Various Artists – Poor Boy: Songs of Nick Drake / 2004 Songlines / 14 Tracks / http://www.songlines.com / Reviewed 01 October 2004
Where the first track portended pretty blaise expectations for the rest of the disc, the inclusion of electronic blips and arrangements over a strong feminine voice pull “Cello Song”, done by Bill Horist & Aike Shimada out of any rut. Kate Hammett-Vaughan starts to go into the egotism that drug Diamanda Galas into the depths of self-parody, but ey is able to right the proverbial ship and lay the very bass-y voice carefully on to of a tinkling piano. The piano-led “One of These Things First” is intense, with varied piano lines working with an almost sub-audible bass to create a staggered but ultimately brilliant track. However, any intensity the track might have had is lost for a brief period after Jason takes vocal responsibility. Still, eir contribution is done in a tasteful way that does not overshadow the superior instrumentation; rather, all separate parts of the track are mixed together to create a swirling eddy of music, virtually guaranteeing to interest any true fan of music.
Even if the piano lines are clichéd, the odd timbre and tremolo of Robin Holcomb’s voice on “Hanging on a Star” provides a black to Veda’s white vocals. The fifteen-minute long “For Nick/Horn/Know is a monument to over bloated musicianship and reductionism that makes it desirable to have one instrument pluck haphazardly every few seconds. When the 7 individuals involved in the making of the track come into a more traditional jazz-style during the track, “For Nick/Horn/Know” is acceptable, and even the free jazz that involves the trumpet and drums that immediately proceeds it is enjoyable. The slightly bland flavor of Mike Dumovich’s “Fly” is a problem endemic with the second half of “Poor Boy”, which has very few bright moments. The track, which only couples Mike and eir guitar, has no other ornamentation or derivation from the formula lied down at the beginning of the track.
Where the instrumentation on “Parasite” is beautiful, benefiting from two incredible individuals, the same deadpan vocals drag the track down into the depths. The increasing intensity and early-nineties alternative vocals of Veda and Robin actually come back to create some sort of harmony among the deftly constructed piano lines of “Road”, and the the disc ends with the same-era of guitar fuzz from Mike Dumovich. Overall, the disc has beautiful instrumentation all across the board but really struggles in trying to match the quality of the instruments with the myriad of vocalists on the disc.
Top Tracks: Road, One of These Things First
Rating: 5.9/10