Thomas Dolby: Aliens Ate My Buick (EMI Manhattan/1988)

I first discovered Thomas Dolby in the Spring of 1989 on a program called Classic MTV. It was a thirty-minute show that showed 5-6 music videos and was hosted by returning-VJ Martha Quinn. I discovered a lot of artists via this show. The video was "She Blinded Me With Science" and Thomas Dolby made a big impression twelve-year old me. The song had an insanely catchy, quirky hook and Dolby generally sounded like the younger brother of Gary Numan and Andy Partridge. The low melodic synth line that precedes the "Science!" sounded vaguely sinister and the understated funky, chorused guitar was (and still is) a favorite pet guitar sound of mine. Quintessential new wave with a decidedly quirky bent. I was sold on Mr. Dolby.

I went out and bought the 7" single and Golden Age Of Wireless cassette at Record World later that week. MTV had done its job. There was another cassette tape in the Thomas Dolby section too; Aliens Ate My Buick. The cover was an homage to classic, campy B-Movie posters (although, I didn't know this at the time). It just looked sort of dopey and silly and twelve-year old me was not interested. I eventually picked up the album many years later. In the interim I'd fallen in love with both The Golden Age Of Wireless and its underappreciated follow-up The Flat Earth.

I had no knowledge of what had led-up to this album. Dolby scored a few films, moved to Los Angeles and married an actress. The album - produced by Bill Bottrell (Madonna, Sheryl Crow and Michael Jackson) - definitely sounds like an L.A.-album from the later 1980's (I don't think I've ever heard that description be used in a complimentary way) which, it in fact is. It spawned three singles; the Caucasian-funk of "Airhead", which has cliche-ridden observations of dumb Hollywood blondes and sounds like it could've been the theme to Earth Girls Are Easy. "Hot Sauce" which was written by George Clinton of all people and employs a definite Prince-influence. The song sounds like it might've worked if it was handled by another artist. The thin production - and mastering of the day - sort of deflates the whole thing. and "My Brain Is Like A Sieve" which isn't a bad song, but the arrangement sounds vaguely wrong and is, again, sabotaged by a weird mix and/or ill-suited production.

The remainder of the album is all-over the place. "The Keys To Her Ferrari" has a self-consciously wacky big-band arrangement with unpleasant keyboard sounds. "Pulp Culture" sounds like Beck about ten years before his excursions on Midnight Vultures. In general, Dolby comes off lyrically like the smartest kid in the class being humored by the teachers, as he attempts to be humorous; it just comes off as embarrassing. But here, Dolby sounds like he's impossible to embarrass. Ouch.

The final two songs on the album proper are both excellent and makes me wish Dolby had recorded more straight-forward tracks like these instead of attempting to sell an overripe, wacky-persona with misguided funk exercises. Co-written with sometime-collaborator Matthew Seligman of The Soft Boys, "The Ability To Swing" has a low-key jazzy shuffle. And despite Dolby's curiously affected vocals, the lyrics are direct and effective. Random aside; the chorused bassline also reminds me of that scene in The Breakfast Club where the detentioned teens are all bored and falling asleep.

The last track on the album is the positively excellent "Budapest By Blimp". At over eight-minutes long, what could be an overlong exercise in atmospherics, turns out to be a sublime soundscape with wonderful musical and lyrical imagery. It singularly displays what makes Thomas Dolby such a special artist; unexpected depth and surprising poignancy wrapped in quirky packaging with casually intelligent lyrics. Some wonderfully understated vocals from Dolby and ethereal female backing vocals on this track as well. Absolutely beautiful

The final song on the compact disc and cassette editions of the album is "May The Cube Be With You", which was originally released in in 1985 under the moniker Dolby's Cube. It's a flat, rote P-Funk-styled singalong featuring George Clinton himself and Lene Lovich (the latter of whom Dolby wrote "New Toy" for, about his desire for a new synthesizer). It ends things in a rather unspectacular fashion.

