Robyn Hitchcock - Luminous Groove Box Set

Robyn Hitchcock has really opened the floodgates on his vaults the past couple of years. Hot on the heels of a collection of unreleased 90s demos, Yep Roc has released another box set, Luminous Groove that covers his work with the Egyptians. The three pre-major label Egyptians albums (Fegmania, Gotta Let This Hen Out and Element Of Light) are included, along with a collection of unreleased recordings, demos and live tracks.

Back when Yep Roc released the first Robyn Hitchcock box set, I Wanna Go Backwards, I tried to sort out what material would be new to those who already owned the Rhino reissues, and I want to do the same for Luminous Groove.

First of all, the 2 CDs of unreleased material, entitled A Bad Case Of History, are comprised almost entirely of unreleased material. However, many of the songs themselves will be familiar to even casual Hitchcock fans as a lot of them are demos or live recordings of previously released songs. Some choice cuts that have never been officially released in any form include "Surfer Ghost," "Evil Guy," and "Poisonous Angel." Hitchcock fans are also likely to enjoy the demo and live recordings of material that may have been a wee bit overproduced on his A&M albums such as "Arms Of Love" and "Wreck of the Arthur Lee."

As for the albums themselves, I believe the following bonus tracks should be new even to those who own all of the Rhino reissues:

Fegmania
The Drowning Church
The Man With The Lightbulb Head (instrumental)

Gotta Let This Hen Out
If You Were A Priest
I’m Only You
Unsettled
Freeze
Egyptian Cream #2

Element Of Light
Sprinkling Dots
Upside-Down Church Blues
Neck
Bass (demo)
Lady Waters & The Hooded One (demo)

You might consider holding on to your Rhino reissues if you are fond of any of the following tracks because they do not appear on either Yep Roc box set:

Fegmania
Dwarfbeat
Egyptian Cream (Demo)
Insect Mother (Smithsound Demo)
Egyptian Cream (Live)

Element Of Light
Can Opener
President (demo)
If You Were a Priest (demo)
Airscape (demo)
Leopard (demo)

Luminous Groove is available on 5 CDs, 8 LPs or as a download.