Richard Thompson, Sweet Warrior (Shout Factory, 2007)

Few people familiar with the music of Richard Thompson would dispute that he is not only one of rock's elite songwriters, but also one of its masters of both the acoustic and electric guitar. And yet, despite forty years of high-quality music under his belt, Thompson remains a well-kept secret. His determination to maintain a low profile has probably cost him a sizable amount of fame and fortune, but I'm sure he'd argue that it's also kept his music fresh. Thompson has kept busy well into his fifties as well, as he marks his third straight year with a new album out with his release of Sweet Warrior.

Sweet Warrior marks a return for Thompson to a full-band, electric sound after a couple of albums of mellower material. Like most Richard Thompson albums, most of the songs on Sweet Warrior revolve around love gone wrong, with some social commentary thrown into boot. Thompson doesn't normally get overtly political, but he makes an exception with the song "Dad's Gonna Kill Me," sung from the perspective of a British soldier fearing for his life in Baghdad. "Nobody loves me here," the soldier keeps repeating, conveying a convincing sense of constant despair. Musically, most of the album treads on fairly familiar ground; the lively rocker "Bad Monkey," for example, will remind long-time fans of "Tear-Stained Letter." "Francesca" provides a welcome change of pace, though, as Thompson shows he can handle a Jamaican rhythm. My favorite track is "Johnny's Far Away," in which Thompson sets a traditional-feeling song of infidelity to an edgy rock beat in a jig rhythm.

Sweet Warrior is par for the course, by Richard Thompson's standards. On one hand, this means that his fans will find plenty of songs to their liking, and plenty of cool guitar parts to try (generally without success, in my case) to figure out how to play. On the other hand, there's no real stand-out track likely to win Thompson many new fans, the way that songs like "I Feel So Good" and the classic "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" off the album Rumor and Sigh first grabbed my attention back in 1991. But if you're curious to hear what Richard Thompson sounds like, Sweet Warrior is a perfectly good place to start; just don't expect to stop there.

Overall grade: B+

Richard Thompson, 1000 Years Of Popular Music (Cooking Vinyl, 2006)

In 1999, Playboy decided to ask a number of prominent musicians to list their choices for the best songs of the millennium. Richard Thompson decided to have a little fun with the request and took it quite literally, citing pieces from the Middle Ages through the Renaissance and up to the present. Playboy never published his list, but the process of compiling the list inspired Thompson to create a live show in which he'd perform music spanning a thousand years. The show has taken on a few different guises over the past couple of years, and an unofficial version of 1000 Years Of Popular Music has been available at Thompson's website and at his shows for a while, but an official release didn't take place until this summer. This version of 1000 Years Of Popular Music, consisting of two audio CD's and one DVD, was recorded at Bimbo's 365 Club in San Francisco in February 2005. Thompson is joined for this performance by Judith Owen on vocals and keyboards and Deborah Dobkin on percussion and vocals. The show was a deceptively difficult undertaking; the performers had to play songs in a great variety of styles, at least some of which could not have been familiar to them, and often had to modify the original arrangements so that the pieces could be performed by just three people. Still, there are good reasons why Richard Thompson is widely revered in some circles, and he more than adequately pulls this off.

The material from the first half of the concert ranges from the thirteenth century to the early part of the twentieth. "Sumer Is Icumen In," the opening song, is a sprightly early jig sung in the round in Middle English. Its text comes from a manuscript at Reading Abbey. "King Henry" recounts the events leading up to the 1415 Battle of Agincourt, tennis balls and all. Thompson then tries his hand at Italian with the Renaissance song "So Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo." Coming from the seventeenth century, the folk ballad "Bonnie St. Johnstone" reflects the transition to a style still common in Celtic ballads today. Thompson then backs up a bit, bringing out Owen and Dobkin to sing a capella the Elizabethan madrigal "O Sleep Fond Fancy." The three-part harmonies continue with an excellent rendition of the dark religious ballad "Remember O Thou Man," the highlight of the first disc. After this, the show jumps to the nineteenth century with a version of the American folk ballad "Shenandoah." While Thompson does a nice version of it, I have to say that the version on Merrie Amsterburg's new album Clementine And Other Stories is superior. "Black Leg Miner" is an energetic English folk standard from the same period, reflecting the plight of striking miners -- and the worse plight of those who tried to work through the strike. Thompson then continues with two humorous songs from the turn of the last century. "I Live In Trafalgar Square" is a rousing Music Hall song sung from the perspective of a homeless man who's found the ideal resting spot. "There Is Beauty In The Bellow Of The Blast," from Gilbert and Sullivan's The Mikado, features a perfect vocal delivery from Owen while Thompson serves as the male foil and ably mimics the scored orchestral arrangement on his acoustic guitar. Disc one closes with "Java Jive," the first in a sequence of American popular standards from the period between the Depression and the aftermath of the Second World War.