Aside from the two tracks mentioned toward the end of the album, an unfortunate collection of material by an artist whose work is generally excellent.

The Psychedelic Furs and Robyn Hitchcock at House Of Blues, Houston, TX 4/2/2017

I've been a fan of The Psychedelic Furs and Robyn Hitchcock for a very long time. Both artists share a psychedelic influence and come from the late 70's UK punk movement. Robyn's old band, The Soft Boys, opened for the Furs in 1980 and Robyn has covered "The Ghost In You" since the late 80's. So, despite some obvious stylistic differences, they are most certainly peers.

This is my third time seeing Robyn in the past sixteen months, and he's finally come around to embrace his legacy. He's performed "Balloon Man" and "Madonna Of The Wasps" at all of these shows, songs he'd snubbed in the past in lieu of then-recent compositions. He apologized that night for having a case of the flu, but his performance was seemingly unaffected by any such ailments. His playing was as nimble as ever and his voice was in fine form. Classics like "Heaven", "I'm Only You" and "Queen Of Eyes" all got airings as did newer classics like "I Pray When I'm Drunk",  "Saturday Groovers" and "Mad Shelly's Letterbox".

It was a little strange seeing Robyn open for anyone, but, given his slot and his flu, after twelve songs he departed the stage. He didn't even hang out at the merch table greeting fans, which has become a post-show ritual for Hitchcock as of late. Hell, there wasn't even any merchandise of his at the merch table.

I'd only ever seen the Furs once before, about ten years ago. They were good then. They were even better this time. Singer Richard Butler and bassist/brother Tim Butler are backed by lead guitarist Rich Good (ex-The Pleased), longtime sideman saxman Mars Williams (ex-The Waitresses), keyboardist Amanda Kramer (ex-Informantion Society) and drummer Paul Garisto (ex-Iggy Pop). They were a very capable band who were far more engaging than I'd anticipated.

They opened with the bonafide classic post punk single "Dumb Waiters". Sadly, they didn't perform anything from their classic self-titled debut album, but they did a bunch from it's equally classic follow-up Talk Talk Talk ("So Run Down", "Pretty In Pink", "No Tears" and "Mr. Jones") and few from Forever Now ("Love My Way" and "President Gas") plus later singles ("House", "Heaven", "The Ghost In You" and "Heartbreak Beat").

All in all it was fantastic show at a fantastic venue.

Robyn Hitchcock: The Man Upstairs (Yep Roc/2014)

Ex-leader of The Soft Boys, The Egyptians and The Venus Three, Robyn Hitchcock, released his twenty-first album The Man Upstairs. It's ten songs; five Hitchcock originals and five covers. He covers The Psychedelic Furs' "The Ghost In You" (which Hitchcock has covered since the 80's), Roxy Music's "To Turn You On", The Doors' "Crystal Ship", Grant Lee Philips' "Don't Look Down" and I Was A King's "Ferries". The album was produced by the legendary Joe Boyd (Pink Floyd, R.E.M., Cool It Reba) and features cover art by Gillian Welch. The best tracks on this are "San Francisco Patrol" and "Trouble In Blood". The album fits alongside Robyn's several acoustic albums and is a fine addition to an already wonderful back catalog.

Here's the video review:




Thanks to: Doug Mashkow.

Robyn Hitchcock: City Winery, New York, NY (11/19/2016)

 Ex-Soft Boys/Egyptians front man Robyn Hitchcock has been making music for almost forty-years. It's something of a surprise that he's as vital a live performer as he is. He's been a troubadour in the lone-man-with-an-acoustic-guitar sense for well over twenty of those forty years. His latest album The Man Upstairs (Yep Roc) is something of an odd summation of his acoustic leanings and where he comes from as an artist.

