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09 June 2005
Celtschmerz! I like Richard Thompson. Anyone else?
Wall of Death is one of my favorite songs of all time, but honestly I prefer it when it's covered by other people (REM or Nanci Griffith, take your pick.) Love Fairport Convention, though.
Anyone that can make darkness and misery that fun is OK in my book. He's one of the few artists with a long career that I actually love stuff from all his phases, although I'm especially partial to his twisted pop stuff from Across a Crowded Room through Rumor and Sigh.
I think his two most recent, The Old Kit-Bag and Mock Tudor, are among his most consistently strong. (NTM 1,000 Years of Popular Music, which is just amazing.) But I haven't heard much of his early post-Fairport stuff.
French Frith Kaiser Thompson's albums are pretty fun, too.
I don't really like it when the word genius is applied to musicians but I think Richard Thompson is about as close as they come. He's a great musical theorist, great songwriter and of course a bloody amazing guitarist. One of the great things about his guitar playing is that it isn't at all flashy, it's all about complimenting the melody and strengthing the song. And the way he meshes styles from all over the world seemlessly into his music is incredible. There's also often a rather dry sense of humour at work.
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