I have just found the genius that is Nick Drake

[BlueTsunami]

Following a thread on another board were "Most Depressing Albums" was the topic. Alot of good ones were named but one stood out to me. Nick Drake: Pink Moon. I downloaded it (i'm broke and wanted to see if it was any good) and I instantly loved it (I plan on buying the boxset thats out there).

For all who don't know, Nick Drake makes Folky Music thats just him and his guitar (sometimes a piano). He made 3 or 4 albums I believe until his death at the age of 26 due to an overdose of Anti-Depressants. He had been battling depression (obviously). Hes was an English musician that is said to have never found his "crowd" (that statement makes me very sad). He then became found again after VolksWagon used one of his songs in their commercials.

Another one of his albums that is in my possesion is Five leaves Left. A song called River Man on the album is now my favorite song of all time. More people should listen to Nick Drake...or atleast give him a spin and see how you like it.

 

[Moloch]

Well speaking of depressing music I've been listening to alot of Katatonia- a doom metal/rock band.
Really good dark stuff.
I have the black sessions, a complication of their later rock style stuff, discouraged ones and the great cold distance.
I highly recommend them if you're into doom metal/rock.

 

[BlueTsunami]

I'm pretty much into all types of music. I'll check out that suggestion.

I love the more mellow (non dramatic), depressing sounding music, simply because it seems to pack an emotional punch. I can honestly listen to Nick Drakes albums back to back...simply beautiful.

 

[Diplo]

I love Nick Drake, too. 'Northern Sky' is one of my favourites, though 'Pink Moon' itself is a beautifully simple classic (though there's nothing simple about Nick's guitar playing).

If you like Nick Drake I'd also recommend checking out the album 'Solid Air' by John Martyn, which was his tribute to Nick (they were close friends and Martyn was hit pretty hard by his death). It's also a beautiful album too. It's not normally the kind of music I listen to, but it's just so beautiful and wistful.

NB. You know what five leaves left refers to?

 

[BlueTsunami]

NB. You know what five leaves left refers to?

I did a little searching and found this snippet...

The title Five Leaves Left is taken from the old Rizla cigarette papers. When you're about to run out of papers you get notified that there is "only 5 leaves left". Many theories have been suggested about the meaning of the title. Some people believe that it was an omen, because five years after the album was released, Nick died. It also can be a reference to the end of autumm. But the most probable explanation is just that it was a kind of an inside joke. If you were a smoker you would recognize the words and also know what was often rolled up in the papers. It wasn't always ordinary tobacco.

Got it from here: http://www.hotshotdigital.com/tribute/Nick Drake Bio.html

 

[Diplo]

Yep, that's it! I recognised it instantly as I used to roll my own cigarettes in the days when I smoked.

 

[Graham]

not quite my style unfortunatly.

There are a good number of 1 minute samples avaliable here (media player play list)