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Luminous Groove

Robyn Hitchcock - Luminous Groove Audio CD

A fair review of the Robyn Hitchcock "Luminous Groove" 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.

Band: Robyn Hitchcock
Title: Luminous Groove
Rating:

Release Date: 2008-08-19
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Egyptian Cream 2: Another Bubble 3: I'm Only You 4: My Wife and My Dead Wife 5: Goodnight I Say 6: Man with the Lightbulb Head 7: Insect Mother 8: Strawberry Mind 9: Glass 10: Fly 11: Heaven 12: Bells of Rhymney [#] 13: Some Body [#] 14: Heaven [Live][#] 15: Pit of Souls (I-IV) [#] 16: Drowning Church [#] 17: Man with the Lightbulb Head [#][Instrumental] 18: Lady Obvious [#] 19: Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl [Live] 20: Kingdom of Love [Live] 21: Acid Bird [Live] 22: Cars She Used to Drive [Live] 23: My Wife and My Dead Wife [Live] 24: Brenda's Iron Sledge [Live] 25: Fly [Live] 26: Only the Stones Remain [Live] 27: Egyptian Cream [Live] 28: Leppo and the Jooves [Live] 29: America [Live] 30: Heaven [Live] 31: Listening to the Higsons [Live] 32: Face of Death [Live] 33: If You Were a Priest [Live] 34: Freeze [Live] 35: I'm Only You [Live] 36: Unsettled [Live] 37: If You Were a Priest 38: Winchester 39: Somewhere Apart 40: Ted, Woody and Junior 41: President 42: Raymond Chandler Evening 43: Bass 44: Airscape 45: Never Stop Bleeding 46: Lady Waters & the Hooded One 47: Black Crow Knows [#] 48: Crawling [#] 49: Leopard [#] 50: Tell Me About Your Drugs [#] 51: Sprinkling Dots [#] 52: Upside-Down Church Blues [#] 53: Into It [#] 54: Neck [#] 55: Bass [#][Demo Version] 56: Lady Waters & the Hooded One [Mix I][#] 57: Bad Case of History [*] 58: In Agony of Pleasure [*] 59: Poisonous Angel [*] 60: Live Man Die [*] 61: Furry Baby [*] 62: Evil Guy [*] 63: Hangin' Out with Dad [*] 64: Wild Mountain Thyme [*] 65: Ivy Alone [*] 66: I Am Not Me [*] 67: Surfer Ghost [*] 68: Beautiful Queen [*] 69: Testosterone Blues [*] 70: Zipper in My Spine [*] 71: Lost Tribes [*] 72: Child of the Universe [Live][*] 73: Freeze [Live][*] 74: Veins of the Queen [Live][*] 75: Ruling Class [Live][*] 76: So You Think You're in Love [Live][*] 77: Driving Aloud [Live][*] 78: Wax Doll [Live][*] 79: Living Years [Live][*] 80: Eight Miles High [Live][*] 81: Chimes of Freedom [Live][*] 82: Railway Shoes [Live][*] 83: Arms of Love [Live][*] 84: Moon Inside [Live][*] 85: Globe of Frogs [Live][*] 86: Vegetation & Dimes [Live][*] 87: Wafflehead [Live][*] 88: Wreck of the Arthur Lee [Live][*] 89: V & D 90: Wafflehead 91: Wreck of the Arthur Lee

Revisiting the Hitchcock museum for additional classics and rarities in boxed set
All four are presented in miniature "LP" style gatefold sleeve jackets made of cardboard and with a booklet featuring photos, lyrics and a story inside. Three seminal Robyn Hitchcock albums "Fegmania!!!", "Gotta Let This Hen Out" and "Element of Light" get remastered with some different bonus tracks, no liner notes and a 2 CD collection "A Bad Case of History" with one disc of previously unreleased/rare studio material and the second live tracks personally selected by Egyptians musician Morris Windsor. 54 tracks in total that have never been "offically" released before are the highlight of the set.

While these have appeared on CD before WITH bonus tracks, fans will really want to pick this up for the two disc "rarities" set as with the previous boxed set of releases. You can do what I did--I made a CD-R of some of the tracks not included on these reissues and then sold the original CDs to buy this. The REAL reason to get this is that, unlike "I Wanna Go Backwards" where the bonus discs cherry picked some of the finest previously released tracks from albums like 1995's "You and Oblivion", these haven't seen the light of day on CD to the best of my knowledge before with 15 previously unreleased studio tracks and 17 live tracks that dip into the A&M years when Hitchcock reached critical mass and actually had some minor hits.

Yep Roc has done a nice job with this set but I do miss the liner notes from the Rhino editions of these albums which were quite informative about the songs and albums but it's really the music that matters. Is this a double dip (or triple depending on how many times you've purchased this?)? Yep. Is it worth it? Yep. Why? "A Bad Case of History" makes it worthwhile although I would have liked to see a DVD of live performances or an additional CD featuring odds and ends.

