Album Review: Robyn Hitchcock, "The Man Upstairs" (2014)

Robyn Hitchcock, "The Man Upstairs," 2014. Cover painting by Gillian Welch.

The one and only Robyn Hitchcock.

Robyn Hitchcock’s recently released 2014 album, “The Man Upstairs,” is a unique album for him, as it mixes 5 cover songs with 5 Hitchcock originals. This is quite a departure, as cover songs on Robyn Hitchcock albums are few and far between. Hitchcock sometimes mixes in cover songs during his concerts, and his only album of all covers is a 2-disc live album of Bob Dylan songs released in 2002 entitled “Robyn Sings.” For another songwriter, the appearance of a half covers/half originals album might be a signal that their creative muse is waning. However, since Robyn Hitchcock’s fecund mind keeps churning out roughly an album a year, I’m not worried that he has writer’s block. 

“The Man Upstairs” holds together very well, and it feels like a very cohesive album. Much of the credit for this can go to producer Joe Boyd, who produced Nick Drake’s first two albums, among many others. “The Man Upstairs” is a subtle, intimate album. The first two times I listened to the album I was in my car, and while I liked certain songs, others didn’t do much for me. I wasn’t quite sure if I liked the album as a whole. But then I listened to it on headphones, and it changed the way I heard the whole album. I could now hear all of the sonic details that Hitchcock and Boyd have put on the album, and I like it a great deal more. 

The instrumentation on “The Man Upstairs” is quite sparse, as it features Robyn on guitars, the marvelous Jenny Adejayan on cello, Charlie Francis on piano, and Norwegian singer-songwriter Anne Lise Frokedal, from the band I Was a King, on harmony vocals. Jenny Adejayan has played on the last couple of Robyn’s albums, and her cello playing brings a different sonic texture to Hitchcock’s songs that greatly enhances them. Anne Lise Frokedal’s lovely harmony vocals also bring a different feel to Hitchcock’s music, and their voices blend very well together. 

Here are the songs on “The Man Upstairs” and brief comments on them:

 “The Ghost in You”-A Psychedelic Furs cover. It’s a good, catchy opener with great cello playing.

“San Francisco Patrol”-An original. It’s quite pretty, with the refrain, “Can’t take my eyes off of you.” (It’s hard not to think of Frankie Valli when you hear that phrase.) No surrealism in this one. I wonder if there might be a veiled reference to Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry in this song, as Robyn sings, “Who are we staking out?” Anything that references San Francisco and the police makes me think of Dirty Harry, and Hitchcock has written songs about the Dirty Harry movies before. His terrific 2006 song “(A Man’s Gotta Know His Limitations) Briggs,” is inspired by the Dirty Harry movie “Magnum Force.” 

 “To Turn You On”-Roxy Music cover. It’s fun to hear a Roxy Music song with Bryan Ferry’s seductive croon replaced by Robyn’s distinctive voice. Whereas Ferry’s original sounds like the smooth pick-up line of a confident lover-man, Robyn sounds like an earnest suitor, offering a sincere token of his love. I’m a big Roxy Music fan, and this was one of the highlights of the album for me. Robyn is obviously a Roxy Music aficionado, as he previously covered “More Than This” on the “Madonna of the Wasps” CD-single. Back in the days when CD-singles existed. 

“Trouble in Your Blood”-A brooding original, with something of a droning feel to it. Excellent backing vocals.

“Somebody to Break Your Heart”-A very catchy bluesy original. The lyrics mention skeletons twice. Good harmonica blowing by Robyn. One of my favorites on the album. 

“Don’t Look Down”-Grant-Lee Phillips cover. This song doesn’t do much for me. It’s too slow and long, and it’s not sequenced in a good place on the album, as it’s in between two faster, catchier songs.

“Ferries”-cover of Norwegian band I Was a King. Anne Lise Frokedal co-wrote the song, and she adds terrific backing vocals here. The song appears on I Was a King’s 2012 album, “You Love It Here,” which was co-produced by Robyn. It’s an upbeat, poppy song that celebrates a mode of transportation-right up Robyn’s alley. 

