Cheap Old Kit Bag (Music) (Richard Thompson) Price
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| ARTIST: | Richard Thompson |
| CATEGORY: | Music |
| MANUFACTURER: | Spin Art |
| TYPE: | Pop, Rock |
| MEDIA: | Audio CD |
| TRACKS: | Gethsemane, Jealous Words, I'll Tag Along, A Love You Can't Survive, Open Door Breathes, First Breath, She Said it was Destiny, I've Got No Right to Have it All, Pearly Jim, Word Unspoken, Sight Unseen, Outside of the Inside, Happy Days and Auld Lang Syne, So Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo (Orazio Vecchi, Arr. R. Thompson), Kiss (Prince), Richard Thompson BBC Documentary Footage |
| # OF MEDIA: | 1 |
| UPC: | 750078012626 |
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Customer Reviews of Old Kit Bag
The Whole Kit and Kaboodle "The Old Kit Bag" is the irony drenched title of Richard Thompson's best album in 20 years. This is not a party record, as one lyric asserts, "I've other fish to fry". This is the great songwriter's most sombre effort since "Shoot Out the Lights" and would fit snuggly between that masterpiece and the unearthly "Pour Down Like Silver". Gone or muted are the sarcastic broadsides at easy targets, the vapid rockers about bad women, the fascile, acid pop and cloying schmaltz. This is bracing and often beautiful stuff, fans of his 70s work should sing hallelujah.
It kicks off with the ruminative "Gethsemane" a bleak update on the babe from "The End of the Rainbow" all grown up. The bitter yearning of the chorus is heartrending. Thompson howls at the close of "A Love You Can't Survive" in a way he usually reserves for his guitar, and the performance stunned the crowd in a NY CD store concert last week, "shaming it quiet" in Greil Marcus' words. There are rockers, the rousing "Jealous Words", the angular "Pearly Jim" and the toothless "I'll Tag Along", but the electric guitars are often subdued to pre-"Lights" levels, and it's telling that the best soloing is acoustic. The production is spare but beautifully articulated, varied guitar tonalities interwoven with mandolin and dulcimer, Thompson handling everything but bass and drums. Judith Owen provides some choice harmonies, but this is the first of his solo records where I've really missed Linda. As back in the day, the warmth of her voice tempered the prevailing austerity and set his melodies in their best light. What might she have made of the luminous "First Breath" or the love among the ruins of "Sight Unseen"? And Thompson exposes more of his Sufic side than usual in the jaunty "One Door Opens" and his post 9/11 anatomy of a fundamentalist, "Outside of the Inside".
The only thing that seperates Richard Thompson from Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Eric Clapton is popularity, and likely it's the severity of his vision that's to blame. Well this is Richard Thompson straight up, no concessions. And it towers.
Plenty of new things in his Old Kit Bag
Old Kit Bag is Thompson's best album in ten years. He's made many great and not-so-great records and what distinguishes Old Kit Bag from, say, the inconsistent Amnesia, is the strength of the songwriting. His performances have always been strong and even when coupled with an odd producer (Mitchell Froom)his best material still manages to win out.
Producer John Chelew (John Hiatt's Bring the Family) was the perfect producer to compliment Thompson particularly on this set of songs. From chiming guitars of the opening track Gethsemane to the mournful power of Happy Days and Auld Lang Syne, every lyric and guitar lick are perfectly placed. Thompson sounds energized again on Old Kit Bag.
The bonus disc features a couple of unusual cover songs So Ben Mi Ca Bon Tempo and Prince's Kiss. Kiss is an unusual but interesting choice for Thompson's baritone voice. Surprisingly, it works and Thompson's spirited reading of the song gives this unplugged version a great deal of energy and spirit.
Traipsing down the folkie path
Moving along in no particular hurry, the 12 cuts on this CD are a less than successful return to Thompson's folk roots. Earnest, romantic lyrics dominate, centered on Thompson's emotionally charged vocals, surrounded by traditional instruments like the mandolin and dulcimer, creating a sound that is just a bit too laid back. All the songs seem to be coming from the same musical base and some (particularly "First Breath") move along so slowly that I find my attention wandering long before the end. There were no stand outs here, just a friendly folk fest; my expectations for Thompson's work are much too high to be satisfied by this one.