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Mark Mccord

Elliott Smith

From a Basement on a Hill

(Anti)

It's hard not to go all dewy eyed  when listening to  Elliott Smith's posthumously released fifth  proper album.

Even if you weren't a fan, it's hard not to be moved by this wonderful collection of typically fantastic Smith songs - careening vocals, pained lyrics and touching melodies.

Smith left no note before his apparent suicide - almost a year to the day of this album's release. Instead, in these bitter-sweet songs he leaves us in no doubt of the troubled state of his mind in his final weeks.

His torment played out also in the creation of this album. Some four years in the making (he died before it was completed), he had recorded and re-recorded many of the tracks.

It also followed a split with his label and Bob Schapf, the friend/producer who had helped him carve flawless gems from the Oregonian songwriter's rough originals.

This newspaper hasn't the space in a week's editions to properly discuss the issues and imagery contained within these all-too-brief songs, but suffice to say, among them are some  of Smith's best works.

His increasing isolation is apparent from the title of the tracks and many, particularly A Fond Farewell, Twilight and The Last Hour, give more than a hint  of his eventual intention.

While this album lacks the layers and depth of his classic XO, it still reminds us that a very great talent, whose creativity was far from exhausted, was taken from us much too early.



Elliott Smith