Richard Thompson- Still (2015)

Richard Thompson- Still (2015)

“The best thing you've got going for you is individuality.”

Richard Thompson

By: Ghost Writer

What can you say about a guy that has been the hero of people like Lou Reed, David Gilmour, David Byrne, Bob Mould (who has created a long lasting career out of being a punk rick version of Thompson) and Wilco's Jeff Tweedy?, and precisely is Tweedy, a very lucky guy, who appears on this new record by Thompson named Still, Tweedy, apart from constant migraines, can brag about working with some of his idols, Thompson and the little known but great Bill Fay, and well perhaps working with Neil Young or Bob Dylan may take a little longer to happen, but sure it will someday.

Tweedy acts as producer and studio musician in this new adventure by the great Thompson, who once again is not afraid to show off his spectacular talent as songwriter and as a guitarist, as Still is an amazing record that burn with Celtic folk (not Celtic Frost) intensity and Thompson's wizardry on the strings, She Never Could Resist a Winding Road is an irresistible folk tune with great guitars by Thompson and Tweedy, an epic cadence which shows the universality of Thompson musical message, and later with Beatnik Walking, Richards shows a more upbeat tune with great singing and delicious guitar strings, a really strong showing in songwriting, but his more rocking side gets on display on the doomy Patty Don’t You Put Me Down, a tune so hot that could have easily been used on a Quentin Tarantino soundtrack any time.

 

Another strong folk showing comes in the form of All Buttoned Up, a groove heavy song so immediate that gets the feet to start moving quickly, a tune that sometimes ends up in silly territory, but also one that the talent of Thompson is able to get to firm land, and then the quasi medieval Josephine is a tune that could rival any time the Guinevere of CS&N in its romanticism and baroques tendencies, but Richard never gets on the easy or lazy route as Long John Silver takes a dive nearly into country territory, again with a cool guitar interplay between Richard and Tweedy, almost telepathic.

What an amazing tune Thompson delivers next, with intricate arrangements and solid guitars Pony in the Stable builds a groove slowly but always keeping it interesting, while Where´s Your Heart moves both with elegancy and delicacy enough to make a few outstanding players like David Gilmour angry with envy of the real thing Thompson is capable of creating before taking a rocky road on the fast moving No Peace, No End that brings to mind the good Bob Mould with ease (perhaps a record with the Mould could be in the future? To imaging these with louder guitars makes me really anxious).

The records ends with Dungeons for Eyes, a song that shows that Thompson´s DNA presents in “twangy” artists such as Big Star, Elvis Costello or R.E.M., with those thin and shiny guitars all over and the melancholic melody impregnated on Thompson’s vocal delivery, and then the freewheeling Guitar Heroes, a tune with a visible Tweedy input and a colossal rockabilly arrangement by Thompson that brings pure magic by invocating the spirit of good old time rock n roll.

For his long lasting legend, Thompson is a man whose talent just doesn’t seem to fade away with time, he is a prolific songwriter whose music retains an amazing quality and whose talent remains untouched by the pass of time, here is a timeless musician who is not shy about making great records after great records and whose ability to deliver the goods with no filler remains undefeated, and, like The Jam used to sing: “That´s Entertainment.”