The Washington Post
March 24, 1995
Hitchcock Rarities
Among Robyn Hitchcock's many peculiarities is his seemingly endless supply of outtakes. The English singer/songwriter unearthed rare and unreleased material to provide bonus tracks for his eight '80s albums currently being reissued by Rhino, and he still had enough left over for a whole new album of old, unheard stuff, You & Oblivion. It's an agreeable collection, but Hitchcock rookies should start elsewhere.
With I Often Dream of Trains, one of the albums on Rhino's reissue roster, Hitchcock showed his mastery of the acoustic-guitar-and-voice format. Most of his best work has been with a full band, however, and at least some of the songs on Oblivion would benefit from that treatment. The arrangements of these 22 songs are not entirely stark; they employ supplementary vocals and instruments (some added in preparation for this album). Even "Mr. Rock N' Roll" doesn't feature a drummer, though. That's fine for a traditional Folk tune like "Polly on the Shore" and such jabberwocked throwaways as "Victorian Squid" and "Take Your Knife Out of My Back", but more emphatic handling could have rescued "Captain Dry", "Nothing", and others from oblivion.
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