Nick Drake – Pink Moon [MP3][320]

Pink Moon
Label: Erased Tapes Records
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: UK
Released: 1976
Genre: Rock
Style: Folk











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A classic. That's what I say about this album.
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Nick Drake was an unknown soldier in the 1970s. Blending lush orchestrations with a bluntly emotional voice, his music would although at the time not become popular, grow to be some of the most influential music of the haven that the ‘70s were for originality. Singer/Songwriters are pretty universally enjoyed; I mean who doesn’t like ‘Flake’ by Jack Johnson or ‘Say Yes’ by Elliott Smith. Usually you’ll find that huge Cryptopsy/Spiral Architect fan talking about how whenever he needs to calm down he throws on Damien Rice’s ‘O’. Well, most of these artists owe their ideas to Nick Drake’s ‘Pink Moon’. Sitting next to Talk Talk’s ‘Laughing Stock’ as one of the most emotionally barren and gorgeous sounding records of all time, Pink Moon encompasses the feelings of despair and isolation so effortlessly it’s a wonder it isn’t more widely respected and known than it is. Although I’m a big fan of the acoustic meanderings of most singer/songwriters, I do find myself usually becoming bored with the sheer playing inability in most of these artists, but with Nick Drake this problem is nowhere to be found. His unique and technical ability behind a guitar is astounding and highly compliments his very ethereal vocals. While some people tend to dwell on the suicide he supposedly committed, I try to remember Nick Drake not for the actions he transpired, but for the wonderful timeless music he created.

‘Pink Moon’ has a cast of ten very similar songs. All of the songs are formed between only two instruments, Nick’s guitar and vocals, except for the title track which features some haunting piano melodies. Most of the songs are done in a way that makes them mildly upbeat and beautiful, but the occasional gloomy dark song is experimented with on the album in the form of ‘Things Behind the Sun’ and ‘Parasite’. While the lyrical messages behind most of the songs are typically depressing affairs, this topic only seems to soak through into the actual musical half of the album in the two dark songs. ‘Pink Moon’ is mostly concentrated in the genre of Folk with most of the songs blending together stylistically, but tracks like ‘Know’ which is based around an extremely simple guitar line and the short interlude ‘Horn’ help make the album more interesting and seem less repetitive. Nick’s voice is very unique in itself due to the fact it has a deep yet very soothing, beautiful sound. Whereas most singer/songwriters reach their moments of beauty with the falsetto sound, Nick like Jeff Buckley on his album ‘Grace’ is able to exude emotion in various ranges of his voice, which also helps establish striking differences in the ten tracks on this album. All in all, the tracks on this album are similar yet different, but always rewarding. Few tracks stand out, because they are all excellent by my personal favorite would have to be ‘Things Behind the Sun’ just because of how elegantly depressing it is. Every song can serve the dual purpose of either being, light and relaxing, or tense and emotional depending on how the listener is relating to it.

‘Pink Moon’ is a simple album made by a talented man that any musician or music listener should enjoy. The accessibility to this album is simple, because it is always representing an emotion or feeling that anyone can relate too. While the album does have some depressing undertones, like most popular music Nick Drake is able to make a musically upbeat and happy sounding song out of what were most likely some of his darkest feelings. This ability to make an accessible, moving piece that is both filled with despair and hopefulness is what makes ‘Pink Moon’ such an everlasting and excellent piece of work. It’s really an album anyone can pick up and really enjoy whether you are a metal, rap, or indie fan and that is where the perfection lies in it.

Review by Sputnik Music [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/6718/Nick-Drake-Pink-Moon/]

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Nick Drake - Bryter Layter [320][MP3]

Bryter Layter

Label: Island Records

Format: Vinyl, LP

Country: UK

Released: 1970

Genre: Rock

Style: Folk, Indie, Folk Rock

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Nick Drake was without a doubt an underestimated genius. Underestimated not by others, but by himself. He was a man of recluse and low self-confidence. He always thought he wasn’t talented musically, and it puzzles many how he could even think of himself as un-talented, nevermind actually believing it.

One would have no idea that he thought of himself like that after listening to Bryter Layter. This was probably his most orchestrated album, containing not only his soft-spoken voice, guitar and violin but also drumming, bass, piano and a brass instrument here and there (Such as the saxophone in 'At the Chime of a City Clock') even going so far to include a xylophone during the song 'Northern Sky'. He definitely went all out on this album and it really shows.

