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

by dave heaton

Christopher O'Riley's shtick these days is classical piano versions of rock/pop music. I was skeptical, dismissive even, of this approach when I heard small portions of his Radiohead album and his Elliott Smith album. This new album of Nick Drake songs is the first time I've actually sat down and listened to a whole O'Riley album, and I was pleasantly surprised – surprised to hear how rich his interpretations are in some ways. He uses the main melody line of a song but he doesn't reduce the song to it, even with now-super-familiar tunes like "Pink Moon." He finds ways to expand the songs from their melodies – this doesn't sound like Muzak. There are times when I can forget I'm listening to Nick Drake covers, while still feeling much of the same mood of his music. That's a high enough mark to hit for me to consider these endeavors fruitful. I'd like to go back and stress that I said "much of the same mood", though. This music captures the peacefulness, stillness of Drake's music (the grace of the title) better than it does the deep sadness of it. It's Drake filtered through O'Riley's interests and his pianist's angle. From that perspective it's compelling enough, especially for a project which could easily be nothing more than a novelty.

{www.worldvillagemusic.com}