Album: Richard Thompson, Dream Attic (Proper)

Thirteen new songs recorded with full band and great energy at assorted American venues, in all the favoured Ricardian registers, from sardonic (you can imagine what he has to say about bankers, and how he says it) to harshly elegaic to bleakly whimsical (Sidney Wells is a serial killer, you know!).

Awkward as ever. Yet it may be that greatest delight is taken in the fact that Thompson keeps his electric guitar on at all times. There isn't a more exciting lick-spitter in the world. Just ask Sting.