Even with the use of so many wonderfully arranged instruments, it still seems simplistic enough to be a nice calming listen, but while retaining enough depth so not to come off as boring or repetitive. But when it comes down to it, what do people end up listening to? That’s right, his sweet 'gentleman' tone of voice and his amazing finger picked guitar playing. 

Songs like 'One of These Things First' are easily a prime example of this, when ever you listen to it, you’ll initially be in awe of the majestic piano but by the end your attention always wanders back to Drake’s soothing voice and melodic guitar playing. Not only does his voice leave such as an impression, the lyrics he sings always have a very nice message.

Take 'Hazey Jane I' for example, a song the seems like it’s about a woman so infatuated with a man that she passes by on so many other things in life she could be enjoying. But for some reason these songs never come off as being too depressing, unlike a lot of his other work. Again, this is probably contributed to the fact that the other instruments he experimented with on this album give it more of an upbeat feeling, no matter what the subject matter is.

However, these lyrics and messages are vital, mainly because one of the only let downs on the album (and it’s not really THAT big of a let down) is the title track, 'Bryter Layter'. This instrumental track, clocking in at 3 minutes and 22 seconds sounds slightly dated and sounds like a cheesy intermission tune. Compared to the brilliant songs before and after ('Hazey Jane I' and 'Fly' respectively) it comes of as being a little bit of a filler track, but its intended purpose was probably just for him to experiment on an instrumental song, and just try something out of the ordinary.

Even more out of the ordinary is the 6 minute song, 'Poor Boy'. Easily one of the most epic songs in all of Nick Drake’s relatively short career it truly is a masterpiece. Using choir vocals in the chorus, and his own voice during the verses. It also features such wonderful arrangements for saxophone, piano and guitar.

'Sunday' is really the perfect way to close out an album, a calm flute melody played over a brilliant sounding guitar and later on, an organ. It just puts the whole album in perspective, despite it not being as powerful as the other songs on the album.

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This review belongs to sputnikmusic.com  [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/8049/Nick-Drake-Bryter-Layter/]

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Nick Drake - Five Leaves Left [MP3][320]

Five Leaves Left

Label: Island Records

Format: LP

Country: UK

Released: 1969

Genre: Folk

Style: Contemporary Folk, Chamber Folk

I won't talk too much about Nick Drake because it appeared in such a incredible moment in my life, It seems it had to. And it seems I met him someday in past lifes, it's pretty weird. This is one of the albums that made me create this blog. Every human being should listen to this. Really.

Maybe you'll notice the same when you listen to this album. It's just... deep.

Files are MP3 320Kbps ripped from pure Flac.

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In 2003, the album was ranked number 283 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Five Leaves Left, recorded in 1969, was the first of three albums by British folk musician Nick Drake. Like Bryter Layter but unlike Pink Moon, this album contains no completely solo songs. Drake was accompanied by members of the British folk-rock groups Fairport Convention and Pentangle.

It’s a little belief of mine that what’s wrong with the modern world can be summed up in just one small word: cliché. No matter where we turn to in an attempt to avoid the hackneyed, overdone phrases that make up a huge amount of our lives, we hear them: a musician who’s going to be forgotten within a year is a genius, a world leader who makes a decision we disagree with is the new Hitler, and some whining singer is the spokesman for Generation X. Just out of interest, what the hell is Generation X, anyway? I gather that I’m a part of it, but I can’t say that I either know or care what it is. But anyway, I digress. My point is this. As a way of expressing our views on life, cliché is horrible, and yet it’s growing all the time, undermining things that should be expressed in strong terms. Having said all that though, I’m going to have to use a phrase here which is used in pretty much every description of Nick Drake that you’re ever going to read. Here we go. 

There are few artists who have been more underrated than Nick Drake, who have then gone on to influence so many people.

There. I said it. It’s the ultimate cliché surrounding Nick Drake, and yet it’s completely impossible to mention him without using it at least once. Why? Because it is undeniably completely true. The list of artists that Nick Drake has inspired is massive, ranging from Elliott Smith to Iron & Wine, to a huge number of singer/songwriters that exist in the outer ranges of popular music. And yet this is a man that could leave the master tapes of his final album, Pink Moon on the front desk of his record label before waiting days before anyone even noticed that he’d left them there. There’s something faintly incompatible about those two statements, don’t you think?

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