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Urban Hat€monger ? · 07-09-2006, 12:22 AM

2. NICK DRAKE - BRYTER LAYTER (1970)

Introduction
Hazey Jane II
At The Chime Of The City Clock
One Of These Things First
Hazey Jane I
Bryter Layter
Fly
Poor Boy
Northern Sky
Sunday

It was only recently I got into Nick Drake , only maybe 2 or 3 years ago to be exact. I was always curious about him though. Maybe it was the air of mystery surrounding him. He would play live without once addressing or even looking at the audience. He was shy and also a very private person , even his own sister didn`t realise he was making music until he walked in her house one day & gave her a copy of Five Leaves Left. I also respect him because he was one of the very few artists to walk away from it. When asked about his future musically after the release of Pink Moon he stated that Pink Moon was his last album , simply because he had nothing left to say.
As far as this album goes it`s always been my favourite Nick Drake album. I think it`s because it`s the most ambitious he made musically. Drake`s other 2 albums were mostly acoustic fare which is fine but I need to be in the mood to listen to that. With this album he has help from the members of Fairport Convention and is backed up with a proper band , string section & all sorts of things that add a different dimension to his sound , and i`m a real sucker for stuff filled with melody like that. It`s also probably his most upbeat album in it`s own gentle way.
The first time I heard this album was a revelation , I recieved it in the post stuck it into my CD player & just lie in bed totally transfixed by it , when the album finished I just replayed it & did it all over again. For me to listen to a whole album in one sitting is hardly rare but doesn`t happen more often that not. For me to listen to an album twice in a row the moment I get it is unheard of. It speaks volumes for the love I have for this album when I say that in the 2/3 years i`ve owned it , it has NEVER been in my CD rack , because I play it that often.
It was a combination of many things that made me love it , Drake`s warm plummy voice that is totally unique , the lush string arrangements , the fact that it`s just so mellow & relaxing , and some bloody great songs.This is just the kind of album to listen to after a bad break up , and I did.And just listening to it made me feel a lot better.These days I think of it as the perfect Sunday morning album. Everything about it encapsulates what Sunday mornings are about, there`s nothing better than listening to this album on a cold rainy Sunday morning inside a nice warm room thats been darkened by the black clouds. It creates the perfect atmosphere to accompany this album.
It starts off with an instrumental introduction called 'Indroduction' surprisingly. A nice acoustic starter back up with a gentle orchestral peice to give you the perfect example of what to expect from the album. This goes into the first song proper 'Hazy Jane II' This was the first song I ever heard by Nick Drake and the one that convinced me I needed to own this album. Listening to this song you can really see where Belle & Sebastian stole all of their ideas from. Everything about it , I was actually shocked when I first heard this just how much Stuart Murdoch`s vocals sound to Nick Drake.Even the song structure , an uptempo acoustic song with some horns to give it an extra touch wouldn`t sound out of place on a B&S album. The next song 'At The Chime Of A City Clock' has late night jazz written all over it. Another acoustic song with some nice jazzy interludes ,it is one of my favourites on the album. Everytime I hear this song it reminds me of being on a deserted road in the middle of the night. This song is just dripping with atmosphere.This is the main reason I hate music videos. I want the songs to be images in my head. I want them to be personal to me. I don`t need someone showing me what to think. This album is just littered with these images.'One Of These Things First' changes tact a little & is a playful piano driven balled that chimes along nicely & is pretty upbeat little number about things that could have been. This is another of the songs that convinced me that I really needed to get this album.'Hazy Jane I' bears no resemblence to 'Hazy Jane II' whatsoever. In fact strangly enough everytime I hear the acoustic intro to this song it reminds me Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath for some reason. This is where the strings come back into play.It`s one of the slower songs on the album but it sounds gorgeous.The title track of the album 'Bryter Layter' is just beautiful , it`s so gentle & relaxing & possibly the first song i`ve ever liked with pan pipes in it. It`s an instrumental song and it`s just the sort of thing you could imagine being used as the theme tune to some regional TV show about some small english village with lots of shots of fields & sunsets.The kind of TV show thats shown on Sunday evenings in fact which is another reason why this album means Sunday to me.'Fly' is a rather unusual song in that it`s more folky than the rest of the album , in fact Drake seems to mimic Bob Dylan`s vocal delivery on this song. It`s rather odd to suggest that it sounds odd given that Drake is considered a folk artist , but to me on this album he seems more like a crooner in the Scott Walker mode rather than a folkie.
'Poor Boy' is a real departure from Drakes usual work, it`s a piano led song but with the horns & the backing vocals this almost verges on being soul rather than folk. But those soulful interludes are brief and the song sounds more like jazz than anything.
Next up is the real gem on the album 'Northern Sky' Easily Drakes most recognisable song by a mile ,I fell in love with this song instantly.I couldn`t explain to you why I love this song so much. It just seems to me to be perfect. The way that it starts off in virtual silence & just gradually builds around Drakes vocals.It`s one of those songs that never gets boring. There`s always something to fill in the gaps in the sound.When Drake isn`t singing you get some beautiful piano peices , then halfway through the song it builds even more , not too much but just enough to give the song enough wings to finish.A wonderful wonderful peice of work. The album closes with Sunday , as if to confirm my Sunday theme.Again it`s another gentle relaxing instrumental acoustic song with more pan pipes taking the place of the vocals.It builds more towards the middle of the song with a few strings coming in and then gradually fades away until a lone pan pipe slowly closes the album.
I adore this album , I play it all the time. Had you said to me 5 or 6 years ago I would enjoy something like this I would have laughed in your face.Maybe it`s because i`m getting older and the appeal of 3 chord punk bands has long since departed but I really do think this album deserves to be this high amongst albums i`ve owned for almost 8 or 9 years longer.The word beauty sums up this album perfectly.

