patdevitto
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| posted on 12-24-2003 at 06:28 AM |
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Elliot Smith-where top begin?
I need your help y'all.
With which album do i begin my Elliot Smith journey??
pat
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Jillpw
Posts 910
Registered 8-22-2002 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 12-24-2003 at 09:20 AM |
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I think XO is his best. After that you will probably want them all....
I would get Figure 8, and Either/Or before the first two.
Jill
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Zephyr
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 posted on 12-26-2003 at 02:29 AM |
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Collect 'em all!
I'd actually give the same order as Jill, although Figure 8 is my favorite. This is not to diminish the greatness of the earlier albums - they
took me a while to "get," and yet it's amazing how much beauty Elliott could get out of a guitar/drum setup.
If you have seen the movie "Good Will Hunting." the music from that (except "Miss Misery" is from Either/Or.
Get all his albums and cherish them.
p.s. Sweet Adeline is an excellent site if you'd like to learn a little more about Elliott.
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Shocklines
Satellite  
Posts 16
Registered 12-18-2003 Location Jersey City Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 12-26-2003 at 04:38 AM |
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XO remains my favorite of Smith's by far. There's always great stuff on his albums, but XO contains some tracks that truly awe me. His
death is a terrible loss to music lovers.
Matt
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katia
Superball
Posts 5
Registered 11-16-2003 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 1-30-2004 at 04:56 AM |
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Nonononononooo!
the BEST elliott album is either/or, its stripped back acoustic guitars and vocals and its beautiful!
it has some of the best songs!!!
xo is also awesome, the songs are great and it as the full orchestral thang going for it, im not denying its a great album- I love it!
i guess it just depends on if u prefer the simplicity of raw acoustic guitar + beautiful vocals or the beauty of rich instrumentation. (or both, yeh,
actually just get both of em).
actually come to think of it, maybe u should start with xo? i did.. 
figure 8 is a good album, but its too long. he put far too many songs on it in my opinion...
his self titled album + roman candle are also good.. more simple and acoustic. u should really get them all in the end because they are such quality
records.
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ittybittyone
Wise Up 
Posts 988
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Los Angeles Member Is Offline Mood: (y)
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| posted on 1-30-2004 at 07:24 PM |
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XO or Figure 8....
They're all good though...
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AllanElephant
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| posted on 1-31-2004 at 09:15 PM |
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I bought "XO" and "Figure 8" today.
Even after all that rushing around, where we've ended up is the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. And maybe knowing isn't the
point. Where we're standing right now, in the ruins in the dark, what we could build is anything.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/SabreIsTired/lies.jpg
http://www.last.fm/user/HighOnSunday51
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ittybittyone
Wise Up
Posts 988
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Los Angeles Member Is Offline Mood: (y)
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| posted on 2-3-2004 at 11:56 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by AllanElephant
I bought "XO" and "Figure 8" today.
Yay  Let us know what you think!
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AllanElephant
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| posted on 2-4-2004 at 12:37 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by ittybittyone
quote:
Originally posted by AllanElephant
I bought "XO" and "Figure 8" today.
Yay Let us know what you think!
They're freakin' amazing! I'm a die-hard fan now, this guy is like a male Aimee. What a shame that he's gone and I
didn't discover him sooner...
I think I like Figure 8 a bit more, but they're both phenomenal. My favorites are 'Junk Bond Trader', 'Waltz #
2', 'Stupidity Tries', 'Amity', and 'Happiness'.
Even after all that rushing around, where we've ended up is the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. And maybe knowing isn't the
point. Where we're standing right now, in the ruins in the dark, what we could build is anything.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/SabreIsTired/lies.jpg
http://www.last.fm/user/HighOnSunday51
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conrad
Amateur
Posts 3
Registered 2-4-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 2-4-2004 at 09:04 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by patdevitto
I need your help y'all.
With which album do i begin my Elliot Smith journey??
pat
XO is my favorite. If you can find it his Pretty [Ulgy Before] single is also worth hearing. It features two tracks from his upcoming album that
should be out this year.
