RICHARD THOMPSON : 8/31/2010 |
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Los Angeles, CA – Richard Thompson, one of the most distinguished guitarists and songwriters of our time, returns with Dream Attic, a magnificent collection of 13 new songs, due out August 31 on Shout! Factory. Penned during a short and inspired burst of creative outpouring, Thompson captured the awesome energy of his live show by recording the album in front of an audience. “I don’t think musicians playing on their own are particularly interesting, it’s only when they play in front of an audience that something interesting happens,” Thompson said in an interview at the show. The songs were performed during a West Coast tour in February of this year, and the bulk of the performances that made the album come from three shows at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. A special edition of the set containing a second disc of all 13 demos will be available exclusively on www.RichardThompsonDreamAttic.com.
Dream Attic was produced by Thompson and longtime cohort Simon Tassano, and they vividly captured the inspired interaction of the players. The musicians appearing on the album with Thompson are Pete Zorn (guitars, flute, sax, mandolin), Michael Jerome (drums), Taras Prodaniuk (bass), and Joel Zifkin (violin, mandolin). “The thing about recording live is that you lose accuracy but you gain energy; you lose choices but you gain immediacy,” Thompson says about his decision to work in a live setting. But at the same time, the accuracy is marvelously maintained thanks to the elevated musicianship, frequently leading to extended passages of eruptive forcefulness topped by one after another of Thompson’s jaw-dropping solo forays.
The album opens explosively with “The Money Shuffle,” which Thompson says is “dedicated to our good friends on Wall Street who did such a fine job lately…. It’s just a mild satire.” The resulting take is the antithesis of mild, building toward an absolutely scalding guitar solo. From this bracing start, the sequence rolls through traditionally rooted balladry (“Among the Gorse, Among the Grey”), sharply drawn character studies (“Here Comes Geordie”), image-filled observations (“Burning Man”) and recollections of bygone eras (“Demons in Her Dancing Shoes,” set in the East End of London in the ’60s). “Sidney Wells” is a traditional murder ballad in modern dress, “Crimescene” is a raging reaction to the inexorable aging process. “A Brother Slips Away” is a moving elegy to friends the 61-year-old Thompson has lost within the last year, and “Big Sun Falling in the River” is a buoyantly Beatlesque instant classic. The record ends as dynamically as it began, with “If Love Whispers Your Name,” a ballad in ¾ time that works itself up to a breathtaking widescreen climax.
To preserve the freshness of the experience, the players went through minimal preparation before embarking on the eight-date mini-tour. “We learned how to play the songs as we went,” says Thompson. And that was precisely how the bandleader wanted it. “It’s good to be comfortable up to a point,” he says. “What you want ideally is to be comfortable and challenged.” On several levels, Thompson notes, these 2010 shows felt not terribly different from Fairport’s very first tour of the States in 1970, which followed the exit of Sandy Denny. “That particular incarnation of Fairport was a very musical, well rehearsed and tight band,” Thompson recalls.
Thompson’s last studio album, 2007’s critically acclaimed Sweet Warrior also produced by Thompson and Tassano and released on Shout! Factory, reflected on themes of combat, both in love and war, and featured the provocative and vivid evocation of the Iraq War, “Dad’s Gonna Kill Me.” In 2009, Shout! Factory released the career-spanning 4-CD box set, Walking On A Wire: 1968-2009, showcasing Richard Thompson's illustrious career, which stretches back over 40 years.
A national U.S. tour supporting Dream Attic will be announced at a later date. Additionally, Southbank Centre in the UK has chosen Thompson as the Artistic Director of the 17th Meltdown festival scheduled for June 12 – 20, 2010, taking place in the concert halls and spaces of London’s most celebrated riverside arts centre, including Royal Festival Hall and Queen Elizabeth Hall. Previous artists chosen to curate the festival include David Bowie, Patti Smith, Massive Attack, and Ornette Coleman.
Shout! Factory is a diversified entertainment company devoted to producing, uncovering and revitalizing the very best of pop culture. Founders Richard Foos, Bob Emmer and Garson Foos have spent their careers sharing their music, television and film faves with discerning consumers the world over. Shout! Factory’s DVD offerings serve up classic, contemporary and cult TV series, riveting sports programs, live music, animation and documentaries in lavish packages crammed with extras. The company’s audio catalogue boasts GRAMMY®-nominated boxed sets, new releases from storied artists, lovingly assembled album reissues and indispensable “best of” compilations. These riches are the result of a creative acquisitions mandate that has established the company as a hotbed of cultural preservation and commercial reinvention. With its fingers on the pulse of pop culture, Shout! Factory continues to impact the entertainment media landscape through acquisition of top quality programming for home entertainment releases. Shout! Factory is based in Santa Monica, California. For more on Shout! Factory, visit www.shoutfactory.com.
Dream Attic Track Listing:
The Money Shuffle
Among the Gorse, Among the Grey
Haul Me Up
Burning Man
Here Comes Geordie
Demons in Her Dancing Shoes
Crimescene
Big Sun Falling in the River
Stumble On
Sidney Wells
A Brother Slips Away
Bad Again
If Love Whispers Your Name
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