Richard Thompson - Dream Attic

Richard Thompson obviously didn't get the memo. You know, the one that says "as the reigning elder statesman of British folk/rock you can simply rest on your throne." As a founding member (at age eighteen) of Fairport Convention in 1967, Thompson was a catalyst in the transition of traditional Brit folk into the contemporary rock world. With former wife Linda, he crafted literate, beautiful songs of rare emotional fortitude on albums like 1982's Shoot Out the Lights. As a solo artist he's released nearly 20 albums of acoustic majesty and stinging, imaginative electric guitar playing. Rolling Stone wrote just last year that Thompson is "a perennial dark-horse contender for the title of greatest living rock guitarist" and was named one of the mag's Top 20 Guitarists of All Time.

The new Dream Attic (August 31, Shout Factory) is a mix of Thompson's many strengths: thirteen newly written songs that were recorded live from a series of concerts earlier this year on the West Coast. The 61-year-old is a marvel of energy, wit and masterful playing, utilizing his gruff vocal delivery and dexterous fretwork to full effect. Listening to new song "Big Sun Falling In the River" (available for free download at his website) we were struck by the nagging thought that if this was some 20-something's debut effort the hipster scribes would be falling over themselves to herald the "next big thing." For the rest of us, we can simply smile, nod and marvel at an artist who, thankfully, never got that memo. Highly recommended.

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Richard Thompson - "Big Sun Falling In the River" (from the album Dream Attic)

Dream Attic Track Listing:

1. The Money Shuffle
2. Among the Gorse, Among the Grey
3. Haul Me Up
4. Burning Man
5. Here Comes Geordie
6. Demons in Her Dancing Shoes
7. Crimescene
8. Big Sun Falling in the River
9. Stumble On
10. Sidney Wells
11. A Brother Slips Away
12. Bad Again
13. If Love Whispers Your Name