Robyn Hitchcock

Wed., Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m., $26-$40, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

by M.J. Fine

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Published: Nov 11, 2008

rock/pop

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On his last visit to World Café Life, in July, Robyn Hitchcock was in top form, with ace solo renderings of songs from throughout his career and dryly delivered musings about David Bowie and time travel. His stream-of-consciousness banter, which kept cracking up the audience, once again proved that he'll never run out of things to say. Over the past 27 years, he's put out 15 studio albums and just as many discs of outtakes, live and otherwise alternate material. (Let's not even start talking about the Soft Boys, because we'd never stop.) But in 1984, when he recorded I Often Dream of Trains, he didn't foresee any of that. Recorded after a brief retirement from the business, the album is Hitchcock at his most basic, with stripped-down arrangements and lyrics that range from odd and profound ("Uncorrected Personality Traits") to banal and disturbing ("Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl"). For his current eight-city tour, Hitchcock's enlisted guitarist Tim Keegan and keyboard player Terry Edwards to flesh out I Often Dream of Trains. After that, the songwriter only got sharper. But here's your best chance to hear some rarely played old gems.

Wed., Nov. 19, 7:30 p.m., $26-$40, World Café Live, 3025 Walnut St., 215-222-1400, worldcafelive.com.

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