The first of these two fine albums, I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight by Richard and Linda Thompson, has been a favorite of mine since I was eighteen years old (I’m forty-two at the moment). It’s hardly obscure – it’s famous, really. Yet aside from its cult following it seems to be just barely in view. I still have my vinyl copy but when I purchased the CD a few years ago I had to buy an import.

Richard Thompson has been more successful as a solo artist than he ever was when married to and collaborating with Linda Thompson, (nee Linda Peters). Linda, as his muse, (she’s not credited for writing any of the songs) added a kind of gravitas to his work that has since dissipated. By the time of 1991’s Rumor And Sigh, his most popular album, he was writing clownish ditties like Psycho Street. It’s dark but it’ll make you laugh. I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight by comparison is a lot more likely to make you hurt. These songs have never seemed exactly sad to me. They aren’t desperate and pleading either. I guess they are resigned, really – the characters in these songs are trapped within their circumstances without a suggestion of redemption or escape.

The title track is like a weekend escape from all this despair. But it’s the final track, The Great Valerio, that is my favorite. I’m your friend until you use me and then be sure I won’t be there.

The Sweetness of the Water is the fourth tenth album by the duo of John Coxon and Ashley Wales known collectively as Spring Heel Jack. Their various collaborators bear as much mention. Evan Parker, Matthew Shipp, Wadada Leo Smith, William Parker, and several others have contributed to their recordings and live shows. This one is particularly lovely. Contemplative and exploring, it’s improvisational but tight. John Coxon’s guitar is compelling and unconventional. The electronics on Lata and Autumn and the repetitive keyboard on Track One, the fifth track, nudge free jazz beyond its normal conventions. And who knew it had any?