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Archive for the ‘Richard Thompson’ Category

Cecil Castellucci & Jim Rugg–The Plain Janes (2007) [Minx #1]

Posted in Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Boston, MA, Cecil Castellucci, Graphic Novel, Jim Rugg, Richard Thompson, Set at School, YA Books on July 6, 2007| Leave a Comment »

plain1.jpgSOUNDTRACK: RICHARD THOMPSON-Small Town Romance (1984), Guitar Vocal (1976), Starring as Henry the Human Fly (1972).

This is the last batch of RT CDs before I get to Sweet Warrior. I saved these for last because of their esoteric nature.

small-town.jpgSmall Town Romance: This is a collection of live solo recordings in NYC from 1967-1982. The sound quality isn’t always the best, and RT’s voice isn’t always up to snuff. I’m thinking that all the songs are Richard & Linda or Fairport Convention works. I don’t like the early material as much as his later work so, aside from appreciating the venues and the cozy atmosphere, this isn’t a favorite disc of mine. (more…)

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McSweeney’s #17 [Made to Look Like It Came in Your Mailbox] (2005)

Posted in Dystopia, McSweeney's, Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Sarah Manguso on July 5, 2007| 1 Comment »

mcsweeneys17.jpg SOUNDTRACK: RICHARD THOMPSON-Sweet Talker (1992), Mirror Blue (1994), You? Me? Us? (1996).

Even though I’ve been raving about the “bootlegs” from RT’s collection, I’m not reviewing them here, because what’s the point. I’ll just rave. Go to his site, pick some songs you like on a disc, and get it. Simple. Although if you really like his guitar workouts then I totally recommend More Guitar, great solos on this one! The funny thing about RT’s work and the man himself is that he is a very funny, genial guy both in concert and in person, and yet his songs are (mostly) so bitter and angry (and yet also catchy). It is simply hard to believe that on one record you could have “Beeswing” and “Mascara Tears” (Mirror Blue, below). What an exceptional writer.

sweettalker.jpgSweet Talker. I found this used. It’s a mostly instrumental soundtrack to a film no one (including me) has seen. There are a couple of “real” songs on it, but mostly this is notable for the origin of “Persuasion” a tremendous instrumental song that RT has reintroduced in recent times with lyrics. I think as a duet with Tim Finn. I’ve also heard it as a duet with his son Teddy, and it is truly a great song. This album can easily be overlooked though (even though, blah blah blah the songs are solid and well played, they are mostly just designed as background music).

mirror.jpgMirror Blue. Allmusic.com is pretty harsh (as harsh as they get with RT that is) about the production of this record. I didn’t notice anything bad about it on this listen (they claim it is very keyboardy and washed out, but I didn’t hear it). The one thing I did notice though is how the first song on this record is not a hit (almost every other one has a song that leads off and you go YEAH!) and, oddly it sounds an awful lot like a Neil Young song (“Cinnamon Girl,” anyone?) But after that the album really picks up and anything resembling being derivative is gone. In fact: “I Can’t Wake Up to Save My Life,” “MGB-GT,” “Easy There Steady Now,” all superb. Allmusic also says that “Mascara Tears” is just a mean song, but I disagree. Plus, I’m still singing the chorus several days later!

youmeus1.jpgYou? Me? Us? As I mentioned before, this is the first RT album I ever bought. Weird place to start I guess. It is designed as a double CD with a Voltage Enhanced and a Nude disc. As you can tell the one disc is electric rockers, the other is acoustic (somewhat solo). My only gripe with the record is that usually the balance of soft and hard songs really compliments the record nicely. So, with this one, you don’t really have that. I also realized that since I was more of a rocker when I bought this, I listed to the Voltage disc a lot more than the Nude side. And why not? “Razor Dance,” which appears on both, and is strong in both incarnations, is really just sublime in the Voltage version. Such rage and such a great choppy electric guitar. This song really sold me on RT. Some other great tracks are “Dark Hand Over My Heart,” “Put It There Pal” (most of the lines of this song are always running through my head), and “The Ghost of You Walks.” A beautiful ballad is “She Cut Off Her Long Silken Hair.” I don’t have as much to say about the Nude side, even though I did listen to it twice today and it was all pretty familiar and good. I guess I think they did two versions of “Razor Dance” and “Hide It Away” and figured they’d make it two discs instead of one long one. Which is fine. I would have liked the two discs intermingled is all.

[READ: June 30, 2007 ] McSweeney’s #17.

