Review by James Christopher Monger
Recorded live at Symphony Space in New York City, I Often Dream of Trains in New York features Robyn Hitchcock and multi-instrumentalists Tim Keegan and Terry Edwards re-creating the willfully eccentric Englishman’s seminal 1983 post-Soft Boys solo outing I Often Dream of Trains in its entirety. In typical "Hitchcockian" fashion, the singer enters the stage to the tinny crackle of a hand-held tape recorder playing "Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl," sits down at the piano, comically slows the pitch and begins playing the moody instrumental "Nocturne." What follows is a surprisingly deft and poignant retelling of his most beloved album, peppered with the usual Dada banter about tomatoes, microorganisms, and detectives. The two-disc set includes a DVD of the performance, as well as a surreal short film that features extended footage from the original video shoot for the title track backed by random bursts of disconnected music and dialogue.
1 Sometimes I Wish I Was a Pretty Girl (Cassette Fragment) Hitchcock 1:40
2 Nocturne (Prelude) Hitchcock 3:09
3 Flavour of Night Hitchcock 3:02
4 Cathedral Hitchcock 4:27
5 Sounds Great When You’re Dead Hitchcock 3:59
6 Uncorrected Personality Traits Hitchcock 3:02
7 I Used to Say I Love You Hitchcock 5:25
8 Winter Love Hitchcock 4:38
9 This Could Be the Day Hitchcock 3:42
10 Ye Sleeping Knights of Jesus Hitchcock 4:44
11 Trams of Old London Hitchcock 4:17
12 My Favourite Buildings Hitchcock 3:09
13 That’s Fantastic, Mother Church Hitchcock 2:59
14 Heart Full of Leaves Hitchcock 2:45
15 Autumn Is Your Last Chance Hitchcock 4:27
16 I Often Dream of Trains Hitchcock 3:47
17 America Hitchcock 6:02
18 Up to Our Nex Hitchcock 4:13
19 Goodnight I Say Hitchcock 4:15