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| From | "Kevin Gandel" <oddsmanink@yahoo.com> |
| Subject | Elliott Smith's "From a Basement on the Hill" (review) |
| Date | Tue, 14 Sep 2004 09:28:15 -0400 |
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Chills....that's what I get when I listen to this album. Its so brutally beautiful. The lyrics, like most of his past albums, tear at you. Its hard to believe this is the last new music we'll hear from him...such a waste.
The instrumentation on the songs shows how much he absorbed from Jon Brion. "Coast to Coast" rushes over you, appropriately enough, like a wave of sound....much layering and vocal effects....Phil Specter wall of sound stuff.
Following that is "Let's Get Lost" which is the familiar bare-bones Smith songs that many are familiar with.
"Pretty (Ugly Before)" has a bit of twang to it...I suppose it could have been a Wilco song in some other twisted world. Great chorus...really pulls at you.
"Don't Go Down" returns to the big full sound. Its an interesting contrast with loud crashing cymbals and organs blaring with Smith's wispy whispering voice overtop. chilling lyric "She had a dream, woke up in shock. She had seen her own body outlined in chalk."
"Strung Out Again" could have been lifted from Pink Floyd's The Wall. Its got a simple naked bass line and occasional guitar bend until you hit the chorus which has all these dissonant screeching notes coming together to paint a grim picture of life..."I know how I begin and how I end...strung out again"
Once you dig your way out of the darkness of that song you are greeted by a more friendly and warming "Fond Farewell." This is not to say the lyrics are uplifting...they're just as sad as the rest, but the music feels like a blanket warming you after the somberness of the proceeding songs. The last musical phrasing of the chorus even manages to convey hope...
The warble effect on the guitar in "King's Crossing" complete with circus sounds feels like a cut lifted off Buddy Judge's Profiles of Clownhenge. Its got a similar rhythm and flow to "Junk Bond Trader" off of Figure 8.
"Ostriches and Chirping" is a 34 second interlude of...well...birds chirping.
Sorta Disney on Acid
"A passing Feeling" starts out like Starbelly's "Goodbye Now" off their last record...sparse piano playing a simple melody
I think that's enough of a glimpse into the album for now...anyone else listened? I'm curious what your takes on it are....I think its definitely a top5 album of '04 for me.
-kev
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