| Reviews |
All Music Guide Review:
Review by James Christopher Monger
The second installment in Yep Roc's mammoth Robyn Hitchcock reissue series introduces the Egyptians (bass player Andy Metcalfe and drummer Morris Windsor) into the mix, collecting Fegmania!, the live Gotta Let This Hen Out!, and Element of Light, along with a double disc of B-sides called A Bad Case of History. Luminous Groove, like its 2007 predecessor, I Wanna Go Backwards, makes available all of its components (with the exception of the "rarities" compilation) separately, which may be maddening to longtime fans who already replaced their original copies with the early-'90s Rhino reissues and just want the bonus stuff. Like the Rhino releases, each album is stocked with B-sides, most of which fall in the "demo" or "typically surreal" categories -- Hitchcock seemingly records every idea he has, making the prospect for bonus cuts on future reissues mind-boggling. The two remastered studio albums represent a creative peak for the notoriously eccentric Englishman, laying the foundation for his more commercial A&M years, but it's the Bad Case of History overview that makes Luminous Groove worth the price for "a cardboard box with five CDs stuffed in it." Unlike I Wanna Go Backwards' bonus disc, which grabbed tracks from previously released collections (specifically 1995's You & Oblivion), History revels in its obscurity, boasting 15 unreleased studio tracks (many of which, like a laconic dream pop rendition of the beloved Highland ballad "Wild Mountain Thyme" and a sneering punk rock face-peeler called "Zipper in My Spine," are absolute gems) and 17 mid-'90s live cuts that dip into A&M territory. Sure, it's a typically "Hitchcockian" mess of competing genres, melodic left turns, and obscure references to fish and fowl, but it only reinforces his "outsider" cultural significance, and dutifully whets the appetite for this tasty meal's third course.
Fegmania Review:
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
After the stripped-back collection I Often Dream of Trains, Robyn Hitchcock slowly formed a backing band called the Egyptians with ex-Soft Boys Andy Metcalfe and Morris Windsor, and keyboardist Roger Jackson over the course of the next year. Fegmania!, the Egyptians' first album, was a distinct departure from both the Soft Boys and Hitchcock's previous solo work, featuring layered, intertwining guitars and keyboards that created lush and thick sonic textures. Even with the more detailed arrangements, the songs remained twitchy and off-kilter, with melodies that usually went in willfully unpredictable directions, yet remained catchy all the while. Fegmania! was Hitchcock's most consistent work to date, featuring such highlights as the Eastern-tinged "Egyptian Cream," and the creepy "My Wife & My Dead Wife," and the relatively straightforward "The Man with the Lightbulb Head." [In 2008 Yep Roc released a new version of Fegmania that included the original album re-mastered, eight bonus cuts (three of which were previously unavailable) and expanded packaging.]
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