Elliott Smith

[.:.impossible]

Thanks Dave! I'm listening to "See My City" now. What a cool song. We can only hope there's more where all of this came from. Pretty quality outakes if you ask me...

[ghost of miles]

Thanks Dave! I'm listening to "See My City" now. What a cool song. We can only hope there's more where all of this came from. Pretty quality outakes if you ask me...

I'm listening to it right now too! Synchronicity... can't wait for FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL to come out.

Learning that he left that very different version of "Pretty Mary K" off EITHER/OR just proves again what a great period of songwriting he was going through in the mid-to-late 90s...

[ghost of miles]

Some good & interesting news re: FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL in Tuesday's LA Times:

Los Angeles Times

June 22, 2004 Tuesday

HEADLINE: Carefully piecing together Elliott Smith's final vision

BYLINE: Richard Cromelin, Times Staff Writer

Elliott Smith stares down from the shelf above the recording studio mixing board, comically bugging his eyes in one snapshot, glowering like the moody troubadour of legend in another.

The photos make the control room of the Hollywood studio feel a little like a shrine to the singer-songwriter, whose troubled life ended violently last October when he died from a knife wound in his Echo Park apartment at age 34. (Initially reported as a suicide, the case is now officially under investigation.)

Eight months later, Smith's valedictory work is taking its final shape in the same studio where he recorded much of the material on his most popular albums, 1998's "XO" and its 2000 follow-up, "Figure 8."

"Songs From a Basement on the Hill" is the album Smith had nearly completed when he died, and the work is being awaited by his cult of fans like a lost sacred text.

They probably won't be disappointed, judging by the sound of the propulsive folk reverie coming through the speakers. Smith's acoustic guitar picking eases down a scale, cradling his unmistakable, high-pitched voice as it sings a rueful couplet: "Burning every bridge that I cross / To find some beautiful place to get lost."

This is prime Smith, with the kind of meticulous, evocative lyric, bittersweet melody and intimate delivery that made him one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation.

"Let's Get Lost" and the album's other songs have just undergone their final mixing, one more step in a painstaking construction process that was part detective work and part instinct.

"We're trying to respect whatever we can find out about what his wishes were, trying to make the record that he was making," says Rob Schnapf, who is overseeing the project with Joanna Bolme.

Both have long histories with Smith: Schnapf co-produced "XO" and "Figure 8," and Bolme was Smith's girlfriend in Portland, Ore., in the mid-'90s. She received her musical grounding from him and now plays bass in the band led by former Pavement singer Stephen Malkmus.

Both had been in sporadic contact with Smith in recent years and were called in by the singer's family to steer "Songs" to completion.

"Each record is different, and here we go again, this is another one," Schnapf says, summarizing the music he's been immersed in for weeks. "He's got his melodic sensibility ... but he's not doing the same thing again. He's just pushing the boundaries, sending out the probe."

Schnapf and Bolme are previewing a taste of the album on a recent morning, playing six songs that range from the spare, pensive "Let's Get Lost" to a clattering rock track called "Distorted Reality." Another song ends with two competing spoken recitations, one from each speaker, and in another the wobbling sound of a tape reel is audible beneath Smith's soft vocal.

"I think there's a bit of chaos, but it's a controlled chaos," Bolme says, aiming a remote control at the CD player to select another track.

"There's definitely a sonic thing," Schnapf adds. "He always played with form, and that continues.... I was always a fan of the littler, direct, intimate thing, and I'm just happy to see that he managed to do both again -- have this crazy big aural thing, and then be able to do a song just him and a guitar. The combination of the two makes both stronger."

Smith's nine-year solo career took him from the shadows of the indie-rock underground to, incongruously, the stage at the 1998 Academy Awards, where his song "Miss Misery," from "Good Will Hunting," was nominated for a best original song Oscar.

Despite that bubble of visibility and his ongoing critical reputation, Smith never made a big commercial breakthrough. His most popular album, with sales of 224,000, was "XO," his first for the major label DreamWorks.

