My kind of Drake

Yolo! When Gaëtan asked me if I knew Drake, I of course knew who he was talking about. I try to keep my finger on the pulse of 21st century music, and have been told that the Canadian rapper has brought out some good songs. However, my thoughts went immediately to one of my favourite singer-songwriters, Nick Drake, who died 40 years ago this week, at the tender age of 26, a tragic loss to the music world. A great guitarist, with a beautifully mellow and melancholic voice, and poetic lyrics, he was the complete artist, but his genius wasn't recognized during his lifetime (like so many of us). He left us with a mere three albums, Five Leaves Left, Bryter Layter (OK, he couldn't spell), and Pink Moon, and many "lost" recordings have surfaced since his death, including some made during a year he spent in Aix-en-Provence in the '60s, as a student. Give him a listen and imagine yourselves lying down in a field somewhere in the British countryside...