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conrad
Amateur
Posts 3
Registered 2-4-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 2-4-2004 at 09:06 AM |
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quote:
Originally posted by Zephyr
I'd actually give the same order as Jill, although Figure 8 is my favorite. This is not to diminish the greatness of the earlier albums - they
took me a while to "get," and yet it's amazing how much beauty Elliott could get out of a guitar/drum setup.
I don't care much for Figure 8. Compared to the overall sound and songs of his earlier releases, Figure 8 has always sounded a little hollow to
me. The sound is too produced for my liking. Elliott is better when he does it by himself, drums, guitar, recording, everything. =)
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welshboy
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| posted on 2-16-2004 at 03:05 PM |
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Elliott and Aimee
I often read the Aimee boards with interest...... I've been a fan for four years. I'm also a huge Elliott Smith fan and I was sorry to
hear the bad news surrounding his death.
What is bizarre is that Aimee and Elliott are almost unheard of in the UK, but through a twist of fate I fell upon their music and I've got
almost all the albums each of them has produced.
Now here I am reading this web-site where both are being discussed in one go. How cool is that?
Good on you guys, I was starting to feel very lonely here in Wales.... I'm glad there are more fans out there.
Keep up the good work.
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Alan
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| posted on 2-16-2004 at 03:38 PM |
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quote:
I was starting to feel very lonely here in Wales.... I'm glad there are more fans out there.
At least three of us in Wales - my wife is a fan too. Dunno how Aimee's popularity in the UK compares with the US and the rest of the world
though.
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Bumblebeeman
Amateur
Posts 2
Registered 6-25-2004 Member Is Offline Mood:
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| posted on 6-25-2004 at 04:18 AM |
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XO introduced me to Elliott, but either/or quickly became my favorite.
You really get a feeling for what a tortured soul he was.
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ittybittyone
Wise Up
Posts 988
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Los Angeles Member Is Offline Mood: (y)
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| posted on 6-28-2004 at 04:52 PM |
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His final album  is scheduled to come out sometime soon...
Here's an article from the LA Weekly
--------------------
Location: London, innit.
Posts: 285
de-da!
(helps to work on a newspaper - good search engines) - I'll post in two parts
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."
__________________
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Zephyr
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| posted on 7-15-2004 at 04:57 PM |
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New album info!
from Charlie @ www.sweetadeline.net:
Subject: elliott smith : from a basement on the hill
thank you so much to elliott's family and felice for sharing with us information about the upcoming and anticapated release of 'from a
basement on the hill.' 15 of elliott's final songs will be released on october 19th by the indie label, anti- records, whom have also
released music by tom waits and nick cave.
the album brings together songs that elliott worked on while on tour for the figure 8 tour in 2000 to the work he did in his own studio, new monkey,
in 2003. with the help of rob schnapf and joanna bolme, who mixed the album, elliott's family, loved ones and friends over the years were able
to finalize the album recently and here is the final tracklisting for the record:
coast to coast
let's get lost
pretty (ugly before)
don't go down
strung out again
fond farewell
king's crossing
ostriches & chirping
twilight
a passing feeling
last hour
shooting star
memory lane
little one
a distorted reality is now a necessity to be free
elliott did play most of these songs live at one point of his career and pretty (ugly before) will be the same version as the 7" single that was
released in 2003 by suicide squeeze. last hour though might be the fan named, make it over while the music/lyrics for ostriches & chirping and
twilight might have never been heard in any form until now. the album also includes guest appearance by elliott's friends and loved ones. steven
drodz and aaron sperske played drums and two unknown poetic men spoke on "coast to coast."
elliott's tour mates on the figure 8 tour: sam coomes played bass and sang backup, scott mcpherson played drums, and aaron embry played
keyboards on "pretty (ugly before)." finally, fritz michaud, whom elliott recorded with in 2003 at new monkey, played a drum track on
"king's crossing."