Plans for this new record are falling into place. Though the singer was still under contract to DreamWorks, "Songs From a Basement on the Hill" was planned as a separate, independent project, and Smith's family is finalizing arrangements with an undisclosed label, hoping for a fall release.

Smith recorded the album in a Van Nuys studio he had furnished with vintage sound equipment, playing most of the parts himself. Though he left scores of songs behind, Schnapf and Bolme were able to assemble the album based on a list Smith had made indicating his vision for the record.

Says Schnapf, "This is the last living body of work. If anything happens after that, then it's just collected, it's not a concept that he had."

The pair were guided by Smith's written notes, rough mixes and alternate recordings, and by their own conversations with people who had been in the studio with him.

One day, Schnapf recalls, a casual reference by Smith's sister to "the Fourth of July grand finale" instantly explained the musician's intention for a previously puzzling fusillade of drums. And they also had their own histories with Smith to fall back on.

"There were little bits in the songs that would come up, and me and Rob would look at each other like, 'Ah, that's an Elliott thing,' " Bolme says. "Like his little goofy drum fill, or a guitar lick or something. We've had enough experience to know that would be the thing that Elliott would walk over and turn up."

Joanna Bolme was Smith's girlfriend around the time of the Kill Rock Stars records, and quite a talented musician and photographer. I can't imagine any two people better than here and Rob Schnapf to be overseeing the completion of this record.

Charlie, the really nice guy who runs Sweet Adeline, also says it will be a single CD, with 12-15 songs. Supposedly it's in the final stages of being mastered and sequenced.

[doubleM]

I see Joanna around Portland sometimes, usually at restaurants. She's a looker. I've never heard her play, but apparently she's bad-ass! I think that most of the songs that he wrote in the first 3 or 4 albums were about her.

[doubleM]

If anyone interested in Elliott hasn't heard "Mic City Sons" by Heatmiser, they should do so. It has some great E.S. songs w/ a really good band.

[ghost of miles]

Agreed, DoubleM. Some of my faves off that record are "Plainclothes Man," "The Fix Is In," and "See You Later." Anybody who loves mid-90's Elliott in particular would be well-advised to pick up that record.

I still can't get over those EITHER/OR outtakes... man, great stuff that he left in the vaults. Wonder if Kill Rock Stars will ever put it out as a regular CD.

[doubleM]

I haven't been able to download those E/O outtakes. I'm pissed! Not too badly, though...'cause I know that I have something very special coming when I get to hear 'em.

[ghost of miles]

I haven't been able to download those E/O outtakes. I'm pissed! Not too badly, though...'cause I know that I have something very special coming when I get to hear 'em.

You can't right-click and "save target as"?

I'm backed up on CD-R committments, but lemme know if you still can't download 'em... I can try to burn you a copy sooner or later.

Edited July 6, 2004 by ghost of miles

[.:.impossible]

How beautiful is "Because," the Beatles' cover song? Close yourself in with some earphones and lay your head back. Elliott harmonizing with himself. Imagine he and Brian Wilson crossing paths in another dimension. Damn, and it is a b-side for god sake. He recorded so much great material, I'd love to see it released in a proper fashion. Fucking tragic. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for anything but Elliott Smith.

[ghost of miles]

Sometimes I'm just not in the mood for anything but Elliott Smith.

I hear ya, impossible. I've been that way myself lately, particularly with all of the outtakes and unreleased songs that have been posted on Sweet Adeline... his leftovers are so much better than most artists' primary offerings. Can't wait for SONGS FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL.

BTW, some discussion of Brad Mehldau going on over at Sweet Adeline because of his cover of "Bottle Up and Explode":

bottleupandexplode

[.:.impossible]

If anyone interested in Elliott hasn't heard "Mic City Sons" by Heatmiser, they should do so. It has some great E.S. songs w/ a really good band.

