1. Elliott Smith "From a Basement On the Hill Sessions"
I guess this probably expected to be the number one artist all the way back at 100 but at least I wasn't so predictable as to pick XO. The reason I didn't is simple, XO isn't his best album. I feel Elliott got better and better with everything he did, hence why I've always championed his later material over his early work. He started out a guitarist in a mediocre grunge band and turned into one of the greatest singer/songwriters ever. Elliott's sound during the Basement-era was all over the place to most people's surprise. While his earlier stuff was pretty stream-lined indie-folk later he started experimenting, not just instrumentally but production wise too.
There were several tracks that never ended up on From a Basement on the Hill. Why I have no idea seeing as a good deal of what was cut is better than some stuff that ended up on the album. The album that was released was nothing like the album Elliott would've wanted. Something the producer who Elliott was working with for some of the sessions noted. For one, Elliott had planned for the album to be a double album or an album with a bonus disc so it didn't cost too much. Another thing is the 20 second noises titled Ostriches and Chirping had nothing to do with Elliott whatsoever, it was something that had just ended up on his tape reels.
There's always something tragic when an artist dies in the middle of creating an album. It's even sadder when that release was obviously going to be something great. From a Basement on the Hill shows Elliott having perfected his melancholic folk sound with songs like Twilight and Let's Get Lost it also shows him much more comfortable holding an electric guitar. While he has flirted with it in the past with songs like Cupid's Trick and Amity it wasn't anything memorable.
During his later years the songs were as intense as they were refreshing. Songs like King's Crossing, Shooting Star and Coast to Coast (featuring the Flaming Lips drummer who also gave Elliott the title for 'A Distorted Reality Is a Necessity To Be Free') were interesting not just because they were Elliott trying new things but because it was a new thing to everyone. It's kind of hard to explain the songs, but the guitar tones and emotive they sound, particularly King's Crossing is something I've never heard anything like before. They have this rambling quality that's slightly akin to Dylan's at times but much more intense and less friendly sounding. The songs are all pretty dark-natured, one of the tracks Suicide Machine (a re-working of a Figure 8 instrumental Tiny Time Machine) was said to be one the most depressing things ever heard by some producer who's name I can't remember. The song is kind of the Holy Grail of Elliott tracks.
Elliott shows to be very creative on this release, playing almost everything on it and trying new things to great success. Songs like From a Poison Well with its echoey production kind of remind me of Joy Division (just the production) and the rocking sound of it is almost ghost like. King's Crossing is the most haunting and strong-track on the album it's also his most experimental, I can't really describe it at all so I won't try. Strung Out Again and a Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free give this drug-rock vibe to them I would never have expected and my second favorite, True Love is just breathtakingly sad. While the album itself is rough and poor, the power and creativity behind the songs is undeniable and coupled with the b-sides it proves to be a release that I think even people who aren't Elliott fans could enjoy. From a Basement on the Hill, even though unfinished and not released to it's full strength, without a doubt is the masterpiece of one of the greatest singer/songwriters of this era.
Favorite Songs: King's Crossing, True Love, Stickman, Twilight, A Distorted Reality Is Now a Necessity to Be Free, A Fond Farewell, Let's Get Lost, Pretty (Ugly Before), Coast to Coast
MySpace.com - Elliott Smith - Rock / Pop / Acoustic - www.myspace.com/elliottsmithnewmoon