Overall for Hitchcock fans this is a terrific set but be aware that if you do decide to sell the previous CDs these duplicate, the track listing for bonus tracks aren't exactly the same so you might want to rip them to your computer. The other option is to check and see if some of these tracks from the "History" set will be offered at Robyn's website.
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How many times will the fans pay?

However, I have to question whether it makes sense for the longtime fan to purchase this set. The three previously released albums here are among the strongest of Hitchcock's long career: those who love anglo-american guitar rock, eccentric songwriters, and indie music in general, and who don't already have these albums should consider picking this up. Some of us have already spent good money for the original vinyl LPs and singles, the 1980s UK-issued CDs with bonus tracks (which already featured excellent sound, incidentally), and the early-1990s Rhino remastered CDs (with a slightly hotter mix and a minimally altered set of bonus tracks).

Now, the latest repackaging gives us those same three classic albums in yet another mastering, with yet another variation on the bonus tracks, and a different set of notes. To ensure that longtime fans plunk down their cash for the box set, two discs of demos, outtakes and live tracks are included, which are not being sold separately.

Given that Hitchcock authorizes free distribution of live recordings via archive. org, I have to wonder whether the unreleased material will really incentivize fans to buy a full box set. Major labels have done this sort of thing for years, but it's disappointing to see an indie heading down the same path. As much as I respect Hitchcok and admire his art, I have some real problems with his latest record company's marketing tactics here.

But, hey, it's your money.

Killer Hitchcock
Generous bonus tracks and noticeable improvement in sound quality make this set (or these individual titles) an essential. Highly recommended reissue of the cream of the crop for Hitchcock devotees, and a great place to start for neophytes.

His throwaways are better than most artists' greatest hits.

The sticker on this box advertises 54 bonus tracks. More songs about cathedrals and food. To me, however, the reissued LPs ARE the bonus tracks to another great set of Robyn Hitchcock previously unreleased recordings. RH is one of the very rare artists who's throwaways are better than a lot of other artists' greatest hits records.

I used to listen to Soft Boys and RH records in the 80s and in the past few years, I've rediscovered him. He quickly became one of my very favorite songwriters, as well as a favorite singer and musician. One thing that I think makes him great is that his outtakes are as good or better than songs on his 'official' releases. Two of his recent records, Jewels for Sophia and Moss Elixer, were immediately followed by full length outtakes records: A Star for Bram and Mossy Liquor. All four records are equally good, to my ears.

I was thrilled, therefore, to hear last year's boxset "I Want To Go Backwards". It had three of my favorite RH records, each with extra tracks like singles, bsides and outtakes. It also had two extra cds full of more bonus tracks. Again, it seemed like RH's creativity is endless: I have all the old records and most singles, but he keeps releasing older recordings of perfectly brilliant songs.

This new release has nearly the same format as ". . . Backwards" and every fan of RH will find plenty to love. The three LPs reissued here are were recorded with the Egyptians, so they are more pop-oriented and have plenty of trebly guitar and fretless bass. These are three records that I listen to a lot less than the folkier ones, but hearing them here reminded me how terrific they are.

I bought this boxset for the extra tracks, of course. fegMANIA has a few from singles that I have, a recent live "heaven", which is interesting and different than the record's version. The disc also features a few tracks that are related to fegMANIA, but seem to have been recorded recently. Whatever the case, they are good songs. "Gotta Let This Hen Out!" has more live songs than the original LP, but they might have also been on the Rhino reissue. The extra tracks are a handful of Egyptian live songs from a 1989 show that sound like board recordings; they're not altogether bad, but they are a sort of anticlimax after the high energy sound of ". . . Hen. . . ". "Element of Light" is the record that features the best and most extra tracks: a few singles and outtakes that are all excellent.

The double bonus cd, "Bad Case of History", is the reason that this set gets only four stars. The first disc is nearly flawless, full of interesting songs that I've never heard. Disc two is a live Egyptians set that is only marginally interesting. None of the versions approach the quality of the studio records, and there is plenty of out of tune harmony singing that is distracting. I can't imagine wanting to listen to it again, though there are a few covers that I haven't heard them do elsewhere.

RH fans will find this box indispensable. This is not a 'completist only' release, though. People who want more of a great singer and songwriter will get quite a lot of great songs for $50.

A Must-Have for Hitchcock Fans
But "Luminous Groove" contains three albums that have been out of print for a long time and hard to find even used. I already had most of the original albums that made up the previous "I Wanna Go Backwards" Hitchcock box set, so I gave that one a miss. So as soon as I heard it was coming out, I pre-ordered, on the basis of just the three re-issued albums. I didn't know that there would be two additional bonus disks! So, between three excellent re-issues, the bonus tracks on those disks, and the "live" and "studio" bonus disks, I am absolutely delighted. Whether you like the sparse, quirky Hitchcock of "I Often Dream of Trains" or the more slick and elaborate wierdness of the A&M albums, you'll find this set, which occupies the middle ground historically and musically, enjoyable.

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.