flamepillar's Full Review: From a Basement on the Hill [Digipak] by Elliott S...
There is a little thing called serendipity that recently creeped into this life in the strangest way. It seems that the very day I recorded Good Will Hunting was also the day that I received via snail mail my first copy ever of the work of one Elliott Smith.
Fast forward to only days later, I discover something I didn't know, that Elliott's outlet to the mainstream was a song called "Miss Misery" from that very movie.
Elliott comes to us from Portland, Oregon, but he came to me from a certain writer on this site we know as JiggyJay. He and I were paired up in this year's I'll Show You Mine If You Show Me Yours Write-Off. I decided to bestow upon him some Supernatural, while he graced my collection with the wonderful latest album from Elliott Smith, From A Basement On The Hill. (Heretofore referred to as just Basement.)
Ever hear a song called "Tear" by the Smashing Pumpkins? Well, imagine a whole album produced in that same foggy, dreamy, distant and depressing manner and you have Basement in a nutshell.
You wouldn't think that this foggy sort of production would work with a clashing, mid-tempo, anthemic opener such as "Coast To Coast", but it does. Around the third or fourth time when you're used to it, that is. Elliott's voice immediately reminds me of Adam Schlesinger of Fountains Of Wayne, whereas the music, here and elsewhere, carries a slight tinge of Radiohead, but with less melodic urgency. Here is just a whiff of Elliott's frustrated, cynical take on life...
Is there anything that I could do
That someone doesn't do for you
That someone didn't do for you
That I haven't already done for you
Still, when I hear the words "coast to coast", I can't help but think of a Cingular commercial. "Let's Get Lost" is a more elegant, cheery acoustic tune, carrying some of the resonance exuded by one of FoW's more gentle pieces. This is immediately followed by "Pretty (Ugly Before)".
Now by golly, I don't describe a lot of songs as "pretty". I about fell out of my seat when I heard my 16-year-old self describe a song using that word. But I tell ya, there is no more fitting title in the English language. The light dancing piano lick in this song acts as a flawless sprinkling on the chewy doughnut of its gently distorted melody.
Sunshine, been keeping me up for days
There is no night time, only a passing phase
And I'll feel pretty, another hour or two
I felt so ugly before, I didn't know what to do
Whoever decided to use the hazy production on a number as aggressive as "Don't Go Down" is BONKERS. Which I suppose is a strange thing to say considering that now, I can't imagine it any other way. There are enough hooks in this song to keep Peter Pan at bay. When the chorus arrives, it's like nonstop hookage, up, down, back, cut across the middle, slash away. Freaky death is all over the lyrics here...
She had a dream
Woke up in shock
She had seen
Her own body outlined in chalk
No fingerprints were found on the gun
And her ghost leaned down to kiss me
With a message from the sun
Don't go down
Another fitting title, "Strung Out Again" comes along. This one gets really bizarre, almost too much so, but as others have pointed out, the Beatles influence is obvious. Things brings us to "Fond Farewell", whose music recalls the trembling sound of much of the music in Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link. A few Japanesque arpeggios here, a smooth acoustic chord sequence there, and Elliott's ever-searching voice come together like butter and toast. Here, he seems to be chronicling suicide stories, but then naively brushing it off with a meek claim: "This is not my life." How unfortunate that Elliott Smith, brilliant creator of melodies and writer of cryptic lyrics, would eventually take his own life almost a full year before the release of this record...
"King's Crossing" starts out small and builds up into this bombastic happy anthem of sorts. The lyrics don't seem to feel that way, in fact they are quite perplexing...
I can't prepare for death any more than I already have
All you can do now is watch the shells
The game looks easy that's why it sells
Frustrated fireworks inside your head
Are going to stand and deliver talk instead
The method acting that pays my bills
Keeps the fat man feeding in beverly hills
The last half of Basement gets a little slow in spots, but is not without its highlights. "A Passing Feeling", while characteristically depressing, is a gorgeous array of impeccably placed melodies. High and low, it all just comes together.
To make mention of Basement without giving some attention to "Shooting Star" would be the ultimate copout. This song is frikkin' bananas! Off its rocker, I say! My bud Andy describes the guitar hookage as "nauseating", and in three days I have yet to come up with a word that even comes close to describing it as well as that. The whole thing is one gigantic, dizzying spectacle of deranged madness with no apparent rhyme or reason to its frantic melody. Okay, of course it starts to make sense after you've got your memory to help you out on where the hell it's going. At that point, the song becomes downright pleasant, not like it's terribly distorted or any such thing. But for a few brief days (maybe even a week) it's totally maniacal. Guaranteed to get you out of bed in the morning!
Oh yeah and I just love this angry little opening...
You'll make the scene like you always do
Goin' up stream down the Ave. to f**k some
Trophy boy that you won tonight at the bar
So bad, so far. you'll make him sad, shooting star
"Memory Lane" brings us down to an ardent acoustic vibe with something that brings to mind (again) The Beatles, in particular their quietly playful songs like "Blackbird". Two big winners finish out the set, "Little One" and (whoa, get this title) "A Distorted Reality Is Now A Necessity To Be Free". Both songs sport labyrinthian melodies that take forever to hear your way around, making them all the more gratifying to learn. "A Distorted Reality..." is more guitar-based, a complicated sort of rock ballad, whereas "Little One" is an ethereal venture, awash in vocal harmonizing.
This is my first Elliott Smith album ever, so as far as how it compares to his other work, I'll be stumped for now. But there are plenty of other fine reviews on this very site that can tell ya all about it.
Elliott Smith's From A Basement On The Hill is a discovery I might not have made in a million years. Muchas gracias to Jiggydawg for disclosing this treasure trove upon my mainstream ass!
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![From a Basement on the Hill [Digipak] by Elliott Smith](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/90/ad/92/2006736342-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.