the artwork includes the nice tradition (except for xo) of having elliott's handwriting on the record and includes cut out type by autumn
dewilde who also did artwork for figure 8. the cd booklet will also include photos by renaud monfourny, paul heartfield, dominic disaia and
elliott's sister, ashley welch. please visit www.sweetadeline.net. as you can see as well, the album is now confirmed to be 'from a
basement on the hill' and not 'songs from a basement on the hill.'
hopefully as we come closer to the release of the record we will learn more about the record and the work elliott's friends and family did on it
to bring it together and what the future has in store in elliott's memory. thank you to them. i can't imagine the sacrifice it took by
everyone to release this record in elliott's memory. hopefully i can speak for a lot of people and say that we are so thankful that you all
would share them with us and we will cherish them always. well, if we get anymore information about the release of the record including the promotion
of it, we will try to post them asap. don't forget: october 19, 2004 xo charlie
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ittybittyone
Wise Up
Posts 988
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Los Angeles Member Is Offline Mood: (y)
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| posted on 7-15-2004 at 05:23 PM |
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I was so happy to read about this today!
I've heard a few of the songs (hehe) and they are great. It should be another wonderful album...but sad
What a loss...I'm still not over it.
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AllanElephant
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| posted on 7-15-2004 at 05:40 PM |
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I'm so excited for the album.. It'll be sad though.
Even after all that rushing around, where we've ended up is the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. And maybe knowing isn't the
point. Where we're standing right now, in the ruins in the dark, what we could build is anything.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/SabreIsTired/lies.jpg
http://www.last.fm/user/HighOnSunday51
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ittybittyone
Wise Up
Posts 988
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Los Angeles Member Is Offline Mood: (y)
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| posted on 7-16-2004 at 04:44 PM |
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Very sad...
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sassbot
Lost in Space
Posts 39
Registered 9-29-2002 Location Vancouver, BC Member Is Offline Mood: smelly cat
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| posted on 7-20-2004 at 08:51 AM |
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about two days before he died i was talking about his depressiong to a friend and i started getting really worried. does anyone else find it a little
disturbing that they are releasing it on the anniversary?
you knew just how this thing would go
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ittybittyone
Wise Up
Posts 988
Registered 7-28-2003 Location Los Angeles Member Is Offline Mood: (y)
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| posted on 7-20-2004 at 04:56 PM |
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Well, that will be a sad day regardless, but I kind of feel like listening to his last album on that day will be a good way to honor his memory.
Unless, of course, you are in Los Angeles...and then you can go to the Solutions (the wall where the Figure 8 cover was shot) and pay tribute with
other people.
Oh, and I think the actual anniversary is Oct. 21st
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Zephyr
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| posted on 10-21-2004 at 04:42 PM |
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Perhaps it was unintentional. I'd like to think it's an attempt to give fans something beautiful on the anniversary.
The new album is AMAZING - sonically, it's much more rough and harsh, but without losing any of the melody or harmony on all Smith's
albums; this one might even be my new favorite. I've always been amazed at how different Smith's albums sound while still sounding exactly
like him. It's so gorgeous and so, so sad.
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Nick
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| posted on 10-21-2004 at 04:52 PM |
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I will buy the CD after work today and listen alone with a candle tonight to mark this sad day and to honor an exceptional modern artist, perhaps too
sensitive for this rough world, whose music and lyrics have affected me deeply.
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AllanElephant
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| posted on 10-21-2004 at 07:18 PM |
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I should be getting the album on Monday...
Even after all that rushing around, where we've ended up is the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. And maybe knowing isn't the
point. Where we're standing right now, in the ruins in the dark, what we could build is anything.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v122/SabreIsTired/lies.jpg
http://www.last.fm/user/HighOnSunday51
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drillbit
Fifty Posts After the Fair
Posts 55
Registered 1-26-2004 Location Location. Member Is Offline Mood: f**K
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| posted on 10-22-2004 at 03:24 AM |
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The first Elliot record- 'self titled' is the one to get. I love them all but that is the heartbreaker. The songs Clementine, Needle in
the Hay, and Satellite are all great as is the whole record. Then get Either Or.
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