Jewels for Sophia [Original recording reissued]

Robyn Hitchcock | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: Noble Rot
• ASIN: B000QUU2U2
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,928 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Playing through at the golf course on the moon, December 16, 2000

By 

Self-kerbed "Kerbistani Rebel" (Kerby, OR United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Jewels for Sophia (Audio CD)

This is yet another quirky masterpiece from a guy who can write a good, insightful song about anything and anyone. It is one of the "sanity discs" that accompanies me on long drives between California and Oregon and conceptually even longer drives between Sunnyvale and Menlo Park. Viva Sea Tac is a right-on, deadly accurate knee-slapper of a tune. But wait, there's more! Where else can you hear words like "I dream of ant woman, with her Audrey Hepburn feelers and her black & white ...stripes" and be taken straight to B-movie heaven? Listen to it *all* from front to back, observe a moment of silence, keep listening... score the great pleasure of useful advice and the final reward of "Don't Talk to Me About Gene Hackman" (Note to Robyn: thanks for providing me with a(n) hilarious alternative to argument. Write a song about the yutzes who whine in the hallways about the hippies who voted for Nader and won it for Bush and I'll let you move into my house as a permanent guest). While you're at it, fellow consumer(s): for unmitigated RH in all his intense and ironic splendour, buy the "Storefront Hitchcock" DVD.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A really tasty confection of songs, November 4, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Jewels for Sophia (Audio CD)

After the slightly awkward and patchy sounds of his last record, "Moss Elixir," Hitchcock has returned with something a little more speedy and playable. It's an infectious record, with many of Hitchcock's trademark motifs of strange types of love, odd images and hummable, life-affirming tunes. In the face of the void, Mr Hitchcock is chipper and that's the way we like him. "Viva, Sea-Tac," "NASA Clapping" and "I feel loved" are standouts, but the others are not far behind. There's a cute bonus track at the end which is about Mr Gene Hackman. It sounds like some manner of live recording and is the better for it. The only thing to regret is Hitchcock's occasional use of what I can only describe as a whispery growl to render some of the lyrics. He's not the world's best singer, and normally that doesn't matter, but this stylistic trick is not really nice enough to repeat as much as he does. Above all, this is a consistent record with much to commend it. If you liked the albums "Queen Elvis", "Eye" and "Perspex Island", then you'll like this. If you like "Fegmania" then I'm not sure. I didn't but I like this. Alot.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't bloat, eat the cheese and gloat..., November 5, 2004

By 

ewomack "ewomack" (MN USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Jewels for Sophia (Audio CD)

Hitchcock's lyrics alone can make a trip through one of his albums a worthy endeavor. 1999's "Jewels for Sophia" contains some absolutely brilliant lines: "Time will destroy you like a Mexican god"; "Being just contaminates the void"; "Half the world starving and half the world bloats half the world sits on the other and gloats"; "At least when I die, your memory will too". Sometimes Hitchcock's more rock-oriented albums leave the lyrics drowning and screaming for help in the mix. Consequently, many fans seem to be cleaved by his two "personas" - the acoustic and the electric. "Jewels for Sophia" strikes a nice balance for the most part. The arrangements allow the listener to articulate the lines without missing the instrumentation, and the electric and acoustic seem to make great bedmates here. Lush strumming mixes amazingly well with distorted thunder clashes of electric guitar in many places. Grinding rock songs segue into delicate acoustic ballads and vice versa. Both the rough and sensitive Hitchcock get air time on "Jewels for Sophia".

"Mexican God" starts off the album with an impromptu feeling (much like the Soft Boys "Can of Bees"). Robyn counts down after mumbling something into the microphone. This one has a sparse but driving arrangement - only acoustic guitar, bass, and drums. The song grants eternal destruction to four different people and situations. A pean to mortality.

"Cheese Alarm" is both brilliant and stupid. It showcases Hitchcock's ability to elevate the ridiculous to the profound. The lyrics read like Monty Python's "Cheeseshop sketch" then morph into a statement on gluttony and dominance. It features driving tablas and an introduction reminiscent of Bollywood.

"Viva! Sea-Tac" brings the album to full throttle. It grooves and drives while seeming to both praise and condemn the "Seattle Movement" of the late 1990s. It also falls apart at the end, opening the album to "I Feel Beautiful" - a tender acoustic love song (that comes close to falling on the sappy side of the fence) with an amazingly beautiful dulcimer-esque solo.

The haunting "No, I Don't Remember Guilford" seems like a semi-amnesiac remembrance of an English holocaust. It's one of the album's best tracks.

"Jewels for Sophia" presents some excellent Hitchcock. The moody, grooving, beautiful, disturbing, ridiculous, and profound all find a home on this album. Hitchcock's career has attempted to synthesize all of these elements, and his best music does have the ability to bring out the absurdity and beauty of existence. Some of the music on "Jewels of Sophia" reaches these heights.

Lastly, don't miss the live acoustic "Gene Hackman" track hidden at the end of the album.