“Comme Tojours”-original. An earlier version of this song was released in 2010 or 2011 as a Phantom 45 on Robyn’s website. The title is French for “as usual, as ever.” The cello playing is exquisite, and goes perfectly with the song. Robyn’s note about this song on his website says, “Originally conceived for Bryan Ferry as Humphrey Bogart, a man alone consoling himself with a cigarette.” The version on “The Man Upstairs” is not very different from the original one, but the addition of Anne Lise on harmony vocals is most welcome. 

“The Crystal Ship”-The Doors cover. It’s really cool to hear Robyn sing The Doors, and “The Crystal Ship” fits Robyn’s style very well. As usual, the cello playing is great and adds a different flavor. One of my favorites on the album.

“Recalling the Truth”-original. It’s a nice song that isn’t terribly exciting. Robyn’s original songs on this album have more straightforward lyrics. There’s less surrealism than usual. 

“The Man Upstairs” is an excellent album, autumnal in feel and spirit. I enjoyed the different instrumental approaches on this album, and the stirring way that Jenny Adejayan’s cello and Anne Lise Frokedal’s harmony vocals interacted with Robyn’s voice. If you’re a fan of Robyn’s, give “The Man Upstairs” a listen. Just don’t forget to bring your headphones.

Album Review: Robyn Hitchcock-"Love From London" (2013)

Robyn Hitchcock, "Love From London," 2013.

Robyn Hitchcock’s latest album, “Love From London,” came out on March 5^th. As usual, it’s an excellent album full of more Hitchcockian songs about love, fruit, and insects. “Love From London” is Robyn’s first album on the Yep Roc label since 2009’s “Goodnight Oslo.” That fact makes 2010’s “Propellor Time” and 2011’s Norwegian-only release “Tromso, Kaptein” seem like transitional works in between the two more major statements of “Goodnight Oslo” and “Love From London.” While I enjoyed both “Propellor Time” and “Tromso, Kaptein,” I think “Love From London” is a stronger album than both of them. I think “Propellor Time” in particular seems weaker in retrospect, as the songs on that album seem to be leftovers from 2006-7. Robyn was shown working on songs that ended up on “Propellor Time” in the 2007 documentary “Sex, Food, Death…and Insects,” but then “Goodnight Oslo” was his next album, and featured none of these songs. Which makes me think that Robyn held the songs on “Propellor Time” back for some reason, maybe because he felt they weren’t up to snuff? Who knows? 

“Love From London” is a very good album. To me, it has a different sound from the albums Robyn has done recently with his backing group the Venus 3. I like the sound on “Love From London,” as much as I love the Venus 3 albums. All the drums on “London” are artificial, which I think works well on this album. It gives Robyn’s music a slightly more modern sound. Jenny Adejayan plays the cello on “Love From London,” as she also did on “Tromso, Kaptein.” The addition of cello brings a new sonic color to Hitchcock’s palette, and gives the music a nice psychedelic vibe. 

“Love From London” opens with the almost ominous piano strains of “Harry’s Song.” The first line of “Harry’s Song” is “Nothing answers like the ocean,” which is nicely echoed by the sound of the ocean that closes the album. I heard Robyn sing “Harry’s Song” at the Dakota last fall, and I was struck by its beauty when I heard him sing it live. The song’s refrain of “I don’t know anything about you” could be a commentary on how difficult it is for people to actually connect with each other in the digital age. 

“Be Still” has a more upbeat, jaunty, jangly sound. The song is about the narrator trying to figure out more about a mysterious woman. “Be Still” has some lovely lyrics, here’s the final verse:

“Her hair is dark as berries and her skin is charcoal brown

She gazes to the future out to where the sun goes down

To where the night is falling on a lover, or a friend

Somebody’s beginning is just someone else’s end”

“Stupefied” also has a catchy, poppy sound, with bright piano chords outlining the song’s melody. “Stupefied” has some of my favorite lyrics on the album that keep getting stuck in my head:

“Ain’t no honey back in Norway

Ain’t no kroner in your pants

Must have blown it in the doorway

On those sugar coated ants”

