Nick Drake has always been a mysterious persona. Tall, frail, quiet, strikingly handsome, reclusive - he was almost unknown during his life, and has been monumentally influential since his death. Drake is back with a new album. Well, sorta. Drake died of an overdose of antidepressants on November, 1974 at the age of 26. His family has always maintained the death was accidental, despite Drake’s constant battle with depression and a near-paralyzing shyness.

Drake recorded three landmark albums during his brief career: "Five Leaves Left", "Bryter Layter" and the bleak and brilliant "Pink Moon". They are a fascinating trilogy. "Five Leaves Left", the 1968 debut, and "Bryter Layter" are heavily orchestrated folk music, romantic and introspective tunes of love, loss and mortality. In contrast, his final album, recorded shortly before his death, "Pink Moon" is a stark, bare-bones acoustic nightmare, a chilling realization of death on his heels. By the time "Pink Moon" was recorded the always-shy Drake was reduced to being hunched by himself in a far corner of the studio, lights out, strumming his guitar and signing into a microphone with his back turned to the engineers. It’s a brutal and stunning album, simple and haunting. The spare arrangements, mostly just Drake and his versatile guitar playing, suit the melancholy nature of the compositions perfectly.

Since his death, his albums have slowly gained a cult following, and a great appreciation by contemporary singer/songwriters. Various artists have covered his work, including Lucinda Williams. A few years back, Volkswagen even used the fatalistic title track to "Pink Moon" in a TV commercial, apparently mistaking the grim and gorgeous promise of coming mortality for a whimsical, romantic bit of moon-gazing.

Island Records reissued deluxe remastered versions of Drake’s three studio albums last year, and also a single disc "Best of" entitled "

Way to Blue – an Introduction to Nick Drake", to great acclaim. Although they had already been available on CD, these remasters lovingly presented the ageless material in a sonic clarity previously unparalleled. This week, Island complements the reissues with "Made To Love Magic," an album of rarities, remixes and unreleased material, released on Tuesday. "Made to Love Magic" collects the scraps and miscellaneous material, and some alternate recordings of album tracks. Most of the material on this disc has previously been available in one form or another, but not in this sound quality. The real thrill of "Made to Love Magic", however, is the inclusion of a newly discovered Drake original found at the end of a tape reel while his producers were compiling this collection: "Tow the Line".


Unlike many "odds-and-ends" collections, "Made to Love Magic" is an essential addition to the Nick Drake canon, especially considering his output is so sparse. It includes early recordings made prior to the release of his debut "Five Leaves Left", through to 4 tracks recorded shortly before his death in 1974. Thus, it’s a mixture of his breezier early fare, and his late-era material which prompted Rolling Stone Magazine to refer to him as "The saddest singer, songwriter of them all."

"Black Eyed Dog" is perhaps the high point of the set. Reminiscent of Robert Johnson’s "Hell Hounds on My Trail", it is an eerie and forbidden premonition of coming death. The demo of "River Man", absent its superfluous string arrangement, is one of several tracks superior to the officially released version. "Magic" features a new string arrangement by original arranger Robert Kirby that follows more closely Drake’s original intent. "Mayfair" is a jaunty, happy folk ditty. "Joey", a "Five Leaves Left" outtake, shows that even for his debut album Drake was writing strong enough material to leave off some truly great tunes.

While not the best introduction to Drake – the "Way to Blue" compilation should be the first place a Drake novice starts, as it includes most of his key tracks – "Made to Love Magic" is more than a mere footnote in the Drake catalogue. It provides fresh glances at already familiar songs, and most importantly allows Drake fans to hear a previously unknown song, the gorgeous "Tow the Line" – the first "new" music from Nick Drake in 30 years.

Grade: A

Thank you Jon ~ this is an interesting and beautiful review. Nick Drake is a favourite of mine and I will seek this out.

Thanks for posting, should be an interesting release.



stormbringer

thanks for posting i definintely recommend this release if you like Drake.