Fretplay.com Robyn Hitchcock CD reviews Robyn Hitchcock guitar tabs Robyn Hitchcock CD reviews Robyn Hitchcock tabs This Is the BBC


Robyn Hitchcock - This Is the BBC Audio CD

A fair review of the Robyn Hitchcock "This Is the BBC" 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: This Is the BBC
Rating:
Release Date: 2006-04-03
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Man With a Woman's Shadow [Mark Radcliffe Session] 2: Heliotrope [Mark Radcliffe Session] 3: De Chirico Street [Andy Kershaw Session] 4: Cheese Alarm [Andy Kershaw Session] 5: Jewels for Sophia [Andy Kershaw Session] 6: Polly on the Shore [Andy Kershaw Session] 7: Where Do You Go When You Die? [Andy Kershaw Session] 8: I Saw Nick Drake [Andy Kershaw Session] 9: It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry [Andy Kershaw Session] 10: Andy Kershaw Jingle [Andy Kershaw Session] 11: Birds in Perspex [Andy Kershaw Session] 12: Sally Was a Legend [Andy Kershaw Session] 13: Elizabeth Jade [Andy Kershaw Session] 14: Madonna of the Wasps [Andy Kershaw Session]

Retrodelic cult artist makes comeback!!
. Although thats not really saying much

When this album came out, Robyn fans were worried. Luxor, and other earlier albums, weren't so strong. He was still playing live (where Robyn is in his element) telling his ridiculous stories and playing moody magnificent songs like "Glass hotel"

But Robyn wasn't always putting out strong material. Albums like Spooked & so forth are not the best work hes capable of (and the less said of the Dylan cover album - 2cd! - the better)

I'll grant you, songs like "Television" popped up on college radio, they're kinda katchy, but when the best bit on an album is Robyn's answering message, its cause for alarm

"Lets go live in the trees" could be the worst song Robyn has ever released, period! I understand being influenced by Dylans Basement Tapes, but writing nonsense like that

To backtrack. .

One day Robyn was writing great lyrics like Glass, Airscape

You remember:

"Save your illusions - for someone else
Save your illusions - for yourself. "

No one knew what he was on about but why mind when Robyn was having a good time

Or:

"Glass protects you but glass can shatter
Hear the sirens, hear the screams
In the end though nothing matters cos
noone else can see your dreams. "

Pretty intelligent stuff

By the time of this album, Storefront Hitchcock had been and gone, Robyn had done a tour with Grant Lee Philips (the Elixirs & Remedies dvd came out of this tour - half the video is Robyn, so it helps if you're a fan of Grant)

(And the Bee Gees!)

So when this BBC set came out, certainly I looked at it as a good thing. Very good set list ("I saw Nick Drake" gets a lyrical rewrite. No matter. Still a great song)

The lyrics are included. You've got Robyn doing an off the cuff song about the BBC

This could be one of the best albums to give to someone if they wanna check out Robyn. Robyns partial to the earlier album cut at his house at a dinner party (The Kershaw Sessions) but this is a very good album

This might be a good starter to give to someone whos just getting into Robyn if you can't find any of the best ofs (out of print?) put out by Rhino & Warner

I think this was his 25th album or something - by the time the live I Often Dream of Trains dvd comes out next year, he'll be up to number 31 (Goodnight Oslo).

I think.

.


another little gem...
The production is clean, the performances are relaxed and tight, and the song selections range over several years from about 1994 to 2005. This work, while not as diverse as THE KERSHAW SESSIONS, still stands very well on its ow. An excellent companion piece to THE KERSHAW SESSIONS, and somother than OBLITERATION PIE. Worth the price, for certain.


Arguably, among his best live releases
If you read some of the reviews of Robyn's incredibly prolific releases over the years, be they live or studio records, you might run across comments like ". . not as good as his (fill in the blank) live album or studio release. . ".

That's kind of like saying one Beatles album isn't as good as another. Admittedly, there may be one or two near misses among the 20+ releases in my Hitchcock collection, but it's difficult to say one of his records is better or worse than another. He's gone through phases, but it's all good.

As to this live collection from the late 90s, here he's picked some of the best of the best, not only from the excellent studio albums of the period, but also digging back about a decade to the late 80s. My only complaint is that the song sequence intersperses songs from one session among another, but that's a very small complaint. The sound quality is excellent. . . . very intimate, as you'd expect from a radio session, and without any audience sound, which at times can be distracting.

As with a fine wine, Robyn just keeps getting better with time.

Looking forward to the next chapter from this unbelievably underrated song writer and guitarist.


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.

Search guitar tabs

#ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
[ Search tabs | Guitar tabs | Bass tabs |
Easy guitar tabs | Guitar solo tabs |
Acoustic guitar tabs | Guitar chords |
How to read guitar tabs ]
Forum topics
Music forums
- Bands and artists - Songwriting and lyrics - Tablature talk - Promote your band
Instrument forums
- Guitar basics - Gear & accessories - Bass guitar
Community
- The pit - Site Feedback - Reviews
[ User survey | About us | Privacy statement ]