The second disc begins with an excellent lead vocal from Owen on Cole Porter's "Night and Day." Thompson then follows with a rousing version of "Orange Coloured Sky," originally popularized by Nat 'King' Cole. After this, he chooses the relatively obscure "Drinking Wine Spo-Dee-O-Dee" and "A-11" to represent blues and country, respectively. At this point, Thompson brings the show into the rock era. The Kinks' dreamlike "See My Friends" represents the British Invasion, and likely exerted a huge influence on Thompson as a teenager. Next comes the evening's best performance, a stirring rendition of the Australian classic "Friday On My Mind" by The Easybeats. The backing vocals could be a little tighter, but they provide the right amount of manic intensity to back Thompson's rapid-fire singing and picking. The Squeeze song "Tempted" follows in the set. This song has near universal popularity among rock fans old enough to know it, but as Thompson points out in the liner notes, it was a very minor hit when it came out. The concert reaches the year 2000 with what is obviously the wild card of the set, "Oops!... I Did It Again." I'm not sure if Thompson was going for irony with this choice, or commenting on the current state of popular music compared to what's been done in the past. At any rate, it loses its humor value after the first listen, and what's left is a song that, despite Thompson's best efforts to make it presentable (including plucking the melody as a Medieval jig at an interlude near the end), just doesn't belong.

The three encores jump around a bit chronologically, starting with Owen singing the 1950's jazz standard "Cry Me A River." The trio then brings the set all the way up to 2004 with the song "1985" by Bowling For Soup. This song holds its own surprisingly well, although if anybody performs this song a thousand years from now during a tribute to the current millennium, I doubt the audience will get all the references. Thompson closes out the show with an amusing a capella, call-and-response song from the early days of British Music Hall called "Sam Hall."

The DVD contains the same songs as the CD's do, along with a couple of interview snippets and Thompson's introductions to each song. The dialogue brings out Thompson's thought process as he developed the show and also shows his humorous side to a degree that only occasionally gets seen in his own music. The performance was as much fun to watch as it was to listen to, although as a guitar player I wouldn't have minded a few looks at Thompson's technique up close. Judith Owen also uses a whole litany of odd hand gestures while singing, which was amusing at times but could also be a bit of a distraction.

1000 Years of Popular Music contains many good songs, performed solidly by one of music's venerable elder statesman and an able supporting cast. Fans of Richard Thompson will certainly like this, and anybody curious for a musical history lesson will find much to like about it as well.

Overall Grade: A-

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Teddy Thompson, Separate Ways (Verve Forecast, 2006)

Children of well-known musicians don't always have it easy when they pursue musical careers themselves. Sure, Julian Lennon's eerie vocal and facial similarities to his father opened doors for him early on, but they also made it impossible for him to escape comparisons with a man whose musical legacy was beyond his ability to approach. Teddy Thompson, the son of Richard and Linda Thompson, has a few more things working for him than Julian does. For one thing, his parents are both alive and well, and both happily contribute their talents to Teddy's sophomore effort Separate Ways. While Linda and especially Richard are regarded as legends in some circles, those circles are pretty small, and younger folk or rock fans who hear Teddy will probably not draw immediate comparisons. Teddy's smooth tenor also differs significantly from his father's deeper baritone. Still, fans of Richard Thompson whore are curious to hear Teddy's music will probably have some expectations regarding the quality of the songwriting, as I, right or wrong, did.

Most of the songs on Separate Ways, unfortunately, didn't meet my expectations. The opening song "Shine So Bright," despite being one of the album's better songs, illustrates why Teddy's lyric writing is still very much a work in progress. Teddy sings, "I want to be deathbed thin, never realize the state I'm in, walk with my head in a cloud, be followed around by crowds, I want to shine so bright, it hurts." The line shows a strong sense of sarcasm, and the same indifferent attitude towards stardom that has characterized his father's entire career, but it lacks any sort of subtlety. The bluntness gets worse on some of the other songs, particularly the ones that deal with romantic break-ups. Instead of any ironic twists or clever phrasing, Teddy offers irritatingly curt lines like "You broke my heart, you broke my heart, I know who's to blame, you're to blame," or worse, "Being happy is easy when you're dumb."