Oh well one more to go , and I would imagine it`s not that hard to work out what it is.

07-09-2006, 12:22 AM	#293 (permalink)
Urban Hat€monger ? The Sexual Intellectual Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Somewhere cooler than you Posts: 18,605	2. NICK DRAKE - BRYTER LAYTER (1970) Introduction Hazey Jane II At The Chime Of The City Clock One Of These Things First Hazey Jane I Bryter Layter Fly Poor Boy Northern Sky Sunday It was only recently I got into Nick Drake , only maybe 2 or 3 years ago to be exact. I was always curious about him though. Maybe it was the air of mystery surrounding him. He would play live without once addressing or even looking at the audience. He was shy and also a very private person , even his own sister didn`t realise he was making music until he walked in her house one day & gave her a copy of Five Leaves Left. I also respect him because he was one of the very few artists to walk away from it. When asked about his future musically after the release of Pink Moon he stated that Pink Moon was his last album , simply because he had nothing left to say. As far as this album goes it`s always been my favourite Nick Drake album. I think it`s because it`s the most ambitious he made musically. Drake`s other 2 albums were mostly acoustic fare which is fine but I need to be in the mood to listen to that. With this album he has help from the members of Fairport Convention and is backed up with a proper band , string section & all sorts of things that add a different dimension to his sound , and i`m a real sucker for stuff filled with melody like that. It`s also probably his most upbeat album in it`s own gentle way. The first time I heard this album was a revelation , I recieved it in the post stuck it into my CD player & just lie in bed totally transfixed by it , when the album finished I just replayed it & did it all over again. For me to listen to a whole album in one sitting is hardly rare but doesn`t happen more often that not. For me to listen to an album twice in a row the moment I get it is unheard of. It speaks volumes for the love I have for this album when I say that in the 2/3 years i`ve owned it , it has NEVER been in my CD rack , because I play it that often. It was a combination of many things that made me love it , Drake`s warm plummy voice that is totally unique , the lush string arrangements , the fact that it`s just so mellow & relaxing , and some bloody great songs.This is just the kind of album to listen to after a bad break up , and I did.And just listening to it made me feel a lot better.These days I think of it as the perfect Sunday morning album. Everything about it encapsulates what Sunday mornings are about, there`s nothing better than listening to this album on a cold rainy Sunday morning inside a nice warm room thats been darkened by the black clouds. It creates the perfect atmosphere to accompany this album. It starts off with an instrumental introduction called 'Indroduction' surprisingly. A nice acoustic starter back up with a gentle orchestral peice to give you the perfect example of what to expect from the album. This goes into the first song proper 'Hazy Jane II' This was the first song I ever heard by Nick Drake and the one that convinced me I needed to own this album. Listening to this song you can really see where Belle & Sebastian stole all of their ideas from. Everything about it , I was actually shocked when I first heard this just how much Stuart Murdoch`s vocals sound to Nick Drake.Even the song structure , an uptempo acoustic song with some horns to give it an extra touch wouldn`t sound out of place on a B&S album. The next song 'At The Chime Of A City Clock' has late night jazz