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All Music Guide Review:
Review by Mark Deming
Robyn Hitchcock has made a few albums that announce themselves as masterpieces right out of the box, such as I Often Dream of Trains, Fegmania!, or the Soft Boys' Underwater Moonlight, but his catalog also includes a handful of records that sneak up on you with a subtle excellence, such as Eye, Respect, and Jewels for Sophia. Propellor Time falls into the latter category; on the surface, it doesn't feel all that different from the albums that immediately preceded it (Olé! Tarantula and Goodnight Oslo), but play it a few times, let it sink in, and this album sounds like one of the most satisfying things Hitchcock has made since the mid-'90s. Primarily recorded in 2006 but not completed until 2010, Propellor Time features Hitchcock backed by his frequent partners the Venus Three, featuring Peter Buck on guitar and mandolin, Scott McCaughey on bass, and Bill Rieflin. The performances are intuitive and a wonder of subtle control; these players fit together with the precision of a jigsaw puzzle, and if there isn't a great amount of flash in the music, the players serve Hitchcock's melodies beautifully, and the artful interplay of the arrangements is as good as anything Hitchcock has offered us in a decade. (Buck's mandolin work on "Luckiness" is marvelously playful, and the performance is so tight it's surprising to hear the applause at the end and realize it was a live recording.) Hitchcock also brought aboard a few notable guests, most notably Johnny Marr, who co-wrote "Ordinary Millionaire" and adds some understated but powerful guitar work, while Nick Lowe and John Paul Jones also lend their estimable talents to these sessions. But from the first moments, Propellor Time is clearly a Robyn Hitchcock album, and he captains this ship with a steely confidence; the lyrics are typically mysterious and witty without playing too strongly to Hitchcock's fondness for bizarre imagery, his sly vocals fit the music with an uncommon agility and wisdom, and the ten songs blend together like the ingredients of a fine meal. Robyn Hitchcock doesn't really make bad albums, but he doesn't always make legitimately great ones; Propellor Time thankfully feels like one of the high-watermarks of his post-millennial body of work, and it's beautiful, essential listening.
Another review from somewhere:
It’s a relief not to be reviewing Robyn Hitchcock’s latest studio album … the trouble with artists of this calibre is you end up dusting off their old records in the vain hope you can tip their latest offering with some half-decent appraisal of their work as an artist … happily he made it easy for me this time, the songs for Propellor Time are culled from 6 days of home recordings back in 2006, with Hitchcock’s latest musical incarnation ‘The Venus 3? (‘3? parts of ‘The Minus 5?, Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey and Bill Rieflin) gestating into a band and finding their touring legs before taking off across indie-land America. The sessions eventually spawned material for the combo’s debut Ole Tarantulalater that year and also formed part of Robyn Hitchcock: Sex, Food, Death… and Insects, John Edginton’s excellent documentary filmed for BBC Four. But with plenty of good music left over and guest appearances by many rock luminaries, Propellor Time is still soaking up the creative seepage of that week. “We wanted to create a sprawling record like The Basement Tapes: so we sprawled for a week and then spent 3 years editing it”.
Hitchcock’s recognition as an artist is assured with his early work in psychedelic-punk band The Soft Boys and subsequent solo career, but he’s often overlooked because of the ‘weird’ tag. In essence, the music is pop, in the best sense of the word. Sure, quirky lyrics are populated with odd creatures and exotic foods, and subject matter reduced by some to sex, food, death … and insects, the so-called “corridors of life” (I’ll let him explain that one!). But the half-spoken surrealist lyrics about iguanas, butterflies, magnolias and giant leaves on Propellor’s ‘Afterlight’ are just a nice way into a strong musical hook which really catches the feeling of the song. Skeletons embrace and fossils hang from trees in classy opener ‘Star of Venus’, but the song charmingly mixes existential themes with delicious Byrds/REM-like jangly guitar harmonies, Memphis beat, honeyed vocal harmonies, even crickets chirping to fade … have I convinced you yet?
Few would argue whether this guy can carry a tune, there’s usually 5 or 6 good ones on each album. Propellor Time is no exception, beautiful in its simplicity, songs which were more or less fully-formed in Hitchcock’s living room are played like a gig in the most intimate club venue. Credit must go to the band who have extended the the artist’s oeuvre in new directions and brought the best out of his melodies. ‘Luckiness’ is Dylanesque acoustic country, ‘Primitive’ a gravelly country drawl, ‘John in the Air’ could be Andy Partridge and XTC, while ‘Evolve’ evokes John Lennon circa ‘Double Fantasy’ (work that one out???). And album closer ‘Born on the Wind’ sounds curiously like Skynyrd’s ‘Sweet home Alabama’ (mandolin courtesy of Led Zep’s John Paul Jones). My personal favourite, ‘Sickie Boy’, combines absurdist lyrics and an inanely catchy chorus … that I really must stop singing in the shower.
Worthy additions to material on the film include the title track and ‘Ordinary Day’, the former very Beatlesy, co-written with Peter Buck, guitarist from another band whose name escapes me … ‘Ordinary Millionaire’ is a bit too polished and out of place here. It’s a collaboration with Johnny Marr, of all people, and a sideswipe at millionaires pretending to be ordinary people, surely not the Duran’s ‘Ordinary Life’?
The Venus 3 albums Ole Tarantula and Goodnight Oslo were generally well received, with a sting-in-the-tail (sorry!) that all this stylistic jumping may be upsetting the quality control button. Hang on, aren’t we missing the point here? Nothing seems off-limits in Hitchcock’s world, he’d probably write the kitchen sink into a song if he could find a suitable plumber … No, Propellor Time marks a genuine return to form. Robyn Hitchcock has found his voice again and wants to be heard, warts’n’all. Getting to the bottom of this artist’s modus operandi is as tricky as appraising the great shambling beast his music has become, but the film reveals an artist being respun and Propellor Time is its natural musical companion. I think I’m ready for the next flight … watch this space!
http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2010/03/robyn-hitchcock-the-venus-3-propellor-time/
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