Having said that, a couple of songs on the album do work. "I Should Get Up," a catchy song about pulling yourself out of an emotional slump, is very easy to sing along with. The sad country ballad "Sorry To See Me Go" showcases Teddy's considerable vocal talents. Fans of Richard Thompson's guitar playing will be pleased with his contributions to the disc; Richard tastefully fills in the musical gaps on a handful of the songs without re-directing the spotlight away from his son. Unfortunately, these make the album's shortcomings that much more frustrating. Teddy Thompson has a good voice and a decent flair for melody, but he really needs to develop more consistency, and a much more delicate touch with his lyrics, than he shows on Separate Ways if he wishes to have a distinguished career.

Overall grade: C+

Top 10 CD's of 2005

Hello and Happy New Year everybody. The birth of the Armchair Critic site gives me the opportunity to revive an old annual tradition of posting my 10 favorite albums of the year. I had a pretty good selection to choose from this year, and as usual the list adds some new faces to the fold to go alongside return efforts from recently-made acquaintances and old stand-bys alike.

10. Hurdy Gurdy, "Prototyp": Garmarna's Stefan Brisland-Ferner and Hedningarna's Totte Mattson take two Swedish hurdy-gurdies and a smattering of electronics and produce one of the most groundbreaking albums you're going to hear from anybody in any genre.

9. Richard Thompson, "Front Parlour Ballads": An average album by Richard Thompson's standards will never have any difficulty cracking my top 10 lists. A mere thirty-eight years removed from his first LP with Fairport Convention, he's still as good a songwriter and guitarist as you'll find.

8. Porcupine Tree, "Deadwing": What started as Steven Wilson's one-man-in-his-basement project has evolved over the past decade into a full-fledged, first-rate band bringing modernized art rock to the masses, or at least to their cult following.

7. Frigg, "Oasis": Folk fiddles from Finland and Norway. Their self-titled debut would have made last year's list if I had a chance to post one, and the follow-up is even better.

6. Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, "Howl": Grunge band with strong Jesus and Mary Chain influence does about-face with third record and puts out rootsy, mostly acoustic, gospel-tinged effort. Somehow, it still works.

5. The New Pornographers, "Twin Cinema": Formed from the remnants of a couple of popular Vancouver bands, with a helping of (mostly backing) vocals from alt-country goddess Neko Case thrown in for good measure, The New Pornographers spent their first two albums bringing retro power pop into the 21st century. Their third album finds them aiming for a bit more depth and generally finding it. (I'm still partial to Neko Case's solo work, though; she put on a fabulous show in town on Valentine's Day and will have a new CD "Fox Confessor Brings the Flood" out on March 7.)

4. "Brandi Carlile": The year's best debut comes from a singer in her early twenties who looks like a teenager but sings with the voice of a woman whose seen enough for several lifetimes. "Closer To You" and "Thrown It All Away" are absolute gems.

3. Paul McCartney, "Chaos and Creation in the Backyard": Paul keeps things simple and straightforward, adopting the same approach that makes his 1970 debut still his best post-Beatles effort, and the result is arguably his strongest album since then, or at the very least matched only by 1989's "Flowers in the Dirt" and maybe one or two others. It's hard to believe that an album from a Beatle could sneak up on people, but here you go.

2. The Soundtrack of Our Lives, "Origin Vol. 1": When I saw them play at the Bowery Ballroom in March, a woman at my table said she described them to a friend as "stoner prog, but in a good way." That's a better description of TSOOL than anything I could come up with, so I'm going with it. They're fun and they rock, so why sweat the details?

1. Pina, "Guess You Got It": I've already reviewed this album in detail elsewhere, so I'll just say that Pina is wonderfully creative and distinct and has my two favorite CD's of the 00's to date. And she was also an extremely cooperative and fascinating interview subject to boot, for which I remain quite grateful.

Check out any and all of these performers if you get the chance. 2006 should get off to a flying start, with the Neko Case CD in March and the return of Värttinä, a Finnish band who've found themselves at or near the top of a lot of my year-end lists in the past, coming up on January 24. I plan on keeping quite busy. In the meantime, peace and good will to everybody everywhere.

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The Top 10 CD's of 2006