I have to be honest. I don't have much interest in the songs that Elliott Smith doesn't sing on. They just don't compare. They are very average, I think.

[doubleM]

Yeah, I usually skip past those. Bit the ones where he does sing.... Damn!

[ghost of miles]

Solid news regarding FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL, by way of Sweet Addy:

Elliott Smith's from a basement on the hill to be released on ANTI- records

The estate of Elliott Smith has just completed their deal with ANTI- records to release from a basement on the hill on October 19th, 2004. The 15 tracks comprising the album were completed by Elliott prior to his death in the Fall of 2003.

ANTI- is the home to other such talents as Tom Waits and Nick Cave.

from a basement on the hill, took its final shape in the same studio where Elliott recorded much of the material on, 1998's XO and its 2000 follow-up, Figure 8.

"This is prime Smith, with the kind of meticulous, evocative lyric, bittersweet melody and intimate delivery that made him one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation." - Richard Cromelin, LA Times

Elliott Smith: from a basement on the hill

1. Coast to Coast

2. Let's Get Lost

3. Pretty (Ugly Before)

4. Don't Go Down

5. Strung Out Again

6. Fond Farewell

7. King's Crossing

8. Ostriches & Chirping

9. Twilight

10. A Passing Feeling

11. Last Hour

12. Shooting Star

13. Memory Lane

14. Little One

15. A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free

Edited July 16, 2004 by ghost of miles

[street singer]

The estate of Elliott Smith has just completed their deal with ANTI- records to release from a basement on the hill on October 19th, 2004. The 15 tracks comprising the album were completed by Elliott prior to his death in the Fall of 2003.

Thanks for sharing. October 19th, huh?

CAN'T WAIT!

[Brad]

This was in today's New York Times:

Elliott Smith's Uneasy Afterlife

By R J SMITH

In a recording studio last month, Rob Schnapf, a bearded, baseball-capped producer, and Joanna Bolme, a black-haired indie rock bassist, were sitting around listening to the latest Elliott Smith song, called "Let's Get Lost." The voice pouring out of the speakers sounded familiar, conversational. It was the voice of a friend. Snapshots taped up around the room showed Smith in a lighthearted mood: making a silly face in one, eyes closed in another.

As Mr. Schnapf, who worked with Smith in the 90's, and Ms. Bolme, who dated him for a while, know, Smith had a goofball sense of humor and a well of curiosity.

To his fans, however, he was better known for his sorrows. His reputation was built through songs about drug addiction, love and his uneasy connections to listeners fumbling with uneasy connections in their own lives. But it was cemented last Oct. 21, when Elliott Smith died of knife wounds to his chest, in his apartment in the Echo Park neighborhood in Los Angeles. He was 34.

In addition to a passionately devoted army of the shy, and a girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba, Smith left behind dozens of songs recorded in the last four years of his life and meant for a double CD titled "From a Basement on the Hill." Over the last few months, Mr. Schnapf and Ms. Bolme have sifted through some 45 hours of that music. Working together with Smith's family, they are mixing and mastering the material for release on Oct. 19.

That's just the latest tribute, commercial or otherwise, that has been undertaken since his death. Memorial concerts have been staged from Athens, Ohio, to Leeds, England. The indie rockers Sparta have recorded "Bombs and Us," a song about Smith. A New York-based journalist named Benjamin Nugent is writing "Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing," a biography slated for fall release. The classical pianist Christopher Riley, fresh from gussying up the music of Radiohead, is recording a CD of Smith's compositions. And some 10,000 fans have signed a petition to the Los Angeles City Council to turn a strip of public land into hallowed ground, à la Strawberry Fields in New York's Central Park. At the other end of the spectrum, some opportunistic vendors responded quickly to the news of Smith's death by spamming fans with ads for commemorative T-shirts.

Some of these posthumous offerings have been loving, others crass. But one way or another, Elliott Smith will sell a lot of merchandise this year.

