No Subject

[hsut@purdue-ecn.ARPA (Tsun-Yuk Hsu)]

	Being one of the unfortunates in Indiana who have not yet seen
a copy of Hounds of Love (the CD is here, tho), I'll talk about something
else...

	Just got Robyn Hitchcock's I Often Dream of Trains (partly at
Doug's suggestion.) What an album! I enjoyed Fegmania, but Trains
totally blew me away. By the way, the reason why I haven't been able
to find it is because the lettering on the cover of the album is
made of contorted little Egyptian figures (snakes, Anubis etc.),
and the gold on green background text is VERY hard to read. I've
probably been staring at the album for several months before I actually
bothered to try and read the title of the album and found out it was
by Robyn Hitchcock. Now I LOVE the strange script on both sides
of the album jacket.

	Like Fegmania, Trains has no lyric sheets. However, there is
some strange verse inside (which I've yet to figure out) and a
hilarious comic strip called 12'' Comix which I promise to read
carefully and analyze sometime.

	But these are only the preliminary things which makes the album
neat (and we haven't even got to the music yet!) Robyn Hitchcock
plays most of the instruments on the album (there aren't that many)
and the result is a spare, intense, personal sound. The production is
uneven --- I had almost unbearable surface noise on a few songs. Were
some songs recorded in Robyn's bathroom or something (hence the occasional
mention of "toilets" :-) )? How was your copy, Doug?

	Side 1 is quintessential drug music which makes Pink Floyd
sound sober. Robyn Hitchcock's inspiration is at white-hot intensity
here, cranking out incredibly zany music. I almost died laughing to
"Uncorrected Personality Traits". The simple instrumentation is 
perfect for these musical gems documenting Robyn Hitchcock's crazy
personal world. I loved all the songs on side 1 unreservedly. Side 2
seems almost "tired" by comparison. The theme here is death and dying,
and the pervading mood is an autumnal sadness. Some very good songs
here too, and the acoustic guitar work is simple and effective
(then again I have a weakness for the instrument.) 

	By the way, there's a short interview with Robyn Hitchcock
in one of the glossy music magazines (International Recording World
or something.) In essence, Robyn Hitchcock said he doesn't do drugs,
he IS drugs and he likes to go down people's throats. 


					Bill Hsu
					pur-ee!hsut