Nick Drakes maybe second most known record, which you can only really discover after loving the devastating beauty behind Pink Moon first. Bryter Layter is so genius and cohesive, with much more instrumentation than his final record. I imagine we would have gotten more albums similar to this had we gotten more time on earth with this lonesome genius.
I believe if i were ever to find and own an original pressing of this record, the whole in my heart would be filled with the truest joy.
edit: i also want to note that songs from this album have been featured in both “The Holdovers“ and the Fred Rogers biopic, “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood” which are both very cozy period pieces. So do with that what you will.
May 1, 2025
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just a sad dude and his guitar, but somehow ahead of its time. beautiful guitar work and melodies, soft and peaceful vocals, melancholy lyrics, stunning imagery. wonderful to throw on while wistfully staring out the window with a warm drink. or looking up at the night sky asking for a purpose.
4d ago
cool fucking surrealist album cover, and overall an incredible album for anyone who likes folk-y music
Jul 29, 2024
My friend Matthew Caws went about his music career completely backward.
His band, Nada Surf, had an MTV hit very early in their career, "Popular," and were then dropped (let go, get it?) by the major label that signed them and proceeded to make the best album of their careers on an indie label, without pressure or deadline.
As he told me once: "It's as if we got to start over again, a new band."
Matthew was living a musical life; working in a Brooklyn record store called Earwax, going to shows, writing music. In a way, "Let Go" is a record that asks "what if you had a second chance to do it all over again, the way YOU wanted to do it all along?" And then diving from head to toe into that opportunity.
I've had "Let Go" kicking around in one format or another for more than twenty years and always find something new to love about it; isn't that the very definition of "Favoritte album?"
"Blizzard of '77:" A mellow little piece of recoverred (drug) memory with a decidedly Elliott Smith vibe to it. Produced by then-Death Cab for Cutie member Chris Walla for $100, which the band paid to him in $1 and $5 bills from their merch sales at shows.
"Treading Water:" Linked here, the sound of what adulting in Manhattan looked like then (and still does). "Always rushing, always late."
"Neither Heaven Nor Space:" just high. "And if you sit long enough, you can hear ghost trains/As if the city speed is just in our brains/And coke's as close as we get to sugar cane."
"Blonde on Blonde:" Living that below-14th Street life, soundtracked by Dylan.
"Paper Boats:" a floaty, dreamy ode to depression. "Been thinking and drinking, all over the town/Must be gearing up for some kind of meltdown."
Years later, Matthew and I met up while they were recording their album "Lucky" at a live-in studio in Seattle called Robert Lang (it's the same place where Dave Grohl recorded the first Foo Fighters album). He had just discovered he was a dad and was in the middle of a custody fight over the child -- the mother hadn't told him it was his, there were lots of complications -- and we were comparing notes on fatherhood and just generally in the same headspace about having plenty of problems but being fortunate to have them. He's one of my favorite humans and "Let Go" is his masterpiece.
Oct 2, 2024
Top Recs from @kevmack
i don’t know what to call him but these songs have a beautiful delicate energy to them. it kind of reminds me of slower and sadder radiohead songs. they fit perfectly into driving home from an event when you’re feeling wistful or soft melancholy
Apr 14, 2025
these mints are the very best ive been buying them for years. i used to keep my ideas in these little notebooks in college when i was on the go all day, but now i wfh so i normally just write it in my laptop, but the notebook just stays in my bag. the camera is for my ego
1d ago
😃
djo freaking killed it on his new album. it’s fresh but very inspired by the beatles, fleetwood mac, talking heads
since it came out on friday i’ve listened to it atleast twice a day
Apr 9, 2025