Nick Drake
Made To Love Magic

THE REVIEW

Ok, I'll give it a try.
(I step away a bit, whistle, try to let the anxiety that's eating me alive flow away. I muster my strength.)
Nick Drake was born in Tainworth-in-Arden on... no, wrong start.
(I step away for 10 minutes, I force myself to undertake a new beginning.)
Sophisticated and sensitive singer-songwriter... nothing, that sentence really sucks.
(I step away for 30 minutes, meditate on life, death, the whys. Where am I going, who am I, what am I doing in this damn world with this Japanese fool by my side.)
"Made To Love Magic" is the new album by Nick Drake... no! What an insignificant sentence.
(I step away for an hour. My heart is pounding, for some reason a literary passage by Tolstoy is strolling in my mind.)
Nick Drake is... well, you know... yes, Nick Drake is... so, well, yes, I have an epiphany, yes, well, you know... it's gone.
Damn it.
(I step away for 1 hour, telling everyone to go to hell, even the Japanese fool who is typing away at 1000 words per hour and irritating me. I return with a copy of "The Guide" in my hands, change position and sit next to a probably Asian fool. I open "The Guide," page 26)
"Made To Love Magic," a compilation of 13 tracks, most of which have never been released before. It includes the last song written by Nick Drake, "Tow The Line"; the new single "Magic" and "Time of No Reply" with original orchestration reproduced; a recently discovered long version of "3 Hours"; "River Man" and "Mayfair" recorded live when Nick was at University; new tracks from Nick's last recordings, including "Black Eyes Dog"; rare tracks and outtakes from the album "5 Leaves Left."
All new tracks are remastered, with some remixes done by John Wood.
Released on May 24, 2004, on CD and vinyl.
www.brytermusic.com
(I step away for 10 seconds, throw away this useless newspaper, which I have shamelessly used as a magnet for my guilt.)
Forgive me, I thought I could do it. Hurt me, flood me with curses, I will be the first.

"You are a wonderful butterfly, it's your wings that make you wonderful
And I will never be able to fly with you,
not if I could sing like a nightingale
not if I could write the most beautiful verses
you have ever heard.
Not for all my little words"
(Stephen Merritt)