Nick Drake
by McCutcheon
It’s not all techno fueled hedonism around Pax Acidus. We have emotions. We hurt. Yes, it’s true.
Before we fell in love with Belle & Sebastian, before we sat in the dark listening to Ian Curtis bare his soul, there was Nick Drake.
Nick Drake was the most beautiful singer-songwriter to ever capture the melancholy loneliness of isolation. Nick lived in a world of little happiness. He was surrounded by black clouds of fog. And it crippled him, made him an invalid. Nick could barely function through everyday life. It took all his effort to record the music in his head.
He left only three proper albums behind.
Five Leaves Left is Nick’s first album. The young musician was still finding his own voice. The songs are bumbling acoustic blends of a world waking up to the new morning and realizing there is a hangover clouding the skies, without recalling the fun of the party the night before. The song Man in the Shed is one of my personal favorites and alludes to the looming insanity Nick would soon discover.
Bryter Layter is the most accomplished album. Lush in musical tones, it is filled with yearning words looking for the answers to loss, while the music is upbeat and bright, not unlike much of Leonard Coehn’s compositions.
Pink Moon is dark, stark and raw nerved emotion. Recorded without accompaniment, it best captures Nick in his world. It would be the last album he would record.
Time of No Reply is a compilation of sorts. Filled with rare tracks, including one of the last, but most brilliant songs Nick ever wrote, Black Eyed Dog, it helps fill in the bits and pieces that are all to prominent in Nick’s short career.
Before we fell in love with Belle & Sebastian, before we sat in the dark listening to Ian Curtis bare his soul, there was Nick Drake.
Nick Drake was the most beautiful singer-songwriter to ever capture the melancholy loneliness of isolation. Nick lived in a world of little happiness. He was surrounded by black clouds of fog. And it crippled him, made him an invalid. Nick could barely function through everyday life. It took all his effort to record the music in his head.
He left only three proper albums behind.
Five Leaves Left is Nick’s first album. The young musician was still finding his own voice. The songs are bumbling acoustic blends of a world waking up to the new morning and realizing there is a hangover clouding the skies, without recalling the fun of the party the night before. The song Man in the Shed is one of my personal favorites and alludes to the looming insanity Nick would soon discover.
Bryter Layter is the most accomplished album. Lush in musical tones, it is filled with yearning words looking for the answers to loss, while the music is upbeat and bright, not unlike much of Leonard Coehn’s compositions.
Pink Moon is dark, stark and raw nerved emotion. Recorded without accompaniment, it best captures Nick in his world. It would be the last album he would record.
Time of No Reply is a compilation of sorts. Filled with rare tracks, including one of the last, but most brilliant songs Nick ever wrote, Black Eyed Dog, it helps fill in the bits and pieces that are all to prominent in Nick’s short career.