So confident was Richard Thompson with this material and this band that he chose to cut his 2010 “studio” album Dream Attic live on stage. The sound is top notch and the playing is, need it be questioned, beyond compare. Richard Thompson’s guitar tone and finger-twisting guitar solos show up, but it’s Thompson the songwriter who trumps all. He writes everything from NPR commentaries like “The Money Shuffle”, where rich Wall Street executives get lost in the money once invested by the average folk, to deep and glorious elegies like “A Brother Slips Away”, where Thompson mourns one more old friend passed.” “Sidney Wells” tells an involved story, while “Burning Man” plays like the sort of mournful ballad only Thompson can deliver. “Crimescene” goes plenty dark with noir action. “Haul Me Up”, “Here Comes Geordie”, “Demons In Her Dancing Shoes” and “Bad Again” whip up the tempo and throw some dangerous ensemble playing among some stunning guitars solos. It’s a solid album of great musical variety.