Robyn Hitchcock

[harvard!seismo!bdmrrr!potomac!jsl (John Labovitz)]

> From: bdmrrr!seismo!purdue-ecn.ARPA!hsut (Tsun-Yuk Hsu)
> 
> 	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.

Yes yes yes yes yes!  I bought IODoT first, and then Fegmania.  I'm not sure
which one I like most -- it depends on the mood I'm in.  I will say,
however, that these are possibly the two best albums I have (sorry Doug, I
think they just went over The Dreaming).  In fact, I just listened to IODoT
today (not 2 hours ago).  I've been playing the same 5 albums for the last
two weeks, and two of them are Robyn Hitchcock.  (The others, in case you're
interested, are Jonathan Richman's ``Rockin' and Romance'' and ``Jonathan
Sings,'' and Martha & the Muffins ``This is the Ice Age.'' (Soon I guess I'll
be listening to a lot of Jane Siberry, once I get the album.))

> 	Like Fegmania, Trains has no lyric sheets. However, there is
> some strange verse inside (which I've yet to figure out)

I typed in the verse to that onto this computer.  If you want me to send it,
I will.  There are a couple of words I can't make out, but maybe all the
other Hitchcock fans can help.

> hilarious comic strip called 12'' Comix which I promise to read
> carefully and analyze sometime.

``Black Snake Diamond Role,'' which I bought a couple of days ago, also has
strange comix in it.

> 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?

Yeah, some of the tracks are definitely not-right.  Sorta sounds like they
were using crummy tape.

> 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.

Yeah, that's true.  But it's still great, just different.  `Trams of Old
London' and `I Often Dream of Trains' are some of the best tracks on the
album.

John Labovitz		..!{rlgvax,seismo}!bdmrrr!potomac!jsl
--
"Lift up your candle dress
 Unweave your nylon spine
 In onions and in velvet
 You will soon be mine."	-- (guess who)