Customer Reviews

A Piece of What You Need

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Teddy Thompson's new set "A Piece of What You Need" starts out with one of the best one-two-three song selections. The opener "The Things I Do" is a hook-laden track with an addictive melody, Thompson's gorgeous and expressive voice, and his trademark wit in the lyric, "It's getting harder & harder to live with myself, the things I do." It's Teddy's trick that feeling bad can sound this good. "What's This?!!" arrives with punch, a ripping stutter-style guitar lead, and Teddy's tremendous vocals, "Oh sh*t, Oh sh*t, am I happy or something? Is it you? Is it me? Is it us? Is it we?" It's another totally addictive track. "In My Arms" is also a beautiful track with the pace mellowed & Thompson's vocals silky and caressing. "Can't Sing Straight" & "Jonathan's Book" are also favorites of mine. Teddy Thompson continues to deliver excellent music on a CD that is sure to hit many "best of 2008" lists. Enjoy!

This is a great album. Teddy has become his own artist with own unique singing style that is extremely open and expansive. It appears his singing of country classics from his last album has allowed him to experiment with his voice this time that is so rich and creative that it appears at times to be effortless. I believe that natural would best describe it. The arrangements are varied and colorful with guitars, pianos, horns and strings flowing in and out of all the songs that expands and never distracts from any of the songs. This album also sounds great through headphones if you are a audio freak like I am. Teddy has done both of his parents proud by just being himself and letting his muse take him on a journey that is never limited by his lack of imagination either though the quality of his song writing or the eloquent way he sings them. I believe he now has one up on his friend Rufus Wainwright and has become the better songwriter and arranger of the two.

As other reviewers have noted, Teddy Thompson's latest effort A PIECE OF WHAT YOU NEED finds the Brit-born/NY based singer-songwriter craftily playing every side of his lonely, self-loathing persona, and all with the lacerating wit in lyrics for which the younger Thompson is justly celebrated. The horror of actually finding happiness that opens the insanely catchy "What's This?!!" eventually gives way, many songs later, to the mordantly funny lament of "Turning the Gun on Myself", with several interesting and well-observed stops in between. Thompson's incredible voice remains one of the finest in contemporary music and though PIECE doesn't showcase it as well as his previous release, 2007's now classic UP FRONT AND DOWN LOW - mostly covers of C&W chestnuts with one tremendous original - PIECE'S rich, multilayered production still makes a rich setting for Thompson's vocals. ("Jonathan's Book", with a cinematic opening, finds Thompson flirting with a Beatles vibe, to good effect.) The CD package gets a shwack for not including any notes or credits - listeners have to go to Thompson's Web site for those - and for burying one of the albums best tracks ("Price of Love") many, many minutes after the last listed one, the title tune. Anyone who left before the very end of IRON MAN will know what I mean, so have patience. These are minor quibbles compared to the true work of art that Thompson's achieved here. If you don't have any of his CDs, start here. The title really does say it all.

who had the brilliant idea of not including any lyrics or credits with the CD (you can access them on individual pages on his website) and leaving a 5 minute break before you 'discover' the hidden track. Why do record companies do that ? Why not just put a track marker in and call it a bonus track, as it is a real pain. Is it any wonder the music business is in trouble ?

That said, it is always a joy to get another album by Teddy, despite my grumblings. I just like to know who did what to who and when. After repeated listenings I have grown to love this album, somewhat more up-beat than his others. Teddy is an excellent and prolific songwriter, so it was a bit of a surprise when he released the album prior to this made up entirely of covers, plus one. The irony was that the only TT written track on that album Up Front and Down Low (Down Low, with Maria Mulduar's daughter Jenni singing background vocals) was the best track:)

As always I will look forward to his next release, hoping for lyrics and no 5 minute break at the end for a hidden track !

This is classic Teddy Thompson and well worth the purchase.
Two complaints though. There are absolutely no liner notes with the CD - aside from listing the song titles. The CD sleeve invites you to go to the website but the credits are shown there in such a complicated way. (I wanted to print them and put them with the CD).
Second complaint... what is the point in having a hidden track (The Everly's 'Price Of Love') that to access requires you to fast forward 10 minutes along from the end of the final listed track. The easier solution (if you must have a hidden track) is to add it as an extra track, and thereby is readily accessible. Great album - sloppy finishing work.

I have been a Teddy Thompson fan for years. I have turned all my family and friends on to him and they marvel that they hadn't heard of him before because he's so damn good. This album, I believe will change all that. Forget his DNA (extraordinary), he is his own man. His voice is so rich, versatile and caressing it's got to be the voice of a generation. I was fortunate enough to see him live. Got to speak with him briefly and I think he was actually surprised someone knew all his material. His star will "Shine So Bright" (a satirical song he wrote) for a long, long time. Do yourself a favor, get this album.