Why does this verse get stuck in my head so much? It’s difficult to say, part of it is the mystery of the lyrics. We have a reference to Norway, and some of Robyn’s songs have referenced Norway recently, most notably “Goodnight Oslo.” (He even recorded a Norwegian language version of “Oslo” on “Tromso, Kaptein.”) A krone is the currency of Norway, so we’re in Norway and we’re broke. And we spent our money on sugar coated ants. This sounds like a ridiculous way to spend one’s money, if you ask me. But it brings to mind the image of someone selling sugar coated ants in a doorway, as though they’re contraband. “Hey, buddy, need some sugar coated ants?” I just like it, and I like the way Robyn’s voice caresses each letter as he sings “pants” and “ants.” 

One of Robyn’s early songs, from “I Often Dream of Trains,” was called “I Used To Say I Love You.” Now, nearly thirty years later, we get Robyn’s take on the simple song title “I Love You.” The song has a heavier sound than the previous two tracks. The song begins with Robyn simply singing “I love you, I love you, I love you” over a rock backing. Befitting its simple title, “I Love You” also features some simple and straightforward lyrics:

“Real love is generous, there’s nothing it withholds

It won’t desert you ‘cause you’re feeling nervous or you’re old

Every second that you get to spend together is pure gold:

I love you”

The heavier rock sound continues with the next track, “Devil on a String,” which is anchored by a funky bass line. Robyn sings breathily, almost dreamily on this song. I have no idea what the song is about, frankly, but it’s a fun listen, featuring lyrics like:

“Salvation pie, salvation pie

You gotta get a slice before you die”

Sure, everybody needs salvation, especially when the devil’s around.

Side two of the album opens with one of my favorite songs, “Strawberries Dress.” It’s a very sexy love song. Again, it’s hard to say exactly what it’s about, but I like the feeling of the song, I like the world it conjures up. “Strawberries Dress” has some lovely cello playing, and some vivid imagery:

“Testing your power

I dream in the rain

A fine young sprite

Naked from the navel downwards

I see you kiss the sun”

The narrator of the song seems under the spell of a woman, as he sings:

“You-I’m so weak with you

I’m scared that you’ll explode

Or walk away”

“Death & Love” is a song about, well, death and love, two of Robyn’s favorite topics. “Death & Love” features swooping synths that give the song a somewhat icy flavor, as Robyn sings:

“I can hear you talk my language,

Talk the tongue of love and death”

“Fix You” is an insistent rocker, and it’s about as political as Hitchcock gets. The lyrics deal with someone facing financial ruin. Robyn could be addressing a person in the song, or he could be addressing America, asking:

“Now that you’re broke

Who’s gonna fix you up?”

“Fix You” seems to comment on the global financial crisis of 2008, as Robyn sings:

“Well they sell you this stuff with the money that you never had

Then they want it all back

They make you redundant and blame you for being a slacker

While the financial backer

Is taking a call with a strawberry mousse”

“My Rain” is a slower song, featuring lovely guitar work from Robyn. It has a somewhat mysterious feeling, as it talks of the power of rainfall. 

The album closer, “End of Time,” seems to be Robyn addressing death, with the chorus of:

“Take me

Take me

I’m ready for the end of time”

I hope that Robyn isn’t really ready for the end of time, he only just turned 60, and he should have a lot of years of great writing ahead of him. One of my favorite lines in the song, and on the whole album is:

“Macy’s opens up at six

You can get some sixty-second feelings for yourself”

To me this line means that through commercialism we can buy some quick thrills and pleasures, some “sixty-second feelings,” but that ultimately these things don’t mean very much. “End of Time” features some lovely synth strings, giving the song a different feeling from most of Hitchcock’s work. As the song starts to fade out, around four minutes in, we hear the sounds of the ocean, and then a song fragment whose only lyrics are:

“Love from London

Love from London

Over here”

This is the only reference to the album’s title. I think that “Love From London” is Robyn’s message of hope and good vibes coming out of London to the rest of the world. Eventually that song fragment fades out and we’re left with the sound of the ocean to close the album. “Love From London” is a very strong album from start to finish, there are no throwaway songs. For me “Love From London” keeps Hitchcock’s late-career winning streak going. I think that his albums over the last ten years have been very strong, and “Love From London” is one of his strongest.

