Review: Nick Drake, “The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left'”

Nick Drake’s legacy is primarily built around just three albums, originally released between 1969 and 1972.  Before 1974 was out, the British singer-songwriter was gone at the age of 26.  Over the years, esteem for his small discography has only grown.  Partly, this is because the mystique has remained; the Drake estate has only sporadically gone back to the well of unreleased material.  Their cautious and curated approach has yielded a new reward with a box set dedicated to his 1969 debut.  The Making of ‘Five Leaves Left,’ available on 4 LPs…

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Release Round-Up: Week of July 25

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Talking Heads, More Songs About Buildings and Food: Deluxe Edition (Rhino) 3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rough Trade (Red) / D2C Exclusive (2LP/4×7″) 4LP: D2C Exclusive (and 4LP/2×7″) Rhino is taking Talking Heads fans to the river with a new deluxe edition: a 3CD/Blu-ray edition of the group’s 1978 sophomore album More Songs About Buildings and Food.  The box includes the remastered original album alongside a bonus disc of rare studio material…

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Turning Over New ‘Leaves’: Nick Drake’s Debut to Be Expanded

One of British folk’s most enigmatic debuts, Nick Drake’s Five Leaves Left, will be the subject of a box set yielding newly-discovered outtakes and unreleased material. The Making of Five Leaves Left, hitting stores on July 25, offers a new chronological look at Drake’s first album through more than 30 unreleased outtakes and a new pressing of the original album, available either on four CDs or four LPs and remastered by original album engineer John Wood. An illustrated 60-page book, printed on textured, recycled paper, accompanies the discs, offering new liner notes by…

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“Les Cousins: The Soundtrack to Soho’s Legendary Folk and Blues Club” Features Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Al Stewart

“For two-and-a-half years, I had the Friday night show at Bunjies Coffee Bar, and it became a residency for me,” Al Stewart remembered in an interview with this author for the recent collection of his U.S. singles.  “After a while, I got another residency right around the corner at a club called Les Cousins.”  The Greek Street venue was a focal point of the London folk scene.  Nick Drake, Cat Stevens, Alexis Korner, John Renbourn, and a young American named Paul Simon all passed through its doors.  Stewart met Bert Jansch there,…

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Keep a Close Watch: Ace Salutes “The Orchestrations of Robert Kirby” with Nick Drake, Richard and Linda Thompson, Iain Matthews

The subject of a new collection from Ace Records isn’t exactly a household name.  But if you didn’t know the name of Robert Kirby before, you certainly will after a listen to When the Day is Done: The Orchestrations of Robert Kirby.  The titular orchestrator is best known for his lush adornment of Nick Drake’s records, conjuring up a pastoral England that couldn’t be more removed from the swingin’ era that preceded it.  A brief track from Drake opens this collection before it cedes to an exploration of Kirby’s other work as…

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Starbucks Serves Up Cocktails with Mel, Serge and Judy, and Folk with Nick, Sandy and Eliza

Fall apparently wasn’t arriving early enough for the folks at Starbucks, so the international coffee giant moved it up – to this past August 25 – with the early arrival of its familiar fall drinks. But when ordering up that pumpkin spice latte, you might want to check out two recent musical offerings, both curated with the Starbucks Entertainment label’s customary care. The simply-titled British Folk emphasizes the current crop of troubadours who currently follow in the footsteps of Nick Drake and Sandy Denny, both of whom are represented here with “Hazey…

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