I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: RICHARD THOMPSON-Strict Tempo (1981), Amnesia (1988) & Hand of Kindness (1983).

Richard Thompson is probably the best musician that no one has ever heard of. I first heard RT through a funny coincidence. I was working in Boston and I popped into Tower Records one afternoon where RT was signing copies of his then latest release, You? Me? Us? One of my coworkers was a huge RT fan, and, there just happened to be an extra copy of the booklet in the CD, so I got an autograph for him and one for me. Since then I have become a huge, huge fan, and have seen him several times in concert.  (And I have absolutely no contact with the former co-worker, and can’t even remember his name).

RT live is a great experience, whether he’s doing full band or solo. There are several live recordings of him available on his Beeswing Records label. I totally recommend getting some of these live CDs as they are simply amazing. His guitar work live is nothing short of incredible. I’m not much for wonky show-offy guitar work (even though I do love me some prog rock), but, man, the sounds he gets and the craziness that he evokes through his instrument is simply great. Plus, he also writes amazingly strong lyrics. He can do it all, and it’s a shame that no one knows that. So, I thought with the release of his newest record Sweet Warrior (review down the pike), I’d do some back catalog reviewing.

Strict Tempo is a solo album but was released while he was still recording with his ex- wife, Linda. This is an all instrumental, mostly traditionally arranged jigs and reels and such. Not recommended unless you like jigs and reels and such. If you DO like it, then by all means, the playing is impeccable, and the songs choices are great as well. RT has a very good ear for arranging and he loves traditional music.

Amnesia. I skipped the order on this one, and should have started with Hand of Kindness, but what can you do? Anyhow, Amnesia is a surprisingly solid record. I say surprising because in my head his records don’t always stand up to the live renditions that I know so well, but this one is solid front to back. Geez, the track list is practically a greatest hits in and of itself, and this one is not over produced in anyway. This should have been a huge hit.

Hand of Kindness. So this would be his first solo album after Henry the Human Fly from the 70s. This one is from 1982. RT always seems like such a downer, I mean his greatest songs are usually so bitter. But the great thing is how he can turn the bitterness into high rocking fun! “Tear Stained Letter,” the opener, is just such a great great song, so catchy, so everything, and yet the lyrics are so bitter! The rest of the album is really solid too. A great debut, frankly. Its funny to me that two other songs that really stand out on the record are actually quite funny. “Both Ends Burning” is a silly rollicking number and “Two Left Feet” is just genuinely funny. Good on you, RT, I’m looking forward to the rest.

[READ: June 2007] Strangers in Paradise.

SiP is without doubt one of the greatest comic books written. And it just ended for good on June 6. This comic really got me to keep reading comics. Sandman got me interested in the medium. Bone really hooked me in, but it was SiP that kept me coming back (and also how I also found out about Oni, indirectly). I won’t recap much of the SiP story because there’s thousands of things you can read about it online (including the homepage: http://www.strangersinparadise.com; I just wanted to say that the whole story was emotional and engaging and funny and weird and incredibly touching. It’s easy to see getting emotionally wrapped up in a book, but I never thought I’d get so wrapped up in a comic book. And I totally did.

I also met Mr Moore once and he was so pleasant and welcoming. I can’t say enough about him or the book. So, if you’ve never read SiP, start from issue 1, work through all of the collected editions, and enjoy. You can plow through probably 20 issues in one sitting and it is so much more powerful to get caught up in it that way, rather than waiting 6 weeks for each installment. Anyhow, the story is one of love, and romance, friendship lost and found, death, murder, intrigue. Wow, it’s got everything. And the characters are strong and believable. Oh heck, just go read it! And curse that it is now ended.