This has got to be the strangest McSweeney’s package ever. It comes to you in a big clear bag “Made to Look Like It Came in Your Mailbox.” All of the items are addressed to “Maria Vasquez 4416 N 16th St Arlington, VA 22207.” (more…)

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Maile Meloy–A Family Daughter (2006)

Posted in Books about writers, Britney Spears, Frank Zappa, John Zorn, Maile Meloy, Marriage Trouble, Richard Thompson, Unreliable narrator on July 2, 2007| Leave a Comment »

fa.jpgSOUNDTRACK: RICHARD THOMPSON-Industry (with Danny Thompson) (1997), Mock Tudor (1999), 1000 Years of Popular Music (2003).

My wife heard the new RT song on the radio (hooray for WXPN, Philadelphia…oh and go listen online, it’s great stuff!) and asked if he had a new song out. She likes RT but isn’t a huge fan; she was amazed at how she knew immediately that it was him, but that it didn’t sound like an older song that she knew already. I think that’s a great feature of RTs style. He is clearly himself, and yet he’s not afraid to experiment.

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McSweeney’s #19 [Old Facts, New Fiction, & a Novella by T.C. Boyle] (2006)

Posted in Brendan Connell, Laurence Sterne, McSweeney's, Richard Thompson, T.C. Boyle on June 26, 2007| 3 Comments »

19.jpgSOUNDTRACK: RICHARD THOMPSON-Across a Crowded Room (1985), Daring Adventures (1986) & Rumor and Sigh (1988).

One thing I have really noticed in my crash course of RT CDs is how completely timeless his work sounds. Aside from a few production values issues, notable on Across a Crowded Room, it’s really hard to know when these songs were done. It’s quite remarkable. And, when you factor in just how solid a songwriter he is, it’s hard to find a bad album of the lot. I wish I had done this sooner, I’d be even more hardcore RT than I am now.

across.jpgAcross a Crowded Room. The only flaw I found with this one was that the backing singers and instrument choices really tend to date this record in the 80s. Some of the songs get a little bogged down, especially when compared to the raw live versions. That said, this disc has five songs that I think are amazing, and that’s just scanning the title list. “When the Spell is Broken” and “She Twists the Knife Again” just show the amazing range of styles that RT can pull off, from beautiful heartbreak to bitter rage. Stunning.

daring.jpgDaring Adventures. Allmusic.com doesn’t seem to like this record very much, and I guess that they have a point that the middle of the record isn’t too memorable. But any record that starts off with “Bone Through Her Nose” and “Valerie” is allowed to coast for a song or two. That said, overall the album is (here’s that word again) solid. And “Al Bowlly’s in Heaven” is simply a wonderfully moving song.

rumor.jpgRumor and Sigh. Wow. This is a high point. “Read About Love,” “I Feel So Good” (one of the greatest balls out rockers that no one knows about!), “I Misunderstood” (oh, emotional heart wringing right after the rocker!). And, here’s what I’m talking about regarding the timelessness of RT, “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” (such a great, tender song about thugs) came out in 1991!? at the same time as “I Feel So Good?” That song simply has classic written all over it, and here it is barely 15 years old (and hey if that’s a long time to you you must not be over 30 yet). And “God Loves a Drunk,” such a sad mournful song that I first heard in a great cover by Mary Coughlan. And this is an aspect not really talked about yet…the number of songs he’s written that others have covered and–proving how great a songwriter he is–how others can makes them sound equally good. Must…stop…gushing. Since you’re here, go check out Richard’s Song O Matic!

Incidentally, here is a great blog with lots of excellent RT info: Taking It Back to the Roots

[READ: June 25, 2007] McSweeney’s #19.

I just finished all of McSweeney’s #19 last night, and it is a real mixed bag. Let’s start with the packaging. A pretty nifty box! With cool pictures all around it. Inside the box is a fascinating array of materials. Primarily, they are war-related. And, assuming they are real, they include: a leaflet on War veterans’ pensions circa 1883; a typed correspondence from 1911; Two photos from the YIVA Jewish Research Institute 1920 and 1930; a pamphlet “The Stuff That Wins” from the YMCA to inspire boys in WWI from 1918; handwritten letter; a British pamphlet “Some Things You Should Know If War Should Come” from 1939; flier “Young Men of Seventeen! (Join the Marines Today)”; “The Big Plot (Proof of the Justice Department’s plan to jail 21,105 Americans” (anti McCarthy tract written by Paul Robeson); Air Raid Instructions pocket guide; “Fallout Protection: What to Know and Do About Nuclear Attack” 1961 (written by Robert McNamara…yes THAT one); “Your Horoscope Tells You How You Can Help the Republican Party WIN!” (by the Nixon people); Rainbow mission attack plan; letter from Donald Rumsfeld about leaking classified information (2002); George W. Bush dental records from 1973; “A Pocket Guide to the Middle East” from 1957. (more…)

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Terry Moore–Strangers in Paradise (1993-2007) (R.I.P)

Posted in Adventure, Richard Thompson, Terry Moore on June 23, 2007| Leave a Comment »

sip.gifSOUNDTRACK: 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.

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