Since his death in 1974, English singer-songwriter Nick Drake has attracted a cult following, but his dark, powerfully romantic ballads have rarely been covered. Now Scott Appel, a N.J. guitarist of impressive skill, offers "Nine of Swords", an homage to Drake that includes versions of six of Drake's songs, including two that were previously unreleased. The result is a moving example of an artist realizing his own vision by honoring the achievement of a master. Drake devotees will not be disappointed -- nor will anyone else with a love for music of transcendent intensity.

Magnificent album by New Jersey-based guitarist/vocalist contains Appel's versions of hitherto-unknown songs by late U.K. folk giant Nick Drake and some equally impressive originals. Stellar picking and singing will appeal to Drake's enthusiasts, fans of fine guitar work, and even far-looking new age aficionados.

Scott Appel's Nine of Swords offers a moody otherworld of acoustic guitar and voice. Cast as a tribute to and an extension of the work of the late Nick Drake, Appel does justice to his mentor. The unique brittle melancholy and tragic sense that permeated the work of Nick Drake (he took his own life in 1974 at age 26) has never before been so closely duplicated. Molly and Rodney (Nick's parents) unearthed a number of Drake's early unreleased demos and compositional sketches, which Appel has expanded and re-recorded along with his own material. The result is a very special addition to the genre.
Ironically, the recent advent of "New Age" and "New Acoustic" idioms would undoubtedly have embraced the unorthodox tunings and modal talents of Nick Drake. But by definition, a true artist is always ahead of his time. It's our loss that we cannot find way to support artists on the leading edge...and our gain that other artists like Scott Appel won't let us forget

As a kind of postscript to our NICK DRAKE piece elsewhere in this issue, we would like to focus your attention on an interesting item. SCOTT APPEL is a Nick Drake soundalike, but with a difference. Not only does he sing almost like Nick, the arrangements and guitar style are very close. Six Nick Drake songs are included amongst his own, with no less than four previously only ever heard by Nick's immediate family and taken from priceless demos in their possession. One instrumental track (a Scott Appel original) is superb - called 'Thanatopsis' it has the orchestral sound, feel and structure of FIVE LEAVES LEFT and is a major work. This is fascinating, and something which all of Nick Drake's devotees will want to hear.

Appel seeks here to carry on the intricate, acoustic-guitar-based folk/rock tradition of Nick Drake, a virtuoso musician who died of a drug overdose in 1974. Drake specialized in unusual tunings and chord structures on his three albums for Island, released between 1968 and 1972.
The songs featured on NINE OF SWORDS are Appel's completed versions of unfinished Drake compositions, which the New Jersey-based musician obtained from Drake's parents. The results are consistently intriguing and often moving. This is a must for those fascinated by the seemingly endless possibilities of the guitar, and also should appeal to more adventurous fans of New Age.

Strange, strange. Appel's last album GLASSFINGER showed an overt reliance on the works of Mr. Kottke, and no-one was at greater pains to point this out than Appel himself. On reading the liner notes (and suppressing the odd guffaw), we find that this year's model is the late Nick Drake: so much so that, with the help of Drake's parents and some unfinished demos and work tapes, we have two 'new' Nick Drake songs, one guitar piece put together by Appel from fragments, and "Place To Be" from PINK MOON. Oh, and five originals.
Scott Appel certainly has got the Nick Drake guitar style off well, no small feat, and the two new tracks "Bird Flew By" and "Our Season" fit into the Drake canon easily - jazz/folk guitar and moody vocals accompanied by everything from citterns to rock bands; lyrically, the songs are dreamlike and very personal, and therein may lie a quandary: much of the continuing appeal of Nick Drake [boxed sets and the like] is the relationship of the records to his sad, short life, and this mild necrophilia is hard to shake off. Without wishing to denigrate Appel's labor of love, I'm sure that most Drake fans/completists would want to have the original demos, even in poor condition (obsessives are funny that way).
That said, and saving the points raised for another time when the magazine needs a filler article, the combination of cover versions and originals shows Appel to be a more sensitive and lyrical player than his debut suggested; quite New Age in the recording, which also goes to show how much that 'movement' owes to such as Drake. The longer Appel pieces, SOMNUS, NINE OF SWORDS and the sole bottleneck track BLUR create a dark fantasy world, a landscape hanging in the wind...oops, those liner notes are getting to me. In slightly plainer terms, NINE OF SWORDS is a long, slow album with a rather late '60s feel (relaxing and yet, somehow...intense); the breadth and versatility is impressive and a big step forward from the first record.
Hate the liner notes and find the cover doesn't do any favors, but like the album. One nagging question remains - who next for Scott Appel? Barrence Whitfield? Napalm Death? Tanita Tikaram?

It's as surprising to find a guitarist like Scott Appel singing the songs of Nick Drake as it is to find myself on this 'Good Friday' writing a review of the strange and delicate "Nine of Swords". I don't know why Drake's music in general, (or perhaps it is just this situation), reminds me of certain characters from the films of Pasolini. Pasolini, a man strongly tied to our land, Friuli, depicts men or boys crucified under tragic circumstances, who in the end become martyrs of a society both unjust and absurd. Perhaps it was the emotion of the moment, due to the great love that I, like many others, have for Drake and his ethereal music, but this record awakens old memories and sensations from a time when a writer could simply be a listener, rather than one faced with the "serious" task of judging a record as a critic.
Scott Appel, with this, his second album, (the first was "Glassfinger", KICKING MULE), has revealed himself to be both an artist and instrumentalist of exquisite taste. The alternation of skillful instrumental passages, as in the workmanship of "Somnus", "Blur", "Nine of Swords", "Thanatopsis", and "Silent Snow", with compositions by the unfortunate Nick, including the splendid, unpublished "Bird Flew By", and other pieces: "Far Leys", "Parasite", "Blossom", "Our Season", "Place To Be" offers pleasant discoveries for both writer and listener, with an abundance of arrangement and care. A superb and delicate recording.