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Like a wise, weary traveler returning from a landscape strewn with broken hearts, Richard Thompson colors his songs with wit and wry observations to create Celtic- tinged folk-rock richly textured with his virtuoso acoustic- and electric-guitar chops. Affairs of the heart inform “She Never Could Resist a Winding Road,” “Broken Doll,” and “All Buttoned Up,” the latter delivered with a loping beat and Thompson’s stinging Strat. “Pony in the Stable” is a masterful display of Celtic-folk wizardry from a musician who helped define the genre while a member of Fairport Convention. He rocks hard on “Long John Silver” but turns tender on the hushed guitar ballad “Josephine.” “Where’s Your Heart” again delves into the deep recesses of the soul while “Dungeons for Eyes” is a bitter meditation that would be right at home on 1994’s acclaimed Mirror Blue. Thompson closes with “Guitar Heroes,” a playful tribute to such idols as Chuck Berry, Dale Hawkins, Django Reinhardt, and Les Paul. It finds the celebrated guitarist— tongue planted firmly in cheek—aping styles from surf and rockabilly to Gypsy jazz and lounge music. Recorded with a touch of tenderness at Jeff Tweedy’s home studio, Still is one of Thompson’s most rewarding albums in years.
By Greg Cahill
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