USUALLY, when new music is tested out on studio speakers, the moment is pregnant with excitement. But listening to "From a Basement on the Hill," it just felt like a wake with great tunes.

"It'd be a lot easier if he'd be around to help us," Ms. Bolme said.

Mr. Schnapf added, "I was kind of hoping he'd show up."

As Smith sang, however, the sadness that flooded his five CD's swamped the room. "I'm burning every bridge I ever crossed," he sang, "to find some beautiful place to get lost." By the last line, two opposing things are true: Smith is dead, and Smith is here.

In the months since his death, a sadly familiar thing has happened, too. Smith has gotten the Baudelaire treatment, achieved a heightened status as a fallen martyr, the kind too sensitive to live. Perhaps that's inevitable, given the unusual role he occupied in the lives of his fans: His gentle, smart songs connected with people who felt shoved to the margins of their lives; now they are left to figure out how songs that made them feel saved did not save the man who sang them.

All of this posthumous scrutiny is something Smith would have loathed, as much as he loathed the starmaking juggernaut. Alive he fled the spotlight; now where's he going to run?

Loath to violate their friend's wishes, and aware of the intensity of this music and the meaning it has for Smith's fans, those working on "From a Basement on the Hill" seem a little spooked by the responsibility they've taken on.

"I have a very paternal, protective feeling," says Mr. Schnapf. "I didn't want anybody mucking it up."

Do they feel like they are protecting a legacy? "No," says Ms. Bolme. "It's not like he wrote a bunch of bad songs that need our help."

Mr. Schnapf thinks a moment, then answers differently. "In a sense, yeah. I'm just thinking I'm helping a buddy Lucrative trickles of outtakes and rejected songs have followed the deaths of artists like Tupac Shakur, who seems more prolific now than when he was alive, and Nick Drake, whose archivists just discovered a "lost" song that should probably have stayed that way. But Mr. Schnapf and Ms. Bolme say that "From a Basement on the Hill" is the end of the road.

"We want this to be the last living body of work," Mr. Schnapf says adamantly. "This is his last record."

It won't ultimately be Mr. Schnapf's decision, however. Smith's family has a lot more unreleased material, and they have made no such guarantees about their intentions.

Smith was underrated as a musician, but "Let's Get Lost," which will be the second track on the new CD, takes wing on his deft guitar picking. His debt to "Blackbird," the singer-songwriter John Hartford ("Gentle on My Mind") and Piedmont blues are all in place, as disarmingly friendly playing gives way to dark thoughts. There is a kind of California pop, the most famous kind, that is rich with ebullient harmonies and billboarded emotions. At the time of his death, Smith was exploring a sound he jokingly called "the California Frown," an inverse of Beach Boy optimism. Gloomy and intimate, the songs are Smith at his best, though there's also a strong hint of the confusion and instability that haunted his final days.

Putting the record together wasn't just emotionally hard; it was often tough to figure out Smith's musical intentions. In a 2003 interview in the fanzine Under the Radar, Smith described his concept: the CD would begin conventionally, with traditionally structured songs, but would start getting weird midway, until it ended in bouts of noise and distortion.

That's a fair description of his four years in Los Angeles. He arrived at the peak of his skills, but he was smoking crack, using heroin and haunting bars where he'd abruptly disappear if somebody recognized him. His last year was punctuated with bouts of paranoia and weirdness; friends found him more remote than ever, and not always capable of making sense. One police report described him wandering the streets draped in a blanket.

Months before he died, Smith checked into the Beverly Hills-based Neurotransmitter Restoration Center, which proffers an unorthodox technique for treating addiction. He claimed it was working, and no traces of narcotics were found in his system after his death. But something went horribly wrong.

What, exactly, occurred on his last night remains a subject of as much debate as the decline that preceded it. His death was reported in the press as a suicide. But a medical examiner's report released in January stated "the mode of death is undetermined at this time." Officially, the police are still investigating.

