To try and explain what I felt when I discovered Nick Drake’s sounds, would be to take all the old love in my beating heart, all the hope, the joy, the sorrow, the youth, the ages, the wind on every exposed soft belly of every person that has given me consideration of being human, that is to say, all the honest emotions there are… and someone had put them into songs. It’s one of those moments where what gentle things we all are, become tangible, and the knowing that others share what we really are comes flooding into our ears and for a little while, calm falls over the universe as it is enveloped in a little slice of comfort; finally, something makes sense.

Tonic: Nick Drake – From the Morning (download)

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For me, I had to know more about this sound. So an investigation began into what little is known of the quiet reclusive musician, his struggles to find an audience, and his early departure. There are a few sources, a sort of quazi-documentary featuring his sister and such, and it’s never enough light to fill the void and make a picture. And then it might happen, that the realization does dawn, this isn’t about a man, or a martyr, or a physical event to be cherished, worshiped, or capitalized on.

Maybe just this once the music can speak for itself. Maybe it is enough, to just be what it is, and then let go of, for someone else to discover.

Tonic: Nick Drake – Man in a Shed (download)

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Its nearly impossible for me to pick a few favorites to share here. There aren’t any bad songs, just some that might speak to me or you more than another. Out of the three official albums he released, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter, and Pink Moon, the first is typically the most accessible and loved, while the latter I think typically is the most raw and uncompromised according to what Nick had wanted to make with his first two albums. Also for consideration is Family Tree, and Time Of No Reply, which are collections of outtakes, early works, and unreleased songs.

Tonic: Nick Drake – Which Will (download)

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Now we rise
And we are everywhere