This Saturday, the world will pay homage to rock's most heartbreaking anti-hero, Elliott Smith, on the three-year anniversary of his death. Tribute concerts from Glasgow to New Jersey will feature predominantly unheard-of high school bands that will no doubt fumble over Smith's elaborate guitar progressions and use their falsettos to imitate his high-pitched vocals. With any luck, the Elliott Smith Memorial Fund, which aids abused children nationwide, will swell from the donations of Saturday's tribute concerts.
For many Smith worshipers, just seeing that double T-ed name in a headline gives a jolt of hopeful curiosity. Maybe they finally figured out why he pulled the plug, maybe his girlfriend killed him after all … maybe he's alive! Sadly, none of these could be further from the truth. However, even from six feet under, the astonishingly prolific songwriter continues to make the talk of the music-savvy town.
When Smith's final, posthumously arranged record, From a Basement on the Hill, was released, the expected "artist's intent" controversy quickly ensued: How close was this to Elliott's visions for the album? Rumors that Smith intended Basement to be a double album meant the existence of more songs that Joanna Bolme and Rob Schnapf, the two put in charge of organizing Basement, must have left off. Many assumed that the excess tunes were nixed for good reason. Personally, I imagined cavernous holes like missing vocal takes, or mistakes Smith never got around to fixing, that would deem them un-listenable. Still, Smith fans yearned to hear the Basement leftovers. And almost one year after the album's 2004 release, these prayers were answered.
Under the moniker Basement II demos, a collection of 22 of the supposedly lost songs were made available for download. The e-album's chief distributor was the now bountifully bookmarked Elliottsmithbsides.com. Within a month, there was not a music blog to be found that didn't have a link to the B-sides page somewhere in their archives.
While almost half of the 22 songs were rarities known to have been recorded years before the Basement sessions, the authentic ones added a significant new chapter to the Elliott Smith story.
"High Times" is one long, devastatingly powerful build-up, ending in a culmination that will leave you with your gut in your hands. "Sticks and Stones" shows Smith in a more cynically comical mood, poking fun at the L.A. pomposity he was no doubt surrounded by: "It's 45 past two/ I almost forgot to show/ I got a date to make with Mr. So-and-So/ after which/ I won't care when you all start to bitch/ and moan about being alone."
Remarkably enough, more finished studio-quality songs (save a few needed mastering jobs) from the Basement sessions continue to leak. Don't ask me how they manage to "leak." It sounds like the B-Sides website creator has been meeting in a dark parking lot with a man in a trench coat, whose face is concealed under the shadows of a Fedora hat. But who cares where the songs come from, as long as the world can continue to get its Elliott Smith fix.
The most recent discovery came Sept. 14 of this year, as dated on ESBS.com. The leak contains four never-before-heard songs, again intended for From a Basement on the Hill. And yes, they are all good.
In "Talking to Mary," Elliott returns to the tragic whispering voice that made up most of his 1994 debut album, Roman Candle.
In the calamitous ballad (what else is new?) "True Love," Smith artfully toys with the feel of a medieval melody. In a beautiful way, it sounds like something a lute-player in a four-pronged joker hat would perform at a royal masque. "True Love" also showcases some of the singer's darkest lyrics — and that's saying something. In one verse, Smith casually recites, "Now I'm the king of the ward/ 'cause I'm good and I swallow my sword/ and puke it out/ for the doctor to write me a new prescription." Yipes.
Clearly, choosing the 15 most album-worthy tracks from the copious material Smith recorded for From a Basement on the Hill must have been about as easy as picking the contents of a "Shakespeare's Best" compilation: What the hell do you weed out? Rumor has it that Smith's family denied permission to release the songs with more obvious suicide references ("True Love" included), but that doesn't explain why the other 30 or so gems were left on the cutting room floor. If you're a Smith fan and haven't heard the missing pieces of the puzzle, I suggest you type in Elliottsmithbsides.com right now. You'll find yourself saying, "What were Joanna and Rob thinking?!" with every song.
This Saturday, however, let us put the pointless Basement debate to rest for a moment, and instead salute one of the greatest songwriters who ever lived.
Rest in peace Elliott Smith (Aug. 6, 1969 — Oct. 21, 2003).