Poetically, at least, the case sits about perfectly right where it is now: the ambiguity, the lack of resolution among equally sad possibilities, are material right out of one of Smith's songs.

It's a wretched, unsatisfying kind of ending for his fans, which is probably why many reject it. On a Web site about Smith's legacy, devotees have written in suggesting that Smith lives — they know it's so because he's come to them in dreams. Others have suggested that the psychic John Edward should be hired to contact the singer in heaven. Meanwhile, conspiracy theories flourish regarding the role of his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba: Smith adored the Beatles, and his followers have obligingly cast her in the role of Yoko Ono, destroyer of their hero.

Those who knew him first-hand don't seem much clearer about why things ended as they did. At the studio where "From a Basement on the Hill" is being assembled, it's been the end of a long few weeks, well into the last night of work now, and the talk turns to Smith's last days and the effect Los Angeles had on them.

"Los Angeles didn't do anything to his songwriting," Ms. Bolme says. "He's still Elliott. I just knew a lot of people were wondering what was going on."

Staring into the distance, Mr. Schnapf adds: "I'm not going there. You can find trouble anywhere if you look hard enough." I ask them what working on this record means on a personal level. The idea that it's bringing closure to his life seems obvious — so obvious that it can't be true.

"No, it doesn't resolve anything," says Ms. Bolme. "The resolution is that it's unresolved."

Suddenly she starts crying and bolts from the room.

"Certainly any closure I get is not going to be from working on a record," says Mr. Schnapf. "You hear the music, and he's right here."

Edited July 18, 2004 by Brad

[.:.impossible]

Thanks Brad. I'm just shaking my head.

[ghost of miles]

Thanks for posting that, Brad. This is getting a lot of attention--there's an AP story that's in Yahoo's newsbox today as well. I think ES's last year was a bit better than the way it's described in the NY Times article (much of what they're referring to went down in 2001 & '02).

And man, Joanna Bolme. Elliott once said that he'd only been in love once, and he was referring to her (she's supposedly who "Say Yes" is about; in fact, many of his songs, IMO, are about her).

Edited July 18, 2004 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Charlie has recently posted the last outtake from EITHER/OR:

NewMonkey

Yet another good tune that got left on the cutting-room floor. Can't wait to hear the new album.

Edited August 26, 2004 by ghost of miles

[ghost of miles]

Well, uh... Charlie just announced that he has yet another tape of outtakes from EITHER/OR that he's going to start posting (this is all being done with the permission of the family, btw). Amazing! So "New Monkey" isn't the end of it, evidently...

[ghost of miles]

Beck covers Elliott:

BeckElliott

[ghost of miles]

One of the songs off the upcoming album--"Twilight," formerly known as "Somebody's Baby"--can now be downloaded from the front page of Sweet Addy.

[.:.impossible]

Whenever I click on the Beck links posted at addy, I get a file not found error... did you copy them by chance? I'd love to hear them. Thanks for keeping us posted.

[ghost of miles]

Whenever I click on the Beck links posted at addy, I get a file not found error... did you copy them by chance? I'd love to hear them. Thanks for keeping us posted.

Impossible, yeah, I downloaded them. Send me a PM if you want... in the meantime, somebody over at SweetAddy's posted these three tracks of Elliott playing two of his songs & a George Harrison cover w/Quasi (probably from a 1998 France show):

ElliottwQuasi

A very rocked-out version of "Bled White," which is one of my favorite tracks off XO. (He did it when I saw him live, too.)

I'm getting very psyched about Oct. 19.

[ghost of miles]

FROM A BASEMENT ON A HILL came out last night on I-Tunes. A friend of mine purchased it and is lending me his copy today, and it's off to an amazing start--very spooky intro into "Coast to Coast."

A year ago next week.

[.:.impossible]

I'm picking up my copy next week at the local shop. I'm sure its all over the net by now, but I want to wait. I'm so mixed about this, knowing there will never be another Elliott Smith melody.