Nick Drake - Bryter Layter

though not his best; certainly priceless and necessary

I own the Nick Drake Trilogy; and this is not as good as Pink Flamingo. this is in my own opinion and someone else, may like this one more than the others. The three cd's are necessary for all acoustic guitar players and afficionado's, even if you're not. Stylistically, Drake is a revolutionary and no one can touch him. Sure, this album does sound a bit heavy, but as far as I'm concerned, Drake's creativity and sheer brilliance overshadow this minor predicament. Well worth the pitifully low price of this cd. December 6, 2008

It was great then and its great now

I first listened to this album some 25 years ago in college. As I said in the title it was great then and its still great now. December 4, 2008

'Bryter Still'

Aw no, not another hippy. Not another counter-culture lifestyle mullah. Ok, it looks that way but first, let's check Nick Drake's hippie-dom credentials;

1, Centre Parting ? - Check.
2, Floral Shirt/Dungarees ? - Check.
3, Being on Island Records ? - Check.
4, Standing in the woods with an acoustic guitar looking meaningful ? - Check.

So, he meets the criteria, but does he have a pleasing, cynic-bashing, soulful music, designed (in a genuinely conspiratorial sense ) to make your wobbling correspondent eat his facetious words with side-orders of tofu and quorn?
Of course he does, 'Bryter Layter' is yet another excellent surprise.
This one is screaming 'winner' before you even get to the music. The sleeve reveals he has John Cale and Richard Thompson (who is rapidly becoming one of my all time heroes) in tandem, so you instinctively know he's running from the winning blocks.
Drake's from the Cat Stevens school of smoothy folk-pop, but he's far from drone and earnestness. He's got torrential strings, ringing guitar, and more impressively, good songs in abundance. A big music (in a small sense) but it compliments his sweet lyrics and melodies without swamping them.
Thompson's influence is immeasurable. Not just here but in music generally. He's enriched works from Sandy Denny to David Thomas, and his enigmatic-isms are seized on by Drake who uses them as a platform for his own successes, a building-block to his own particularly pleasing house of tricks. On top, he's got the best use of flute and strings since Tull's sumptuous 'Reasons For Waiting', (which a fair block of 'BL' is very like) and a vital, vibrant album results.
Sure, Drake looks all Woodstock, wet and wimpy, but his voice has a sandpaper smoothness, and his songs very definitely have depth, insight and unity. He ticks the creative boxes much more than the (deliciously) sarcastic ones above, and therefore he emerges with kudos and no shortfall of credit.
He's nowhere near the genius Roy Harper is, (See? That Thompson again!) but 'BL' is firmly on the right track, and can fight it's corner with vim and plenty of pride.
So, puns well and truly on the back-burner, (and isn't it cute the way that my reviews are circular?) one last condition..

Does Nick Drake have a deserved 5-star brilliant album ? - Check.

September 2, 2008

Drake at his Most upbeat

This is my favorite Drake record. All 3 of his albums are easily 5 stars albums but this one is the most upbeat and thus can be listened to fairly regularly while the other 2 especially Pink Moon can only be taken on a song by song basis for me.

1. "Introduction" 3/5
2. "Hazey Jane II" 5/5
3. "At the Chime of a City Clock" 5/5
4. "One of These Things First" 5/5
5. "Hazey Jane I" 4/5
6. "Bryter Layter" 5/5
7. "Fly" 4/5
8. "Poor Boy" 4/5
9. "Northern Sky" 5/5
10. "Sunday" 4/5
July 30, 2008

More Greatness From the King of Folk

Well, you pretty much have no excuse for lending an ear to Nick Drake's three albums. Like many artists that manage to only release three albums, each of their records are so different and good that it's quality over quanity. While Drake's albums don't score a hat trick together, all of them are worth listening to, and all of them are quite stunning.

Nick Drake tried something new with Bryter Layter, and it sounds the best when the right mood hits (just like Nick Drake's other albums, actually).
Bryter Layter is lighter than the rest of the albums, and is brilliantly orchestrated. Drake still has that beautiful guitar playing, though I think his playing is less highlighted, not quite as shimmering as Five Leaves Left or Pink Moon, but it doesn't need to me. His voice is, as usual, stunning and evokes all kinds of things, his lyrics are as good as you'd expect from him, and the other instruments are brilliantly used, as they are also a highlighted part of the record.

As mentioned before, this is probably his most experimental of the three.
All kinds of things show up, like flutes, strings, piano, percussion, horns, saxophones, bells, John Cale, plodding drums, other kinds of guitars, and bass. It's closer to Chamber pop, or at least that's the best I can make a connection to, than folk music (at least in some of the songs). Three instrumentals also make the cut.

For the songs themselves, they all have quite to offer. The three instrumentals are all beautiful guitar pieces with other instrumentation evoking moods like you wouldn't believe. Some of it is indeed quite jazzy, like Poor Boy, which sounds actually like bossa nova at times. Northern Sky twinkles beautifully, as it's one of the best tracks on this album, and it's a love song that doesn't resort to cliches. The Hazey Jane songs, At the Chime Of A City Clock, no bad songs really. You get ten evoking pieces that shimmer with beauty, well your getting Nick Drake, and that says it all.

This album doesn't feature his best guitar playing (that belongs to Pink Moon), but it perhaps shows Nick Drake's amazing way of beauty, well, it's just a fantastic showcase for Nick Drake (hate to sound like the amazon editor's review, but it is). Nick Drake is the best folk artist in my opinion, and it shows in his three albums. Get it now.

9/10 July 13, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...