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Robyn Hitchcock - Spooked Audio CD

A fair review of the Robyn Hitchcock "Spooked" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Robyn Hitchcock reviews here, or go back to the Robyn Hitchcock tabs.

Robyn Hitchcock Band: Robyn Hitchcock
Title: Spooked
Rating:
Release Date: 2004-10-05
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Television 2: If You Know Time 3: Everybody Needs Love 4: English Girl 5: Demons & Friends 6: Creeped Out 7: Sometimes a Blonde 8: We're Gonna Live in the Trees 9: Tryin' to Get to Heaven Before They Close the Door 10: Full Moon in My Soul 11: Welcome to Earth 12: Flanagan's Song

Spooked - Robyn Hitchcock review
I'm a little meh. Spooked - its okay. .

Theres a couple good (quite good) tracks that you can find out there that are not on the cd: Theres No Way Out of Time (appeared only on the Spooked lp) & She Was You (only available on a bonus cdr with said lp from Yep Roc)

I don't know about a lot of the songs here. Robyn has written better songs than this in the past. The opener (Television) is catchy - it even saw some local radio airplay here in NJ when it came out which is not usually the case with Robyn, who remains a cult artist; it was even tbbed out in Acoustic Guitar (its only chords are A B and E actually)

Trouble is, the only memorable song after that that I can recall from this is the answering machine message (Welcome to Earth)

The album closes well with Flanagans Song, nice song

Trouble is, most of the songs don't really make too much of an impression. Robyn did Creeped Out for a while in his live sets as I recall, but now seems to have been dropped

Demons and Fiends is an old song of Robyns - long lost on the Unhatched Criblings compilation. Its about 20 years old actually, a demo left off the You and Oblivion rarities compilation. Its not so good

If You Know Time is ok, kinda katchy. One of the more upbeat tracks on a very somber collection of songs

We're Gonna Live in the Trees sounds like a goof - off the cuff a la Dylan's Basement Tapes. Was this supposed to see official release? Its just dumb though. I can't imagine this sort of track being set to repeat. Meh

The digipack for the album is very nice. Holds the cd very well. The artworks ok. I think there was even a shirt for it

The obligatory Dylan cover (Trying to Get to Heaven). Oh well. Sigh. At least its not off Self Portrait.


Unplugged Robyn gem.
But over the course of a year, I find myself putting it on all the time, and I only like it better each time. I was a little lukewarm when I first heard this, thinking it atmospheric and pleasant but a little bland compared to his more rock-oriented albums. The arrangements are both spare and warm -- everything feels well-considered and pointed. And though it is a funny album (as all of Robyn's albums are) he finds ways of making the silliness mean something. (Consider the last verse of "Demons and Fiends", and how it changes a bunch of odd-ball non-sequiturs into a wistful remembrance. )
Full of loveliness. A great album. .


moody, bohemian folk
Backed by the brilliant duo of Gillian Welch and David Rawlings (the latter also produced Spooked), Hitchcock spins an unpredictable web of psychedelic, bohemian, and folky sounds. If you have a penchant for moody, mysterious songs, ethereal vocals, and ringing acoustic timbres, you'll flip over this Robyn Hitchcock album. Layers of understated guitar, Dobro, Wurlitzer, and percussion draw you in, while allowing Hitchcock's expressive voice and edgy lyrics to dominate the mix. Rawlings has a knack for crafting unusual guitar parts -- sometimes his 6-string drones like a dulcimer, sometimes it shimmers like a miniature piano. Though quiet, this album is intense, and snippets of odd sounds dart here and there adding an eerie vibe to the essentially acoustic tracks. Hitchcock's comic impersonation of an interplanetary tour guide keeps this dazzling work from getting too dark.


Loose, relaxed and intimate
Everything here is open, relaxed and comfortable. I was surprised at how warm this CD was after the rather detached coolness of LUXOR. "Flanagan's Song", "Sometimes a Blonde" and "We're Gonna Live in the Trees" are classics. I'm not terribly impressed with "English Girl", but everything else more than makes up for one comparatively weak song. A must-have for fans of The Man, and for those who enjoy the alt-bluegrass sound.


Big Kid
Finally gets it right with one delicious hook after another. Mature release from this longtime UK kook. Perfect pop in the grown-up realm of Eno/Cale's Wrong Way Up and Leonard Cohen's Ten New Songs. A delight from start to finish.


You can see a complete list of all Robyn Hitchcock discography, or go back to the Robyn Hitchcock tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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