Elliott Smith "Either/Or" (1997)
Well I'm an idiot. I had Elliott Smith totally confused with pop singer
Sam Smith (I mean Smith isn't really a common name, right?). I'd seen
this CD in my wife's music collection and I was like "kind of surprised
she's into that Sam Smith guy". When this came up on the list and I
actually listened to the album I realised that it was awesome and
nothing like Sam Smith.
Smith's (Elliott's) sound here is a really stripped-down singer-songwriter vibe. His
voice is light and gentle over tracks that are often just acoustic
guitar, with drums and bass only occasionally coming into the picture.
"Angeles" is largely just acoustic guitar and voice with some subtle keyboard in places. "No Name No.5"
with its droney sitar-esque acoustic guitar and big thumping bass drums
in places remind me of a mellower take on the classic Soundgarden
sound. "Cupid's Trick" adds a little more texture and even some rock
to it.
The music seems somehow really familiar to me but I can't really place
it. Like I feel that maybe it has hints of Chris Cornell, Jeff Buckley
and Eleven (it does have that descending melodic patterns and
contrasting descending/ascending vocal/guitar thing going on in places)
but it's much quieter and more intimate than that. Maybe I'm just
picking up on that '60s sounds through a cynical 90s filter' thing that some of those other artists also employed.
The songs also bring to mind Ween's folkier moments and Liam Finn's solo
material.
A few songs from the album were featured in the film "Good Will Hunting"
which brought Smith a bit more recognition. Sadly, he died 5 or 6
years later after being stabbed twice in the chest. The coroner could
not confirm if it was suicide or homicide
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