Nick Garrie – The Moon & The Village (LP, Tapete)

LP version. Includes CD. In the final year of his teens Nick Garrie made an album that should be regarded as one of the great classic albums of the decade: The Nightmare Of J.B. Stanislas (1968). It s full of smart romantic melodious baroque-pop story telling songs with killer string and woodwind arrangements. After having disappeared for decades copies of the album started to pop up for sale online at very high prices. In 2005 Stanislas was reissued. The word of mouth about how great it was soon spread and a new generation of Nick Garrie fans began to emerge. Musicians including Teenage Fanclub Wilco Camera Obscura The Trembling Bells Ladybug Transistor and BMX Bandits were among those declaring themselves as fans. In 2009 Duglas T. Stewart was asked to help produce a new Nick Garrie album 49 Arlington Gardens and the world could hear that none of Nick s talents had diminished. Norman Blake of Teenage Fanclub who performed on the album declared this during the sessions: quot;Nick s the real deal. He can really do it. Brilliant songs and what a voice.quot; The Moon And The Village is the new album by Nick Garrie. It s a thing of great and rare beauty. It s still very much the same Nick Garrie who made that incredible 1969 debut and the 2009 album too but this time Nick Garrie is in a more reflective mood. The songs are as strong as ever but they have a certain directness and fragility about them. The sonic settings created by Gary Olson and a supporting cast of players matches the tenderness of the story telling in Nick s songs. The arrangements are from the school of less-is-more. Nothing is screaming out for attention here but instead every sound perfectly plays it s part in bringing the stories in the songs to life. Nick sings about a lost diary and about losing one s way on the album s opener quot;Lois Diaryquot. This track like others on the album has a beautiful sadness about it. One of the album s most affecting tracks is it s most stripped back quot;Got You On My Mindquot. It s just Nick s voice and a harp. The intimacy and warmth of the album feels like the perfect antidote to the in-your-face and often ugly nature of modern life. This is a gentle album that soothes the soul and warms the heart.