Listening Post

I have no idea what to make of this -- and I'm betting that's the most generous thing you're going to hear about it from anyone who considers him or herself a fan of Elliott Smith.

Apparently, long before Smith died 11 years ago, he recorded some isolated vocal tracks for a possible collaboration with Soul Coughing's Mike Doughty. Some of what he sang would eventually go on to become Bottle Up and Explode -- one of my absolute favorite Smith songs -- and Going Nowhere. Doughty says that the vocals were always meant to be cut up, experimented with, and ultimately transformed into dance tracks and that Smith was okay with this.

Whether he'd be fine with what Doughty has now created, though, is anyone's guess. Doughty says he recently found the vocal tracks on a cassette tape and he turned them into what he's calling honest-to-God EDM -- a genre title that didn't exist back when Smith was alive. It's fascinating to hear anything new and even kind of original from Elliott Smith, but given that he was so protective of his material and his legacy -- and this is a very far cry from the sound we've come to expect from him -- it feels a big sacrilegious.

Decide for yourself, though.

Take a listen to The Record, Dogs and Burn (Aah Fuck).

Listening Post

There aren't words to describe what a loss to good music the sad, untimely death of this man was. I'm not sure anyone from my generation could say more with only an acoustic guitar and a barely whispered vocal.

Just watch his face during this video -- it tells his whole desperate story to the point of being almost uncomfortably personal.

Here's Elliott Smith -- Angeles.

Listening Post

It's difficult to put into words the simple, quiet power of Elliott Smith.

Melancholy and supremely moving, Smith's music was probably as pristine a reflection of the tortured soul of an artist as anything you're likely to ever experience. He exposed every bit of himself, and through that, those who found that they could relate to his personal triumphs and -- far more often -- tragedies also discovered a kind of peace in the knowledge that something so beautiful could come from a heart so ravaged. More than just about any other singer-songwriter, Elliott Smith's music means something to me.

It's the stuff of sadness and loss -- grace in resignation. It's so very, very human.

On April 6th, Elliott's first and last albums will be reissued as remastered editions.

Here now, two songs from that final posthumously released record, From a Basement on a Hill.

This is Twilight and Fond Farewell.