CHIMNEY AND FIREPLACE CLEANING

I am in utter despair that I won’t be front and center for Richard Thompson’s Cropredy set next week, because he’s just put out his strongest album for years, and this from a musician I have always considered easily the finest of his genre.

Richard Thompson’s recent project “1,000 Years of Popular Music” is a gem, of course (and the DVD is as essential as the CD), and shows his unparalleled range of reference, but in a way it’s a side project. The original songs and the unique guitar playing are what he’s always been about about for me, and these new ones, so au courant (he appears in the booklet in soldier’s uniform and sings of terrorism and how “at least we’re winning on the Fox Evening News”,) are very, very intense.

“Take Care the Road You Choose” is, for personal reasons, my favorite. I’d quote it, but the whole thing is just gold-standard, so I’ll approvingly quote Amazon’s Thomas D. Ryan of NY instead, who says: "‘Take Care the Road You Choose’ may be the most gentle and poignant tale of regret I have ever heard."

Elvis Costello has called Richard Thompson “the finest songwriter Britain has ever produced,” and allegedly suggested that RT be named the UK’s poet laureate, but that doesn’t mean that every album’s uniformly brilliant. However, a selection of comments culled from various user reviews of actual listeners on Amazon (because we all know that the opinions of professional music reviewers don’t mean $*!t and never did) sum Sweet Warrior up:

“the man's a genius”

“he sounds like NO ONE ELSE.”

“The guitar playing throughout sends shivers down my spine.”

“this album will stand with RT's all-time bests”

“the strongest Thompson album in years”

“another brilliant Richard Thompson album”

“RT's best studio CD since Rumor and Sigh”

Of the more substantial reviews, here are a few accurate samples:

LR Miller of Gaithersburg MD says: "Devoted fans of Richard Thompson have a
tough time being objective about the man's music. We view him on a different
level of musicianship than the "normal" mortals who walk on stage. Thus, it's
difficult for me to rate any RT record lower than 4 stars.
Five stars, however, means the man has hit a mark as high as "Shoot Out the
Lights," "Mock Tudor," and the often overlooked "Across a Crowded Room." Five stars
it is for "Sweet Warrior," one of the finest records . . . Richard has recorded over
his unjustly obscure career."

Power, of London, England, says "He is one of the greatest songwriters
and guitarists. He is a legend."

Jo D of CT USA says "For all you RT fans out there, this is IT! Yes,
it's the one you've been waiting for, because FINALLY we hardcore RT fans
have a CD that we can recommend to or even buy as gifts for the
non-converted, and they'll actually GET what the fuss has been about.
This is hands down the most accessible RT disc in existence, chockful of
songs that would make anyone want to either dance or cry. As critics have
been saying, Sweet Warrior represents a return to the more hardrocking form
of the 80's and early 90's, but with better [leaner and cleaner]
production than those albums had and with bigger, brighter guitar. Also,
maybe it's just my ears, but on this CD I finally feel that RT's voice
itself has grown to fit the music so well that it's lost its tag of 'an
acquired taste.' On both rocking numbers and ballads, his voice sounds
as passionate and as adaptable as his ever-astonishing guitar."

R. Kyle of Knoxville, TN says "As you'd guess from the title, "Sweet Warrior"
is about war. Not just the expected militarization in Iraq, but localized
domestic strife as well.
"Dad's Going to Kill Me" is the cut that's going to receive all the attention
from this CD. Thompson rises above the glut of protest Iraqi war protest music
bringing a soldier's everyday experience in Baghdad to life.
"Guns are the Tongues" goes one step further. The character in the song,
"Little Joe" became a car bomber to get revenge for his lover's father and
brother--because "guns are the tongues, Little Joe/The only words we know..."
and, R Kyle concludes, it's "one of the best Richard Thompson CDs ever."

Brooks Smith of Atlanta, Georgia, says: "This album is simply stunning. As one who's
studied every release to which the great Richard Thompson has lent his name,
this reviewer bows in awe to this work."

So there you have it. There are few pleasures in life like a favorite artist producing one more masterpiece for you, so as I prepare to miss the Cropredy festival for only the third time in 22 years this month, my consolation is that the master is still showing the way.

Not just a picture (...ok, a crap picture), this is an experiment! Of sorts. From left to right, the three discs are: a CD single, a single-layer DVD, and a dual-layer DVD.

I can't believe how much dust is on the discs, especially as I used an air-blower on them... should've wiped them clean. Oh well. :)