Richard Thompson's never gone in for much in the way of studio frippery, so it's surprising that it's taken him four decades to release an album like Dream Attic, whose songs were captured on a brief west coast tour in early 2010. Recorded with his seasoned touring band, including ace sideman Pete Zorn and session pros Joel Zifkin, Michael Jerome and Taras Prodaniuk, the album's 13 tracks harness the energy of Thompson's phenomenal live shows without making any audible concessions in the way of precision.

If the rapid-fire recording of Dream Attic shows anywhere, it's in the songwriting. "The Money Shuffle" gets things off to a shaky start with its sarcastic swipe at stock-swindling financial gurus. "If you'll just bend over a little, I think you'll feel my financial muscle," Thompson sings, substituting crass immediacy for nuanced reflection. A song so tied to current events would have been best sent out over the internet the morning after, in the tradition of a broadside ballad. Luckily, the music doesn't suffer from the same haste. Zorn's winding twin-saxophone riff and Thompson's unresolved harmonies lend the song a lingering unease more engrossing than its lyrical bludgeoning.

Although some of Dream Attic's songs drift past the… read more »