Jesus of Cool Sale

Okay, I know I talk about Yep Roc Records a lot. But I have to give them a shout out because they are having an Easter Jesus of Cool Nick Lowe Sale! How fitting! Speaking as an agnostic, I rather enjoy the cheeky humor of it all. So right now you can get Jesus of Cool, The Convincer, and At My Age for $9.99 each. They're all more than worth it, so anyone who reads this blog who doesn't own all 3 CD's needs to get themselves over to Yep Roc and check out Nick! I wonder if Yep Roc would be willing to hire me as an official Nick Lowe/Robyn Hitchcock historian/archivist?

Robyn Hitchcock, "Goodnight Oslo"

Robyn Hitchcock's new CD with the Venus 3, "Goodnight Oslo," is a terrific album, full of great songs. It doesn't actually come out until February 17th, but because Yep Roc is awesome, I got my copy last Thursday! I've listened to it, but I don't know if I can say I've truly absorbed it yet. But I wanted to post a review of it just because it makes me feel like a real record reviewer to do it before the CD is released!

The album starts off with "What You Is," a funky rocker, with the catchy chorus, "It doesn't matter what you was, it's what you is and what you isn't, is what you are." One of the great lyrics in this song is "You might have been Columbia, releasing orange 45's." (Robyn also mentions bees in "What You Is," one of his lyrical preoccupations.) "Saturday Groovers" is as uptempo and catchy a song as Robyn has written, about the joys of the weekend. One of my favorite songs on the record is the gorgeous "I'm Falling." Robyn sings, "I'm afraid of loving you, and you're afraid I can't." What a lovely line. "Hurry For the Sky" has a slight country lilt to it, it's an easygoing swinger, not really like any other Robyn song I've heard. "Up To Our Nex," from the film "Rachel Getting Married," is a terrific, poppy song, with horns providing some soulful backing. Again, it's a different sound for Robyn, and it's quite enjoyable. "Intricate Thing" is another lovely little song, "Love between a woman and a man is an intricate thing, you're not just friends, you're not just bodies on the sofa. And when it's over, will you speak to each other again, ever?" Robyn goes on to dissect relationships further, "You got all kinds of seeds that you don't know you're seeding, all kinds of needs that you don't know you're needing, all kinds of signals that you don't know you're reading, little drops of blood that you don't know you're bleeding." Brilliant, brilliant writing, Robyn sums up relationships in four lines. "TLC" features some gorgeous cello work by Jenny Adejayan. And the moody "Goodnight Oslo" closes things out in style. "I've got special powers that render me invisible to everyone but you," Robyn sings.

In short, "Goodnight Oslo" is fantastic, Robyn's writing is as good as it has ever been, and there's no filler among these ten tracks. Order your copy today!

P.S. Robyn is touring the States in April, and he's coming to the Twin Cities! I have my ticket already! Maybe he read my entry telling him he should tour and come here...

More info on "Quiet Please, The New Best of Nick Lowe"

Yep Roc has put up the tracklisting for "Quiet Please, The New Best of Nick Lowe," it looks pretty good. Here's the album cover, looks pretty cool! I'm excited, even if I have most of these songs already. I just wish Yep Roc would tell us exactly what's on the bonus DVD.

Nick Lowe-New Best-Of due out March 17th!

This is pretty exciting, Yep Roc just announced that "Quiet Please...The New Best of Nick Lowe" will be released on March 17th. No tracklisting yet, but it's a 2-disc set, with a deluxe edition to feature videos! I'm psyched, hopefully this will lead to more people discovering the great music of Nick Lowe. But not too many people, I still want to be able to see Nick in intimate clubs instead of giant arenas. (Okay, so I probably don't have to worry about that...but you never know.) Is it just me, or is Yep Roc like the coolest label? They need to sign Elvis Costello.

