Articles
Robert Henke / Monolake
Lawrence English
Justin Martin

Albums
Chica and the Folder
Ciëlo
Cobblestone Jazz
Cokiyu
Continuum
Crescent
Deceptikon
Fear Falls Burning / Nadja:
Feu Thérèse
Fink
Luca Formentini
Robert Fripp
Gultskra Artikler
Helios
Klima
Komputer
Akira Kosemura
Lusine icl
Michaela Melián
Morning Recordings
Geoff Mullen
Múm
Christopher O'Riley
Pluramon
Pure H
Roam The Hello Clouds
Reverbaphon
Sawako
Skøtt, Rasmussen, Munk
Sleeping People
Slow Six
Studio
Supermayer
To Kill A Petty Bourgeoisie
Two Lone Swordsmen
Valentina
Worrytrain

Compilations / Mixes
Benno Blome
Booka Shade
Lee Burridge
Cielo
Justin Martin
Henrik Schwarz
VA: Add To Friends
VA: An Taobh Tuathail
VA: Echod
VA: Ikude
VA: Sky Diary Edits

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Antonelli
Build Buildings
Sylvain Chauveau
Christ.
Daedelus
Daso
Matthew Dear
Goldmund
Kush Arora
Litwenko
Miss Fitz
Plant43
Pulsinger + DJ Glow
Sote
Strategy

Christopher O'Riley: Second Grace: The Music of Nick Drake
World Village

Issuing an album-long set of instrumental interpretations of a ‘rock' artist's work is always a bit of a high-wire proposition, with good intentions often resulting in kitsch. No stranger to the challenge, pianist Christopher O'Riley previously produced homages to Radiohead (Hold Me to This and True Love Waits) and Elliott Smith (Home to Oblivion) and now attempts an hour-long exploration of Nick Drake. The long-deceased singer-songwriter proves a natural foil for O'Riley's considerable gifts, however, even if the relative sparseness of Drake's presentation is exchanged for multi-layered piano arrangements that would sound perfectly at home in the conservatory concert hall. That in itself isn't so objectionable, however; certainly a too-faithful transcription from one context to the other would have been pointless. Second Grace … is most pleasurable when O'Riley retains and continually revisits an original's key themes while also journeying away from them into freer, explorative variations. Despite radical differences in presentation, the autumnal serenity of Drake's music isn't lost in translation, as O'Riley's lyrical style remains impressionistic throughout the hour-long collection, most of which draws from Bryter Layter. O'Riley's elegant, rhapsodic style brings forth the melodic essence of the material, though the pianist's interpretations often teem with a joyous, life-affirming spirit that's contrary to the downward trajectory of Drake's final days (O'Riley's version of “Pink Moon” is considerably more robust and high-spirited than the original, for instance). In keeping with the poignant character of the original, O'Riley's wistful rendering of “Fly,” on the other hand, is emotive without being sentimental (the song's words “Please, give me second grace” provide the source for the new album's title).

November 2007