Hitchcock performed a few songs from the record (namely "San Fancisco Patrol") as well as some of his most well-known songs ("Balloon Man", "One Long Pair Of Eyes" & "Queen Elvis"). Australian country artist (and frequent collaborator as of late) Emma Swift join Robyn on harmony vocals for a few songs as well. He even dipped deeper into the back catalog with "Uncorrected Personality Traits" and "Trilobite" as well.

At 63, Robyn is as an engaging a performer as ever. He also makes himself very accessible after the shows, hanging out at the merch table, patiently signing anything for anyone.

A nice show by Robyn, as always.

Thanks to Doug Mashkow of CD Island and The New Music Scene.

The Soft Boys: Nextdoorland (Matador Records/2002)

The reunion of The Soft Boys in 2001 was something of a pleasant if albeit unexpected surprise. Band leader, guitarist and vocalist Robyn Hitchcock had worked with all of the ex-Soft Boys in some faculty (either on his solo albums or as his backing band in The Egyptians) since the bands' demise in 1981. This line-up is the same one that had recorded the band's magnum opus Underwater Moonlight. It's fairly safe to say that there is virtually no difference in Robyn's lyrical persona or from what he had been doing just previous to this. And there's little to no effort to imitate the busy arrangements that band had been mining at their outset. If anything these make the songs themselves and the album as a whole far more enjoyable.

Released in 2002 on Matador Records, shortly after the tour and reissue of the Underwater Moonlight

(in celebration of that albums 21^st birthday), Nextdoorland is one of Robyn's better releases from the 2000's. He definitely seems to be rejuvenated to be playing with lead guitarist Kimberly Rew, bassist Matthew Seligman and drummer Morris Windsor once again. The sweet backing vocals or Rew & Windsor are certainly nice to hear alongside Robyn's Syd Barretesque crooning. And it's nice to hear Robyn and Kimberly playing together in a modern context as well. The songs themselves work as a unified whole. “I Love Lucy”, “Japanese Captain”, “Pulse Of My Heart” and “Unprotected Love” being among the stand-out tracks. Outtakes from this album were issued later that year as the EP
Side Three.

The vinyl release was pressed on 150 gram vinyl and came packaged with a 7” single of live versions of “Underwater Moonlight” and “Only The Stones Remain”that were both recorded at the Hollywood Bowl.

This was rated as one of the best albums of the year when it was released and I'll stand by it.

Here's The Video Review:

Special Thanks: Doug Mashkow of New Music Scene.

Robyn Hitchcock: There Goes The Ice (Yep Roc/2013)

Formerly of The Soft Boys, The Egyptians and The Venus Three, Robyn Hitchcock has been reliably producing his blend of jangly psychedelic folk rock since the late 1970's. Since signing to the wonderful Yep Roc Records in 2004 he's had something of a creative second-coming. This release, which collects all five of Robyn's“Phantom 45's” is a nice two-disc 12” 45 RPM Record Store Day release.

The songs have a whimsical very dashed-off quality to them. Disposable in the best-possible sense.

“To Be Human” - which sounds like it could have been recorded for Eye, “Thank You Time Girl” and the title track – the latter containing KT Tunstall backing Robyn - are acoustic-based tracks. The upbeat “Twitch For Sam Surfer” features Green Gartiside of Scritti Politti on guitar and vocals. “I'll See You” and “After The Bullfight” feature Ex-Soft Boy & Egyptian drummer Morris Windsor. None of this material has been released in a digital format to my knowledge, so this is the most convenient-way of owning this material.

Robyn Hitchcock - whose vocals are a hybrid of his primary influences - Syd Barrett, Bob Dylan and John Lennon - has never been all that easy to recommend. He's beloved by critics (myself included) but to your more conservative average low-information consumer, his voice has always been something of a sore thumb. If you're a Robyn novice, a great starting point would be Fegmania!, Underwater Moonlight or Element Of Light. However for the converted, this release is well worth the time and effort as it stands up well with his newest releases.

Here's The Video Review:

Thanks to: Doug Mashkow of CD Island.