Anyway, I'm very excited about the prospect of more Nick Lowe product, even if I probably have most of the songs that will be on "Quiet Please." Hopefully the 30th anniversary edition of "Labour of Lust" will follow soon!

Robyn Hitchcock's "Goodnight Oslo" is out February 17th!

Good news for all you Robyn Hitchcock fans out there, his new album with the Venus 3, "Goodnight Oslo," is due out February 17th from Yep Roc! The press releases on Yep Roc are really playing this up as his masterpiece, I hope they're right, and I hope Robyn gets some good sales out of it. I've already pre-ordered my copy, even though I have more Robyn Hitchcock CD's than I know what to do with! (Actually, I know what to do with them, I listen to them, duh!) Despite the fact that Robyn has been busy re-issuing many, many CD's lately, this is actually his first new studio album since 2006's "Ole, Tarantula."

So, anyway, spread the word...if you pre-order right now, you'll get to download 3 bonus tracks. I just listened to them, and they're really good. Oh, and Robyn, if you're reading this, please go on tour and come to the Twin Cities!

Robyn Hitchcock, "Luminous Groove"

I just finished listening to all of Robyn Hitchcock's box set, "Luminous Groove" this week, and I'm blown away by it. It's a 5-CD set, so I'm not going to go over everything thoroughly right this minute. Suffice it to say, if you like Robyn, you'll love this box set. It includes Robyn's first three albums with his backing band the Egyptians, which was basically Robyn's former band the Soft Boys, minus Kimberely Rew. Rew went on to form Katrina and the Waves, and wrote "Walking on Sunshine." (Do you think people were ever confused when they found out that Kimberely and Robyn are both guys?) Anyway, the three albums are "Fegmania!" the live "Gotta Let This Hen Out!" and "Element of Light." All three albums show Robyn's signature writing style backed by a band that knew how to get the most out of his melodies. Robyn's lead electric guitar is given a very prominent role on these three discs, and it shows what a great guitar player he is. The melodies are jangly and catchy, and it was during this time period, the mid 1980's, that Robyn started to develop a cult following in the US.

Robyn is a great songwriter, but it's difficult for me to separate the wheat from the chaff. I generally like all of his songs, but it's tough to pick one over the others. It's like, "Okay, this song is good, it has a catchy melody and weird lyrics. Okay, the next song also has a catchy melody and weird lyrics. Okay, ALL of his songs have catchy melodies and weird lyrics!" That's perhaps a slight exaggeration, but Robyn's music is very consistent, and I mean that in a good way. He has a real gift for crafting memorable melodies and creating interesting images with his lyrics. I think Robyn could have had more mainstream success with his work if he had stopped writing about jam and bees and fish and wrote simpler, more mundane lyrics, because his melodies are so catchy, but I'm sure the surreal writing style makes it hard for some people to follow his music. I certainly can't claim to understand all of his lyrics. But if he simplified his writing style, he wouldn't be being true to himself and his vision. I'm glad that Robyn has followed his own path, clearly he didn't want to sell out.

In addition to the three albums, "Luminous Groove" also includes a 2-CD set of rarities, "A Bad Case of History." One disc is unreleased studio recordings, and one disc is live recordings. (Some of the live recordings come from Minneapolis's legendary concert venue First Avenue.) These two discs are excellent, they show how in sync the Egyptians were.

Some of the standouts on this set are:

Egyptian Cream
I'm Only You
My Wife and My Dead Wife
Heaven
The Cars She Used to Drive-live
Winchester
Somewhere Apart-(which could pass as a John Lennon song from Double Fantasy)
Beautiful Queen
So You Think You're In Love-live
Chimes of Freedom-live
The Wreck of the Arthur Lee-live

If you like Robyn, check out "Luminous Groove." You won't be disappointed.

Album of the Day

Over at allmusic.com, the Album of the Day is Robyn Hitchcock's "Black Snake Diamond Role." I have no idea what that title means, but it's still a great album. It's Robyn's first solo album, released in 1981, and reissued by Yep Roc last year as part of the "I Wanna Go Backwards" box set. It basically sets the template for Robyn's career, melodic pop brushing up against surreal wordplay. Go check it out.

