Music Banter - View Single Post - Badlittlekitten's top 50 indie/alternative tracks of this century so far.

Badlittlekitten · 01-31-2011, 09:55 AM

37
Robyn Hitchcock - Star Of Venus
Propeller Time
2010
Maybe I'm just over excited having just discovered this. And I fear that what sounds so scarred and profound will end up sounding like a boring folk dirge down the line. But screw it. This just sounds so scarred and profound. Hitchcock was a member of influential jangle pop geeks The Soft Boys. In the 80s he went solo and made a number of irreverent oddball gems. In recent years he's ditched some of the surrealism and gone back to his folk roots. 'Star Of Venus' is unspectacular musically (despite Peter Bucks presence on mandolin) and it doesn't really have a chorus, but I adore it for one reason:the voice. Too old now to get away with forced/false quirkiness, Hitchcock plays it straight and sounds better then ever as a result. He exerts wisdom with every line with a fag damaged (fag as in cigarette you saucy Americans!) rasp reminiscent of John Lennon. The way his voice almost cracks at the end of the opening line ("You must have seen it coming a long time ago. The ship of all your feelings, shipwrecked in one goooo.") is especially devastating. You can almost picture a swooning Robyn, dewy eyed at a misty harbour, watching his life sail on by. And with the line when he asks, "Does it make you cry?", I answer "Well yes it does sir. You sound so scarred and erm . . . . profound."

Not on youtube but found:
Star Of venus

01-31-2011, 09:55 AM	#26 (permalink)
Badlittlekitten And then there was music Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Near Wild Heaven Posts: 287	37 Robyn Hitchcock - Star Of Venus Propeller Time 2010 Maybe I'm just over excited having just discovered this. And I fear that what sounds so scarred and profound will end up sounding like a boring folk dirge down the line. But screw it. This just sounds so scarred and profound. Hitchcock was a member of influential jangle pop geeks The Soft Boys. In the 80s he went solo and made a number of irreverent oddball gems. In recent years he's ditched some of the surrealism and gone back to his folk roots. 'Star Of Venus' is unspectacular musically (despite Peter Bucks presence on mandolin) and it doesn't really have a chorus, but I adore it for one reason:the voice. Too old now to get away with forced/false quirkiness, Hitchcock plays it straight and sounds better then ever as a result. He exerts wisdom with every line with a fag damaged (fag as in cigarette you saucy Americans!) rasp reminiscent of John Lennon. The way his voice almost cracks at the end of the opening line ("You must have seen it coming a long time ago. The ship of all your feelings, shipwrecked in one goooo.") is especially devastating. You can almost picture a swooning Robyn, dewy eyed at a misty harbour, watching his life sail on by. And with the line when he asks, "Does it make you cry?", I answer "Well yes it does sir. You sound so scarred and erm . . . . profound." Not on youtube but found: Star Of venus __________________ 'Said do you feel it? Do you feel it when you TOUCH ME?. THERE'S A FIRE! THERE'S A FIRE!' The Stooges. Dirt. https://soundcloud.com/bad-little-kittens My Top 100 LPs My Top 52 Indie Tracks Of The 21st Century (incomplete) Last edited by Badlittlekitten; 02-01-2011 at 08:22 AM.