally characteristic of their performers.
- "Mambo Dominica", David Murray Latin Big Band, from Don't Bogart That Groove. "Cute but corny" is my initial reaction. As I listen to it for a while (it is a very long song), I start to hear the horns more individually, less as part of a mass of sound, which is pleasant. This would be good music for walking.
- "Each of her Silver Wands", Robyn Hitchcock 3/14/97 Knitting Factory. I don't know this song. It sounds like it could be pretty good but like he hasn't really written it yet at this performance. Very short.
The combination of numbers 1, 5, and 7 inspired me to listen to Perspex Island, which I had not in a while. It sure gets to me -- this is my favorite record of the year. When "Birds in Perspex" came on I had to run outside to avoid embarrassing myself by singing "come alive" in the Avery Fischer Hall lobby. ...Can I analyse the structure of "Birds in Perspex"? That is sort of what I wanted to do during my Song by Song project but I don't think it really came across. Every line of that song just really touches my heart -- the lyrics to be sure and the way they fall across the canvas of music. When Andy Metcalfe came in at the end singing "birds in perspex, come alive" it actually startled me that the person singing on the recording was not myself.
posted evening of December 28th, 2007: Respond
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Monday, January 14th, 2008
I was just looking at the jacket of While Thatcher Mauled Britain and noticed a cartoon of Hitchcock's. A little bit hilarious in the context of these past few days. 
posted evening of January 14th, 2008: Respond
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It's worth pointing out just how great the bonus tracks on the CD of Black Snake Dîamond Röle are. I wrote a couple of months ago about how much I like "All I Wanna Do is Fall in Love" -- "A Skull, a Suitcase, and a Long Red Bottle of Wine" and "It Was the Night" are similarly great (although "It Was the Night" seems like a lousy title to me). And there's much more! The take #2 of "I Watch the Cars" (take #1 is maybe my favorite song on the original record) is not so good however.
posted evening of January 14th, 2008: Respond
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Thursday, January 31st, 2008
Haven't downloaded any Robyn concerts for a while now; but two new tapes became available today. One is of his gig the day before yesterday at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London; as soon as I read about it this morning I started fervently wishing for a tape of the show. And whaddaya know, half an hour later or so I get e-mail informing me of its availability. Quick on the heels of that message came another one, about a show from April '96 in Bilbao. Looking forward to listening to both. Another opportunity for listening to Hitchcock: He'll be on Jools Holland's BBC show tomorrow night. Apparently I will be able to watch it on Fuse, though I'm not completely sure how that works yet.
posted evening of January 31st, 2008: Respond
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Friday, February first, 2008
The two shows I downloaded last night are indeed great music; I am tentatively liking the 1996 show better than the 2008 show, which I have however not yet listened to all of.** If anyone would like a link to the 96* show files, drop me a line. Here is the setlist:
- DeChirico Street (from Moss Elixir)
- Lysander (from Perspex Island)
- Balloon Man (from Globe of Frogs)
- Devil's Radio (from Moss Elixir)
- Chinese Bones (from Globe of Frogs)
- My Wife & My Dead Wife (from fegMania!)
- Beautiful Girl (from Eye)
- Glass Hotel (from Eye)
- I Something You (from Storefront Hitchcock)
- You & Oblivion (from Moss Elixir)
- Queen Of Eyes (from Underwater Moonlight)
- Man With A Woman's Shadow (from Moss Elixir)
- Kingdom Of Love (from Underwater Moonlight)
- Serpent At The Gates of Wisdom (from Respect)
- Heliotrope (from Moss Elixir)
- I Am Not Me (from Moss Elixir)
- Only The Stones Remain (by the Soft Boys, I think only released as a single)
 *Not that there are 96 of them, I mean they're from that year.
**After listening to more: Yes, the 96 gig is the better -- It actually adds something to the music over what is published on the albums, where the 2008 show is beautiful but not in a much different or superior way from I Often Dream of Trains.
posted evening of February first, 2008: Respond
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Friday, February 15th, 2008
In the interview yesterday (which features good humor and some real insight) Robyn recommends Kazuo Ishiguro's Never Let Me Go as "a gently devastating book." I had not heard of the book before but now I'm thinking it looks really interesting. -- Here is an interview with Ishiguro and some readings from the book. Onto the queue it goes!
posted evening of February 15th, 2008: Respond
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Monday, March third, 2008
Happy Birthday, Robyn!
posted afternoon of March third, 2008: Respond
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Saturday, March 8th, 2008
Listening in the car to Robyn Hitchcock's April '96 concert in Bilbao, and Sylvia says "I want to hear the one about the street." Cool -- I fast-forwarded to "De Chirico Street". Listened for a minute and then Sylvia says, "There's too much stuff happening on that street." 
posted evening of March 8th, 2008: Respond
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Friday, April 4th, 2008
Wednesday evening I will go into the city to see Robyn Hitchcock! I'm so excited! It is now just about exactly a year since my interest in Hitchcock was reawoken by Ms. Irene Trudel. In that year (in the year since I last saw him play) I've been listening to his music really heavily -- you probably already know this if you read the blog much. This time I am going to have a much fuller notion of what I'm listening to. Can't wait, can't wait. Also on the bill (and indeed, actually at the top of the bill) is Nick Lowe, about whom I know almost nothing at all, but from what I've been reading it sounds like he'll be a lot of fun too.
posted evening of April 4th, 2008: Respond
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Wednesday, April 9th, 2008
I told Bill I will be happy with whatever Robyn plays tonight; and that's true, short of Beatles covers, which I'll suffer through if I have to.* But... it would totally make my year if he would play "Birds in Perspex". (Listen to it here -- aah, beautiful.) He seems in interviews to have sort of repudiated the album "Perspex Island" but it's hard for me to figure out why, precisely. So I guess I will just cross my fingers, and maybe get lucky.
 *(Not that I don't like the Beatles or anything, I just don't think Robyn does a very good job of covering them. OTOH he's done some great covers of Lennon's and McCartney's solo work so who knows.)**
**(Note: this thesis is now null and void.)
posted afternoon of April 9th, 2008: Respond
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