Team Trag. "Elliott Smith" through "XO" are unfuckwithable. I like it a lot now, but I was pretty disappointed when "Figure 8" came out.

Basement remains my fave, but Either/Or is getting pretty close these days. You cant go wrong with any of these anyways.

Figure 8 is so very very good. Everything Means Nothing To Me, Happiness, Can't Make A Sound, L.A., Wouldn't Mama Be Proud...these songs are incredible pieces of art. I never tire of them.

Yea, Figure 8 is incredible, didn't mean to imply otherwise. But it's very lush, almost baroque. It's a great fit for Elliott, but it's an outlier to the rest of his music, which was always about fragility, vulnerability, venom, substance abuse, and above all, loneliness. Those themes are alive and well on Figure 8, but they sure are gussied up. It's an honest album -- it's his worldview after going through a major label breakthrough, a move to LA, and a visit to Abbey Road (which was certainly a huge event for him, given his love for the recording medium).

In Larry Cranes defence, the estate only had access to his KRS-era material for New Moon, and I thought they did a good job ensuring that all the essential "leftovers" from S/T and Either/Or were included. Though I agree that the sequencing could have been better. As for everything since then, Universal controls all the masters for his post '97 material, and they have shown no interest in releasing any of it. Nor have they been receptive to relinquishing control to anyone else. Which is too bad, because there's a ton of material left in the vaults from that era that deserves to see the light of day.

I just want to clarify that was in no way meant as a slight against Larry. He's a great guy, and he personally helped me quite a bit professionally in the past. Interesting about Universal -- does this mean they own the Dreamworks tapes too? That'd make sense, which is painful, 'coz the XO leftovers would be the stuff I'd be most excited about. But the New Moon comp, meh...Too many songs I'd heard before, and the ones I hadn't weren't too impressive. The later stuff, when he started experimenting more in the studio, would be great to hear some day.

Yeah, Universal acquired all the rights to that material when they swallowed up Dreamworks in 2003. And although Elliott had a deal in place to release Basement on an independent label, it only applied to the material that actually made it onto the album, not the remaining material from those sessions. Which means Universal owns all the basement leftovers, too.

Great post.

American Laundromat Records is releasing what looks to be an amazing Elliott Smith tribute album titled Say Yes. J Mascis, Lou Barlow, Juliana Hatfield, Yuck, Tana Donelly, Amanda Palmer and others are contributing covers. The album will be released on October 14, 2016 but there are multiple pre-order bundles available now at American Laundromat Records.

Angeles – Waxahatchee
Ballad of Big Nothing – Julien Baker
Between the Bars – Tanya Donelly
Bled White – Yuck
Condor Ave – Jesu/Sun Kil Moon
Division Day – Lou Barlow
Easy Way Out – Wild Sun
Miss Misery – Tomo nakayama
Needle In the Hay – Juliana Hatfield
No Name #3 – Caroline Says
Oh Well, Okay – Adam Franklin
Pictures of Me – Amanda Palmer
Say Yes – William Fitzsimmons
Waltz #1 – Escondido
Waltz #2 – J Mascis

I'm really looking forward for this.

Elliott compositions were always so strong, with creative chords sequences and melodies. It will be really interesting to see what other singers and arrangements bring to it.

Amidst the deluge of demos and outtakes we've gotten over the last few years, just about the only thing that would excite me at this point is more unreleased stuff from Either/Or:

http://pitchfork.com/news/70686-listen- ... r-reissue/

A studio version of I Figured You Out with Elliott's vocals has long been one of my holy grails, so I'm ecstatic. I wonder if the inclusion of a live version of My New Freedom means that he never attempted it in the studio, or if Dreamworks owns the rights to it?

I am guessing the latter, but I really have no idea. The Elliott Smith song guide doesn't offer anything helpful on that one:

http://songs.alphabet-town.com/songguide

The plot thickens: According to Larry Crane (via wiki), Interscope owns the tapes from the Dreamworks era:

In a March 2009 interview, Larry Crane said that the estate of Elliott Smith was now "defunct" and all rights previously held by the singer are now in the control of "his parents".[96] Crane went on to say that his parents own the rights to Smith's high school recordings, some of the Heatmiser material, all solo songs recorded until his 1998 record deal with DreamWorks Records, and From a Basement on the Hill.[96] DreamWorks Records was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2003, and Interscope Records currently "owns all studio and live recording from Jan 1998 to his passing, except for the songs on From a Basement on the Hill."[96]

And they've shown absolutely no interest in releasing any of it. Which is a shame, because there's likely a treasure trove of top quality material from that era. I suppose we could potentially get a 20th anniversary deluxe XO next year, but I'm doubtful.

Listened to Heatmeiser's Cop and Speeder today for the first time since 2002 or so. It's totally reframed From a Basement On a Hill for me. The latter's heavier, more riff-based songs, coupled with Elliott's pissed off sneer, now makes it sound like a direct descendent of his days in Heatmeiser. It's almost like he tried to get away from the trappings of success by returning to the music he had made with his friends.

Basement wrecks me. I love that goddamn album so much.

It's really great, and one of those rare albums that is all the better for its sense of sloppiness.