pics by Wendy Lynch

Elliott Smith : "From a Basement on the Hill demos"

www.sweetadeline.net
www.elliottsmithbsides.com

Two weeks ago, a collection of unreleased Elliott Smith tracks surfaced over the internet, to the pleasure of fans, mourning over the two years anniversary of his death. It was quickly labelled as "From a Basement on the Hill demos", yet most of the tracks were recorded during Smith's most productive era, the few years between Elliott Smith and XO, probably the peak of his creative career. The tape contains songs that were considered for From a Basement on the Hill, his unfinished swan song.

Even though i'm not the bootleg type, these songs have been playing in constant loop for quite a while, a made a much better job of reconnecting me to Smith's work than his postumous record (even though it has its moments). Elliott Smith, Either/Or and XO (to a lesser extent) are my favourite records and it felt nice to listen to warm 8 tracks recordings, with his signature production (guitars and vocals doubled), turning tough stories into charming folk/pop jewels without taking out any of the initial intensity.

The sound quality is great and even though there is no real unity as far as production goes (some tracks feature Smith on his own, others are more arranged), the red thread is Smith's trouble itself. Most of these songs are darker than most of the ones that appeared on his records (that may be one of the reason why Smith didn't re-use them), documenting the songwriter's drug abuse, jaded memories and global unhappiness with two syllabes words. Highlights are "Abused", "High Times", "The Worst Part Is Almost Over", "New Disaster", "Riot Coming", "Going Nowhere" and "Amanda Cecilia" but most of the songs are sub-par and easily put Figure 8 material to shame. Had this collection been officially released, it would have been one of this years' most important releases. It's free, all over the internet, waiting for you to appreciate it.

 - Barbara H

/november 2005/