Tag Archives: English folk rock

Richard and Linda Thompson’s I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight

Richard and Linda Thompson are among the most revered of musical couples in rock history, at least among fans not confined to music’s bland mainstream. That reverence is largely based on two albums: their first, I Want To See The … Continue reading

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Steeleye Span’s Sails of Silver

Absent friends Bob Johnson and Peter Knight may have returned to the fold, but the sound is new and unique. From the opening chords onward – crisp, smooth, and electric – you know that this is not your first-generation Steeleye … Continue reading

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The Decemberists’ The Hazards of Love

For their fifth full-length recording, Portland, Oregon’s The Decemberists have made a sprawling epic of a record, a grand concept album the likes of which hasn’t been seen much in 30 years or more: The Hazards of Love. Frontman, lead … Continue reading

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Fairport Convention’s Live At Cropredy ’08 and Fame And Glory

It’s almost tempting to use the old “waiting for a bus” analogy — you wait a while for a new Fairport CD and then two come along at once. These discs are quite different from each other in many respects, … Continue reading

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Linda Thompson’s Versatile Heart

Linda Thompson could be forgiven for a slight lack of thematic and sonic variety on her 2002 album Fashionably Late and she was, by reviewers and fans alike who were overjoyed at her first new recording in nearly 20 years. … Continue reading

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Various artists’ John Barleycorn Reborn: Dark Brittanica

Objectivity be damned, it just can’t be done! When presented with a collection of tracks dubbed Dark Britannica, comprising two CDs that when purchased entitles you to 33 extra downloadable tracks (the equivalent of two more CDs), which collectively prove … Continue reading

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Richard Thompson’s Sweet Warrior

Sweet Warrior is Richard Thompson’s best set of songs this millennium. I like it best, anyway, of his studio releases since 1999’s Mock Tudor. Starting with that album, all of RT’s recent releases have been “theme,” if not actual “concept” … Continue reading

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Richard Thompson’s ‘RT’ The life and music of Richard Thompson

“It’s good to be able to choose to look back.” — Richard Thompson, as quoted by Nigel Schofield in ‘RT’ A celebration of the life and music of Richard Thompson, the book accompanying the box set of the same name. … Continue reading

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Jim Moray’s Sweet England

Lenora Rose contributed this review. I had just managed to wheedle the editor into letting me review this CD a day or two before the BBC Radio 2 2004 Folk Award Winners were announced — and Jim Moray collected both … Continue reading

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Various artists’ Cropredy Capers

This review was contributed by Paul Brandon. “This is the story of the twenty-five August weekends which led me there — the story of a band falling apart and coming together, of miracles and mishaps, of weather from the sublime … Continue reading

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