Customer Reviews

Invisible Hitchcock

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I wish, really and truely, that i could call this rather slight collection a minor masterpiece or something, or an "odds and sods" type of neato throwaways which make a great album, but that's not the case. Most of this album, in fact, makes a stronger case for the old adage "there's a reason these songs weren't released..." If you aren't a huge Robyn Hitchcock fan pass this one by and pick up "Element of Light" or "Eye."

However, if you happen to be a Robyn Hitchcock fan (as i am) and want to hear and have it all, then by all means. You'll be quite pleased with a few gems that deserved a better fate. There's the putdown rockers "Trash" and "Eaten by Her Own Dinner" which kind of have to be heard to be believed. There's some neat pop on "All I Want to Do is Fall in Love" and the original version of "Listening to the Higsons." Oh, and don't forget the acoustical beauty "Give Me A Spanner, Ralph" and the weird keyboard-ness of "The Abandoned Brain." Other than that you'll find a lot of songs that sound like a lot of other Robyn songs and a few that don't sound like anything and should have been left where found. Again, if you're a fan, frolic. If not, let the search continue.

Odd PS: About ten years after the original release of this album, Robyn released ANOTHER collection of outtakes called "You and Oblivion." Given the quality of most of this recording you'd expect, well...but no! It's amazingly better and filled with many great moments. Don't pass it up. Plus, if you get that one and this one you get the complete story of "The Professor", which is worth having in whole.

I have actually owned the LP version of "Invisible Hitchcock" for many years (well before this CD version was released). It must have been 1988 or '89 when I first heard it. My then flatmate; Dave(where are you now?), and I would drink copious amounts and put this album on. By the end of side 1, munchies were setting in so it was the perfect break (just after the psychedelic jungle beat that is "Pit of Souls") and then on to the hilarious "Trash" which opened side 2. Ahhhhh....the memories! The superb bass line to "A Skull .....", the surreal lyrics to...well most of the songs here, and the twisted, hilarious brutallity of "Blues in A" all help make this album a timeless classic for this listener. Now that we have the CD version, there are many more tracks available that were/are not on my old dusty LP version. However, on the sleeve notes of my LP it does say that one day a second album of similiar demos, b-sides, and general recorded lunacy will be released at a later date. Maybe these tracks are them. However, I certainly recommend it for the 12 or so tracks that were on the original vinyl version.

Robyn Hitchcock / Invisible Hitchcock: This CD is darker than most of his albums but it contains one song that makes me laugh out loud ("Trash"). It's a crazy collection, but one of the best. I love this thing so I give it Five Stars.

Oddly enough this was the first RH record that I ever bought. To tell the truth , I think it was the cover that won me over. Really. This sounds much more like a cohesive artistic statement rather than just a stop-gap odds and ends compilation. By the end of the Black Snake outtake, "All I Wanna Do Is Fall In Love" (why this track was an outtake I'll never understand), I knew it was just a matter of time till I purchased all things Robyn. In fact aside from a few way-out-there experimental tunes this may be my fave collection of Robyn tunes. "Give Me A Spanner (i.e. wrench), Ralph", "I('ve) Got A Message For You", "Eaten By Her Own Dinner", "A Skull...", "The Abandoned Brain", "Falling Leaves"
and the version of "My Favorite Buildings" on here are all great songs and some of my fave Robyn moments.

This album is music for Autumn nights with abundant beer (or wine if you will) and just kick back, relax, listen and enjoy.
Sample lyric: "Trevor Go And Shave Your Playmates"

The attraction of Robyn Hitchcock goes beyond the playfulness of a song like My Favourite Buildings. Underneath the tongue-in-cheekiness of the humor lies the sweet folk rock of a man who can both make fun of buildings and lament their immanent demise. The drunken barroom sounds of Give Me a Spanner, Ralph and the typically Hitchcock smoothness of A Skull, A Suitcase, and a Long Red Bottle of Wine serve up the kind of diversity he's known for. If you're a Hitchcock fan, you have to have this one, if only for My Favourite Buildings. If you have no clue who he is, this is a great intro.

This basically consists of outtakes from "Black Snake Diamond Role" and demos. Even so, it's a fairly consistent and varied collection. Everything from good pop tunes like "All I want to Do is Fall in Love" to somber acoustic stuff like "A Skull, a Suitcase..." to silly stuff like "Blues in A." Basically minor Hitchcock, I suppose, but an oddly likable album and really pretty representative of most of what he does.

Robyn often sounds like John Lennon on warped psychedelics(never mind...Lennon was no stranger to that sort of thing), and here the resemblance is as strong as ever. So picture yourself in a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies and let Robyn take you to a place stranger than Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds ever went. Most of the arrangements are sparse with awesome harmonica and backward guitar treatments. The majority of the songs here were recorded betweeen 1980 and 1983 and have definitely withstood the test of time.