In a little less than a week, Elliott Smith fans can finally legally obtain, New Moon, a two disc collection of rarities and previously unreleased material recorded between 1995 and 1997. After giving it a few cursory listens, I can tell you this: posthumous collections rarely sound this consistent and cohesive. Mainly acoustic and sparsely produced, these songs are among some of the finest of the Kill Rocks Stars era, and some would say golden era, of his career. But beyond exemplifying his trademark melancholy and simultaneously angelic, yet caustic voice reminiscent of choirboy kicked out of church, New Moon serves as a bittersweet reminder of how much we have truly lost.
Going Nowhere - Elliott Smith
High Times - Elliott Smith
Pre-order New Moon
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2 comments:
It's amazing to finally hear these songs in fully produced, CD quality. I'm really blown away by all of the musical details that the old bootlegged mp3s either masked through low quality, or else never contained at all. And it goes without saying that songs like "All Cleaned Out"- brand new, never before dreamt of- and "New Monkey"- finally balanced so that those fantastic lyrics can be heard- are pure cream.
And as if that weren't enough for us happy Elliott-junkies, apparently the surprises aren't over yet. A good source (read: he's thanked in the liner notes) has confirmed yet another brand new track, to be released on a charity-based compilation later this year (currently, the date being shot for is November 2007). Now we can only hope and pray for Interscope to get its act together, and finally come off all of the material that they own! (From the buzz out there, that would easily make another double CD.)
I'm forever grateful for these lost treasures as they surface periodically. As you say, it reminds us of the immense talent that we've lost, but oh!- the splendid beauty of what he left behind! We may not have lived in the golden era of the Beatles, but we sure as hell had Elliott Smith. And that is no small thing.
that's great news! here's hoping all these rarities get released as soon as possible. i too am grateful elliott smith left behind such a beautiful body of work.
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