written all over it. Another acoustic song with some nice jazzy interludes ,it is one of my favourites on the album. Everytime I hear this song it reminds me of being on a deserted road in the middle of the night. This song is just dripping with atmosphere.This is the main reason I hate music videos. I want the songs to be images in my head. I want them to be personal to me. I don`t need someone showing me what to think. This album is just littered with these images.'One Of These Things First' changes tact a little & is a playful piano driven balled that chimes along nicely & is pretty upbeat little number about things that could have been. This is another of the songs that convinced me that I really needed to get this album.'Hazy Jane I' bears no resemblence to 'Hazy Jane II' whatsoever. In fact strangly enough everytime I hear the acoustic intro to this song it reminds me Planet Caravan by Black Sabbath for some reason. This is where the strings come back into play.It`s one of the slower songs on the album but it sounds gorgeous.The title track of the album 'Bryter Layter' is just beautiful , it`s so gentle & relaxing & possibly the first song i`ve ever liked with pan pipes in it. It`s an instrumental song and it`s just the sort of thing you could imagine being used as the theme tune to some regional TV show about some small english village with lots of shots of fields & sunsets.The kind of TV show thats shown on Sunday evenings in fact which is another reason why this album means Sunday to me.'Fly' is a rather unusual song in that it`s more folky than the rest of the album , in fact Drake seems to mimic Bob Dylan`s vocal delivery on this song. It`s rather odd to suggest that it sounds odd given that Drake is considered a folk artist , but to me on this album he seems more like a crooner in the Scott Walker mode rather than a folkie. 'Poor Boy' is a real departure from Drakes usual work, it`s a piano led song but with the horns & the backing vocals this almost verges on being soul rather than folk. But those soulful interludes are brief and the song sounds more like jazz than anything. Next up is the real gem on the album 'Northern Sky' Easily Drakes most recognisable song by a mile ,I fell in love with this song instantly.I couldn`t explain to you why I love this song so much. It just seems to me to be perfect. The way that it starts off in virtual silence & just gradually builds around Drakes vocals.It`s one of those songs that never gets boring. There`s always something to fill in the gaps in the sound.When Drake isn`t singing you get some beautiful piano peices , then halfway through the song it builds even more , not too much but just enough to give the song enough wings to finish.A wonderful wonderful peice of work. The album closes with Sunday , as if to confirm my Sunday theme.Again it`s another gentle relaxing instrumental acoustic song with more pan pipes taking the place of the vocals.It builds more towards the middle of the song with a few strings coming in and then gradually fades away until a lone pan pipe slowly closes the album. I adore this album , I play it all the time. Had you said to me 5 or 6 years ago I would enjoy something like this I would have laughed in your face.Maybe it`s because i`m getting older and the appeal of 3 chord punk bands has long since departed but I really do think this album deserves to be this high amongst albums i`ve owned for almost 8 or 9 years longer.The word beauty sums up this album perfectly. Oh well one more to go , and I would imagine it`s not that hard to work out what it is. __________________ Urb's RYM Stuff Most people sell their soul to the devil, but the devil sells his soul to Nick Cave.