I really love Teddy Thompson. My discovery of him was through his contribution to the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, and I've liked a lot of what he's done. This album is no different, except for a VERY IRRITATING feature... the hidden track. Don't get me wrong. I love the "hidden track" itself. What I actually really despise is the over ten minutes of dead air when playing the cd. I'd even be willing to purchase the two songs that make up track 11 separately if it were possible--but no, the bonus track is only available if you download the whole cd, which, one would assume, gives you the long track instead of the two independent tracks it should be. And it should have credits in the sleeve, especially since it's not the Earth-friendly packaging like Emmylou Harris' recent release!

Being the son of Richard and Linda Thompson, two of British music's most distinctive and original singers, it is hardly surprising that Teddy is equally vocally blessed.
Although, like his fellow folk spawn Martha and Rufus Wainwright, he is ploughing an increasingly interesting furrow away from his impressive heritage.
There was a tasteful collection of country covers less than a year ago, and now this album of originals that deserves to secure his breakthrough.
Picking up where 2006's Separate Ways, rather than last year's reworking of classic American country songs Up Front and Down Low, left off, it is a collection of thoughtful, catchy and ultimately satisfying songs, combining Orbison-inspired, uptempo melodies with smart, self-deprecating lyrics to addictive and moving effect.
There is smoky jazz on "Turning the Gun on Myself", toe-tapping country rock on the cinematic and lush "Jonathan's Book", whooshing Hammond organ on the catchy single "In My Arms" and bluesy guitar and squalling brass on overall standout "Can't Sing Straight".
Thompson's warm, rich voice is the lovely glue that binds it all together.
There are references to Thompson's wide-ranging influences, from mornings "bright as Rapper's Delight" through hopes to one day "walk the line".
Vocally he's a deeper, less flighty version of his mate Rufus Wainwright.
His style owes little to his parents, though, and "I Don't Know What I Want" boasts the delicious vocal traces of Crowded House's Neil Finn and Rufus Wainwright.
This is an outstandingly pretty record, beautifully performed, and sensitively produced by Marius De Vries.
While he self-produced his last two albums,he handed the duties over to Björk and Madonna producer, Marius de Vries - and it's the touches that Marius brings that push this album out of good and into great.
All tracks are written by Teddy and each song in its own way shows off his distinctive knack for blending classic songwriting with infectious melodies and the odd dash of black humor.
"My standards are slipping day by day/ I'll sleep with anyone who gets in my way," sings Teddy Thompson on this wry, heartfelt album that should finally see him earn the mainstream recognition he deserves. .
It's the best album of his career.
My highlights: "Don't Know What I Was Thinking", "In My Arms", "The Things I Do".

Sweet Warrior
Versatile Heart
Release the Stars
I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too

Definitely a different style of production for Teddy Thompson. I like that he challenges himself on each record and this one is no exception. It is more "poppy," but I think that it works well for him. Teddy is one of the few new artists that I look forward to each new release. There's nothing about this CD that won't have me buying the next one.

Really good music, played well, and with a great vibe.

Teddy's in love.

Or, knowing how sly Teddy Thompson can be, I should say: At the very least, his persona is.

Either way, this is very good news.

"Happy lies ahead," Teddy Thompson predicted when I interviewed him in the spring of 2007.

And then he hedged: "But you never know --- it could turn nasty."

If you're in the Teddy Thompson cult --- and it's ridiculous that a cult is still all there is, because this guy is about as major as it gets --- you know that's classic Teddyspeak. He's invariably divided. His own worst enemy. Shockingly self-loathing, a genius at sabotaging relationships. And, of course, hopelessly romantic.

He writes pop songs that get crazy-glued to your memory, but he delights in project like a CD of country songs; he can make a Leonard Cohen song sound fresh. For a child of veteran musicians, he's way too articulate, ironic and self-effacing --- way too complicated --- for the business he's in.

In the past, he's been that character. Now, in "A Piece of What You Want", he confronts that guy with thrilling directness.

As you might expect, the CD starts with the singer stumbling: "It's getting harder and harder to live with myself/ I'm getting weaker in mental and physical health." He's "one night out away from the analyst's couch." But disgust is, of course, shot through with irony: "My standards are slipping day by day/ I'll sleep with anyone who gets in my way." The punch line: "No one's coming to save me now."

But wait! The second song is a total reversal: "What's this, what's this/Am I happy or something?" The voices in his head say "this will never work" but this time he's not running scared, this time it's all good. And while his arms are "not an easy place to be", he does grasp that it's hard to get lost there. So far, so great.

But wait yet again! This is Teddy Thompson --- by the fourth song, he's screwed it up. And feeling awful: "I'm minutes away, I'm taking the next train/ Don't know what I was thinking."

And so it goes, back and forth, a novel told in monologues. Or, better, a song cycle that, by turns, invokes Johnny Cash ("Maybe I'll learn to walk the line"), big band music, the powerhouse anthems of a Springsteen and much, much more. He can rock, he can boogie, he can steal your woman with a broken-hearted ballad --- musically, the CD burns hot and shiny.

And smart. Above all, smart. The kids who like simple and stupid are gonna wonder why Mom and Dad are listening to this English guy. Their loss. "A Piece of What You Want" is music for grown-ups who can still tap their toes, raise a fist, confront demons, hate phonies and come back for more. Very simply, it's a small masterpiece.

Who said happiness kills creativity?