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| ARTIST: |
Elliott Smith
(Google this artist) |
| ALBUM: |
From a Basement on the Hill |
| LABEL: |
Anti |
| RELEASED: |
2004 |
Elliott Smith's latest album "From A Basement On The Hill" does not hint at any startling new directions for his music had he not died under horrific (and still unsolved) circumstances in the fall of 2003. Rather, it pretty much picks up where "XO" and "Figure 8" left off. As pre-clink Martha Stewart would say, that's a good thing. There are plenty of dark meditations on love lost, fond farewells to friends, and struggles with drugs and demons, all set to tragically gorgeous arrangements.
Most Beatle disciples tend to lean toward Lennon (Kurt Cobain, Oasis, ELO) or McCartney (XTC, Billy Joel, Ben Folds) for inspiration. But Elliott Smith may be rock's most prominent Harrisonite. His guitar stylings, stately melodies and the sensitive warble of his vocals often suggest the Quiet One's "Savoy Truffle," "Blue Jay Way," "Long Long Long" and/or "Isn't it a Pity."
As with most of Smith's work, the songs on "Basement" seem shapeless at first, but slowly reveal themselves as gems. The fragile beauty of "Let's Get Lost," "Fond Farewell to a Friend," "Pretty (Ugly Before)" and "Twilight" underscore how tragic that Smith decided to "find some beautiful place to get lost."
The best song here may be the turbulent "Don't Go Down" a psychedelic swirl with ominous overtones, like this couplet: "She had a drink, woke up in shock/She had seen her own body outlined in chalk." It would be easy to say that this album is full of signs pointing to death, but if they are here they are here on all of his albums.
Elliott Smith made a great amount of beautiful, underappreciated music in his too-short lifetime. He is surely the leading candidate to win the Nick Drake Award for Artist Most Likely To Be Recognized Posthumously. The good news is you don't have to wait for him to be "rediscovered" on the heels of a trendy ad for the 2017 VW Jetta or the 8,000 GB iPod with built-in defribulator. While Mr. Smith may be gone, his music is here, now and forever.
review by Steve Walsh
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Figgle 2001-2007