Richard Thompson – Ship To Shore 2LP on Sale

Ship To Shore Richard Thompson – When Richard Thompson began writing songs for his latest album, Ship to Shore, the artist was instinctively drawn to his own musical roots, employing them in the service of fashioning a deep and diverse 12-track collection that pulls from various styles, genres and eras, but remains unmistakably Richard Thompson. There s the rumbling, Motown-style rhythm that propels Trust, and the straightforward riff-rock of Turnstile Casanova. The drone-y The Old Pack Mule, an old man s song that takes musical cues from 1600s-era European music, and Life s a Bloody Show, an ode to snake-oil salesmen and hucksters that floats on a glammy, cabaret-like melody that s almost like a parody of a Noël Coward song, or something from Berlin in the 1920s, Thompson says. I liked the idea of having a strong base to work from and reaching out from there, he says. And I think of my base as being British traditional music, but there s also Scottish music, there s Irish music. There s jazz and country and classical. As far as I m concerned, once you establish your base you can reach out anywhere. It ll still be you ringing through, wherever you decide to go musically.