Nick Drake began to write music at the age of nineteen. His passion for linguistics, studying English and French, and reading a large amount of poetry heavily influenced his lyrical approach. Every word had purpose and he allowed the words to slip off his tongue in his own distinct vocal style.

He was also a man of few words when he was outside his home. The following years led him into a tomb of depression, pushing him into an addiction to marijuana and LSD. He was prescribed Tryptizol in 1971, but he was afraid and embarrassed to take it, fearing the affects of mixing the anti-depressant with other drugs.

While Nick was performing at an anti-war festival in 1969, Ashley Hutchings of Fairport Convention heard Drake and recommended Drake to Joe Boyd. Nick signed with Island Records and began recording Five Leaves Left at Sound Techniques in London, full of rich string arrangements. His contract with Island stated that his catalogue of recordings would never go out of print. Nick felt very uncomfortable performing in front of an audience and was unwilling to follow up the release with tours. He also shunned interviews with journalists, making it difficult to market his music.

Drake’s debut album failed to chart, selling only a few thousand copies. He began to work on his follow-up, to be called Bryter Layter, released on November 1, 1970. The sophomore recordings continued with string arrangements, drums, flute, saxophone, piano and organ. When the album didn’t sell well Nick quit performing live and withdrew from public life. It was during this time that Nick began to struggle with depression.

“Stay indoors
Beneath the floors
Talk with neighbors only.
The games you play
Make people say
You’re either weird or lonely.”
(At The Chime of a City Clock)

In 1971 Nick decided to record again but his manager, Joe Boyd, was in Los Angeles. John Wood brought Drake into the studio for two days. It was during this stripped down recording session that Nick Drake was most comfortable. Nick accompanied his guitar tracks with piano for only the title track, Pink Moon. The album would be released on the cold wintry day of February 25, 1972.

Selling even fewer copies Nick further withdrew. He moved in with his family for short periods of time, leaving without saying goodbye. Drake would show up at his friends’ homes in London and Paris, stay for days and sleep on their couches. He would sleep all day and stay up at night, holding sparse conversations.

In 1974 Nick Drake called up Joe Boyd with the desire to record again. The result was a four-song recording session that he would never release during his lifetime. The songs would later be released posthumously in 1986, eleven years after his death as Time of No Reply. Nick Drake would borrow his mother’s reel-to-reel tape recorder and tracked demos of his songs. These rough recordings were released in 2007 on an album called Family Tree.

It is said that shortly before Nick Drake died that he began to feel hopeful and happy. Nick had decided to pull himself out of his introspection. His mother found him stretched out on his bed on November 25, 1974. Nick overdosed on Tryptizol in his family home and the coroner determined it as a suicide, though family members believed that Nick was trying to get a boost out of his depression by taking additional anti-depressants.

After his death, more people began to discover his music. Fruit Tree was released in 1979 as a box-set of his three studio albums. In the 1980s several artists began to refer to Nick Drake as an influential artist. A biography was written about him in 1997 and a documentary, A Stranger Among Us, was made in 1998. Nick Drake’s song, Pink Moon, was used in a Volkswagen commercial in 2000 and in one month Nick Drake sold more albums than the preceding thirty years. Nick Drake’s name is now listed by many as one of the most influential artists in the past 50 years.

References:
http://www.nickdrake.net/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nick_Drake
http://www.brytermusic.com/

Nick Drake – Time Has Told Me (Five Leaves Left)
Nick Drake – One Of These Things First (Bryter Layter)
Nick Drake – Pink Moon (Pink Moon)
Nick Drake – Time Of No Reply (Time of No Reply)

Nick Drake Discography:
Five Leaves Left (1969)
Bryter Layter (1970)
Pink Moon (1971)
Fruit Tree (1979)
Time of No Reply (1986)
Family Tree (2007)

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“My songs are about growing up. I’m young, but one thing I’ve learned is that life will never cease to surprise you, good or bad. When it does, I try to write about it,” blogged Criss.

Chuck Criss explained to Puddlegum, “Headlamp is the band I’ve started since I moved to Brooklyn from San Francisco two months ago. It’s important to note that the musicians on the recorded EP are different (aside from myself) from the members of Headlamp.” Criss and Headlamp have teamed up with Puddlegum to feature the Headlamp EP via imeem.

Same Old Situation is piano driven with the banjo picking the chords in the left ear. The end of the song has a smooth transition into We Wish We Were Kids, as the banjo taking the center and piano more at a distance. Criss puts more emphasis on the acoustic in The City, as the bass line drives the song along. At times Chuck’s vocals are shaky, but sounds as though he tracked vocals and guitar at the same time, giving it the feel of a live performance.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRCRJl8_Gnc[/youtube]

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(me)shach Jackson grew up in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in a family that opened their home to youth that had criminal records. His past speaks of brothers in prison, surviving hurricanes, and moments of crisis. Jackson now lives in New York City, after New Orleans was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina.

His conversational style of writing on his blog touches on political topics, anxiety attacks, and random musings. Self-described as down-temp, ambient, and neo-soul, Jackson approaches his songwriting in a similar way as his blogging, writing lines like “keep your head above water.” Simple one word titles hint at his musical ethos. Processed but not layered for the sake of layering, Jackson creates luscious atmospheres that pull the listener in.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=hhEIoDXoINo[/youtube]

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Formed in Sprint of 2007, The Cold Comfort Band have posted two demos on Myspace and Purevolume and they’re worth your attention. At first impression, Rae Klagstad‘s angelic voice is reminiscent of the Taxi Taxi! sisters. She’s not afraid of using her range, and remains in control with every note. But this band is not only fueled by a strong vocalist, seven members bring their wide range of influences with them as they play their trumpet, sax, and guitars.

The Cold Comfort Band hint of numerous directions they could take with their sound, and will be an exciting group to scope… even more thrilling than saying Oconomowoc.

The Cold Comfort Band – A Heart Unseen
The Cold Comfort Band – Awake In Me Oh Morning

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And because of the somehow interconnected dozens of hundreds of thousands (!) of bands, artists and songwriters working and creating in this beautiful German seaport city that I am blessed to call home, I’m more than happy to welcome you to… the first part of a series about Central European bands and singers! (Imagine a flourish or a fanfare at this point, please.)

Let’s get started smooth and easy today with some newish blokes on the blocks of Hamburg – Junges Glueck (Myspace). Even though the band was originally founded in 2001 they had a few, well, changes in their line-up going on and have just released their second album called Raus aus Flüsterleben (which could probably be translated to “Out of a life of whispering”) a few months ago. So, they still feel more than unconsumed to the listener, I reckon.

It’s quite an excitingly unusual blend the three guys have gathered with their plain instrumentation: 12 songs oscillating between impellent instancy and laid-back lovesickness. Sometime – even if this might be a bold statement – they remind me of Bloc Party, but without the disco-attitude. And even the early Shins seem to have left some marks, somehow.

There’s no whinging and wimpyness on the album, fortunately. Instead you are treated with the individual conditions of average lads in their late twenties. And the best thing: Whenever Niclas Breslein (guitar and vocals), Ingmar Rehberg (bass) and Lars Watermann (drums) switch into the rocking mode, you can be sure that they put all their energy into the song.

Don’t be afraid of the language barrier, by the way, because as always “it’s the gesture that counts,” as we Germans tend to say; or in case of this series “it’s the melodies.” So just lean back, turn the volume up and give it a go!

Junges Glück – Fluss
Junges Glück – Technicolor
Junges Glück – Herzkommando

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