Article: The Best Version Of ... Nick Drake's Bryter Layter

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On 12/30/2020 at 6:07 AM, semente said:

I am a big lover of Drake's music although Bryter isn't my favourite album; I prefer his other two more pain-full recordings.

 

Since I don't listen or enjoy listening with headphones, is the Nunn/Wood stil the best mastering/version for a speaker-listener?

Yes. I listed through headphone and speakers. In both cases, the Nunn/Wood wins out.

On 12/31/2020 at 9:04 AM, Boleary3 said:

Hey Josh, thanks so much for so thoughtfully sharing your expertise. What a pleasurable read. Any recommendations on the best versions, digital, of Drakes other two albums?

I haven’t done a detailed analysis, but my more informal listening says the Nunn/Wood is still your best pick. The process that produced each iteration of masterings was the same for each album, though they did diverge slightly for the hi-res. The original CDs were from cutting masters, and the 2000 returned to the original tapes (or copy tape, in the case of BL). However, for the hi-res, the sources were original tape for PM, copy tape for BL, and the 24-bit 2000 transfer for FLL. According to Wood, the original tape for FLL was “unusable” by the 2012. So it’s possible there’s less of a difference between the 2000 and 2012 for FLL than for the others. But, at the very least, I can’t imagine being disappointed with the hi-res Nunn/Wood masterings for any of the albums. 

On 1/13/2021 at 5:56 AM, blue2 said:For those interested there's more about the music of and influences on Nick Drake by Pete Paphides on the John Peel Archive site. Lots of good stuff to beat lockdown! PS don't skip past Jackson C. Frank ;)

I agree. Frank is great. A very underrated songwriter who seemingly pops up as an influence for every major singer-songwriter of the late-‘60s.

On 1/17/2021 at 5:30 PM, tmtomh said:

@JoshM, once again a fantastic article, filled with great background info, passion for the music, and of course excellent sonic analysis. And once again, you arrive at the correct conclusion as well! 😀

 

I've been a huge fan of the Nunn/Wood mastering ever since I first heard it around maybe 2015 - I thought it blew the others away for all three albums. It is indeed possible that Five Leaves Left is not as much of an improvement because it's just the mastering that's new compared to 2000 rather than the digital transfer of the analogue source, but I feel that too clearly surpasses the 2000 remaster.

 

It wasn't until last year, though, that I became aware that the Nunn/Wood mastering had been pressed to CD in the form of the Japan mini-LP issues from 2013. They were not super-cheap, but I snapped them all up, brand new, from CD Japan for about $30 each including the more expensive shipping (since EMS is suspended from Japan to the US during the pandemic) and I love them.

 

One curiosity, though - when I put rips of the CDs in my computer playback system and look at their ReplayGain values, the three albums differ significantly. In particular, Bryter Layter is 9-10dB quieter than the other two albums. I don't know if this is just the CDs or is also true of the high-res files. Did you encounter this?

Oh, and finally - the only downside I can see of this mastering is that it kind of spoils you for other Nick Drake releases. I have the Treasury SACD and I like it, but the mastering is IMHO not nearly as good.

Thank you for the incredibly kind post. 

As far as the levels, the Nunn/Wood downloads included as a code with the LPs were much lower in level than the ones released to HDTracks (while otherwise being identical). I wonder if in dithering them down for CD release they pulled the HDTracks-level files for two of the CDs and the LP code-level files for the other?

On 1/18/2021 at 3:35 PM, enyonam said:

Thanks JoshM for this article !! As a small addendum it might interest you that Nicks mother, Molly Drake, also wrote music and poetry. Recorded in their livingroom her music was never intended for another public. But the lovely Unthanks with the help of Nicks sister made a tribute album a couple of years back. Certainly that one has no issues with sound quality. 

 

Yes, and a few of her songs were included in the "Family Tree" box. 

32 minutes ago, EShevella said:

What a fun piece to read. As a long time Nick Drake stan I now plan to go through all my CD's to find which versions I have.  I find that I have been playing them a lot through the pandemic . Also John Martyn. Solid Air is definitely a desert island pick. The title track was coincidently written for Nick. Also contains the JM classic "May You Never".  The mention of Jackson C. Frank recalls a talent whose life rivals Nick's in its tragedy. Happy to see another ND fan that is also politically active in my hometown of Cville. It's a fine little town despite the national press we received a couple years ago. 

Thank you so much for the kind words!

On 1/26/2022 at 3:59 PM, semente said:

Hi @JoshM,

 

Could you please confirm if these 2 Nick Drake albums currently on sale at Qobuz are the recommended Nunn/Wood edition?

 

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/five-leaves-left-nick-drake/0060253759948

 

https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/bryter-layter-nick-drake/0060253759945

 

Thanks,

Ricardo

Hi Ricardo,

That's definitely the correct Bryter Later. I can only assume the same for Five Leaves Left. 

Josh