Received this from Sartorial Records last Tuesday and it's taken some time to grow on me.
Three of the tracks I had previously heard including the Hendrix cover, The Wind Cries Mary and two of Robyn's songs which were on earlier albums, Statue With A Walkman and The Green Boy.
Surprisingly The Green B(h)oy isn't my favourite track on Shadow Cat. That honour goes to the third track, Love Affair, three minutes of aching melancholia (and no-one does it better than Hitchcock).
Two of the tracks (Because You're Over and Real Dot) have synthesised vocals which take a bit of getting used to, possible 1990s experimentation on our hero's part. Sartorial guru, Terry Edwards (formerly of The Higsons ?) plays horns on Never Have To See You Again and Manzarek/House Of The Rising Sun-like organ on the Hendrix cover.
The album is dedicated to Robyn and Michele's cat Figaro.aka Figgy and the record middles and ends with two feline-centred songs The Cat Walks Her Kind Of Line and the title track. The latter is a very clever song with Moris Tepper on lead guitar and Robyn's lyrics having you checking your ankles for coiling tails.
Lovely stuff.
Sunday, 13 January 2008
Saturday, 5 January 2008
I Wanna Go Backwards (Robyn Hitchcock) Review
I thought long and hard about purchasing this box set given that I already had copies of Black Snake Diamond Role(BSDR), I Often Dream Of Trains (IODOT) and Eye. The selling point for RH completists was, of course, the two-disc set of 'rarities' which formed the While Thatcher Mauled Britain (WTMB) package. However at least half of these tracks where/are available on 1995's compilation You & Oblivion and the harder-to-find Invisible Hitchcock.
I waited for Yep Roc's Christmas sale when IWGB was reduced from $49.99 to $32.99. Throw in the transaltantic p&p and I got the box set for twenty-two pounds. There's not much point reviewing albums from the 80s so I thought I'd highlight the changes.
BSDR
This was, of course, Robyn's first solo album and harks back to 1981 when it was originally released on the Armageddon label, as was the Soft Boys' classic Underwater Moonlight. To my knowledge there had been two previous reissues. The first (which is in my possession) included Dancing On God's Thumb (DOGT) as a bonus track and the later issue included Happy The Golden Prince, I Watch The Cars demo, It Was The Night and Grooving On An Inner Plane. Robyn drops DOGT and adds All I Wanna Do Is Fall in Love, Give Me a Spanner Ralph and the sublime A Skull, A Suitcase And A Long Red Bottle Of Wine.
IODOT
Originally released in 1984 I have the 1995 Rhino/sequel re-issue with five demos as bonus tracks. Robyn drops the by-now embarrassing Mellow Together and changes the running order of the second half of the album. He drops the 1995 bonus tracks and adds Chant/Aether, an alternative take of Heart Full Of Leaves, a demo of the title track and three unreleased songs, Not Even A Nurse, Slow Chant/That's Fantastic Mother Church (a withering attack on The Sacrament of Reconciliation) and Traveller's Fare.
Eye
I own the original 1990 Glass Fish release. Robyn drops Sweet Ghost Of Light, College Of Ice, Transparent Lover and replaces them with Century in the running order and bonus tracks Shimmering Distant Love, Lovers Turn To Skulls and the brilliant The Beauty of Earl's Court.
WTMB
Through the beauty that is Soulseek I'd heard most of the rare tracks on the double CD. The best of the previously unissued are the Barrettesque Parachutes & Jellyfish, the Oedipean Melting Arthur and the box set title track.
In summary then, a must for Hitchcock completists and now is the time to strike with prices plummeting on ebay. Nice packaging and the usual Robyn words and drawings thrown in for good measure. January will be a lot brighter this year.
WG
I waited for Yep Roc's Christmas sale when IWGB was reduced from $49.99 to $32.99. Throw in the transaltantic p&p and I got the box set for twenty-two pounds. There's not much point reviewing albums from the 80s so I thought I'd highlight the changes.
BSDR
This was, of course, Robyn's first solo album and harks back to 1981 when it was originally released on the Armageddon label, as was the Soft Boys' classic Underwater Moonlight. To my knowledge there had been two previous reissues. The first (which is in my possession) included Dancing On God's Thumb (DOGT) as a bonus track and the later issue included Happy The Golden Prince, I Watch The Cars demo, It Was The Night and Grooving On An Inner Plane. Robyn drops DOGT and adds All I Wanna Do Is Fall in Love, Give Me a Spanner Ralph and the sublime A Skull, A Suitcase And A Long Red Bottle Of Wine.
IODOT
Originally released in 1984 I have the 1995 Rhino/sequel re-issue with five demos as bonus tracks. Robyn drops the by-now embarrassing Mellow Together and changes the running order of the second half of the album. He drops the 1995 bonus tracks and adds Chant/Aether, an alternative take of Heart Full Of Leaves, a demo of the title track and three unreleased songs, Not Even A Nurse, Slow Chant/That's Fantastic Mother Church (a withering attack on The Sacrament of Reconciliation) and Traveller's Fare.
Eye
I own the original 1990 Glass Fish release. Robyn drops Sweet Ghost Of Light, College Of Ice, Transparent Lover and replaces them with Century in the running order and bonus tracks Shimmering Distant Love, Lovers Turn To Skulls and the brilliant The Beauty of Earl's Court.
WTMB
Through the beauty that is Soulseek I'd heard most of the rare tracks on the double CD. The best of the previously unissued are the Barrettesque Parachutes & Jellyfish, the Oedipean Melting Arthur and the box set title track.
In summary then, a must for Hitchcock completists and now is the time to strike with prices plummeting on ebay. Nice packaging and the usual Robyn words and drawings thrown in for good measure. January will be a lot brighter this year.
WG
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