Nick Lowe-Jesus, He's Cool!

Okay, so I finally listened to all of Nick Lowe's album Jesus of Cool, aka Pure Pop For Now People, and it's amazing! It's everything I hoped it would be. Nick is also picking up tons of good reviews, as well he should be, because this is a great album. There's a nice little piece on CNN's "Marquee Blog," here's the link to it:

http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2008/03/04/they-called-it-pop/

Interestingly enough, Todd Leopold at CNN also references the fact that the Jesus of Cool reissue came out the same week as the 25th anniversary version of Thriller, something that Holly Hughes at "The Song In My Head Today" also mentioned. (Here's the link to Holly's blog, she's a huge Nick Lowe fan and a very astute commentator on lots of cool artists like The Kinks, Alan Price, Robyn Hitchcock, and numerous other underrated British people that I also really like.)

http://thesonginmyheadtoday.blogspot.com/

Now, Jesus of Cool is a very important record, even though I believe it may have sold slightly fewer copies than Thriller. (I'll have to check the exact figures.) Lowe was out to prove something to the world on his first solo album, and he does, mixing up a variety of styles to create a cocktail of powerful pop at it's finest.

From the opening song, "Music for Money," a recurring theme of the album is the music business itself. In "Shake and Pop," Nick traces the rise and fall of a band, as "the record hit the chart, and someone in the newspaper said it was art," labels court the band, but then "they cut another record, it never was a hit, and someone it the newspaper said it was shit." It's the story of many singers and bands, condensed into a three-minute single. (Harry Nilsson has a great song dealing with the same subject, "Mr. Richland's Favorite Song," from his album Aerial Ballet.) One of the bonus tracks, "Rollers Show" deals with a peculiar mid-70's phenomenon, the Scottish pop band The Bay City Rollers. It's one of the "tributes" to the Rollers that Nick recorded in a deliberate attempt to get dumped by his label just before he started cutting the songs found on Jesus of Cool. If you don't get that it's ironic, you'll wonder why Nick, of all people, would be singing the praises of a teen pop band. It's pretty funny in it's banality.

Nick also does a lovely ballad, "Tonight," which is much, much better than David Bowie's song of the same name. Oh, wait, I shouldn't say that, because Iggy Pop did a good version on his Lust for Life album, I'm thinking of Bowie's cover from his 1984 album Tonight. (It's actually a song about the guy's girlfriend dying of a heroin overdose, but Bowie cut out the spoken intro and turned it into a banal ditty.) Anyway, speaking of Bowie, his influence is also felt on Nick's biggest UK single, the Top Ten hit, "I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass." Bowie had a song on his 1977 album Low called "Breaking Glass," and I can't help but think that Nick was at least a little influenced, especially because Nick's song is so different from anything else on the album, and it sounds more than a little Bowie-esque. And we know that Nick was paying attention to Bowie's Low album because he released an EP later in 1977 called Bowi. Clever lad, that Nick. (Look for the cover in the fold-out of the CD; the lettering on Nick's EP is in the same font as on David's LP.)

Jesus of Cool is full of great little moments, like Nick's cover of Jim Ford's "36 Inches High." I have no idea what the song means, but I love the feel of it, the organ riff and Nick's close-miked vocal. And the black humor of "Marie Provost," the tale of a fallen movie star who "was a winner, but became the doggie's dinner." The song is actually based on the true story of an actress named Marie Prevost. (Nick changed the spelling.) And then there's his high-octane songs "So It Goes" and "Heart of the City," recorded with Nick on guitars and bass and Steve Goulding on drums. It's all great, all 21 tracks on the Yep Roc reissue, plus 2 more bonus cuts available on their website after you buy the album. Plus, the packaging is fantastic, you get all kinds of bonus pictures from the cover photo session, which cleverly showed Nick in many different guises, and with many different guitars.

So that's my plug for Nick Lowe and his brilliance. Go out and buy Jesus of Cool. You won't be disappointed.