New Moon
Label: Kill Rock Stars
Length: LP
Media: CD
Format: Album
WorkNameSort: New Moon
His mysterious death in the fall of 2003 ‘ suicide or murder ‘ remains open with the L.A. police department and only adds to the artistic myth. Who knows? In 20 years, he could be the next Jim Morrison and land on the covers of magazines everywhere. But his estate will have to time things carefully. They’re currently blessed with New Moon, this collection of 24 tracks recorded between 1994 and 1997, when Smith was recording his two definitive Kill Rock Stars albums, 1995’s self-titled disc and 1997’s Either/Or. I had the serendipitous luck to see Elliott Smith open for Mark Eitzel in September 1995 at a small club in New York City. I knew he’d been in a band called Heatmiser and I crossed my fingers that he’d be a tolerable opening act. From his opening number, Smith was an obvious talent. His quietude had a soothing quality that sweetened the emotionally fragile destructiveness of his lyrics. More importantly, his guitar fingerpicking complemented his voice so perfectly that everyone in the room knew they were hearing the complete package. I ran out and bought the self-titled album that week. I was slightly disappointed by the lo-fi production; it seemed to obscure his visceral impact. (To this day, I prefer several live acoustic bootlegs for their more relaxed demeanor and hope that his estate will see fit to officially release some of the fine radio broadcasts that circulate.) But, nonetheless, it was a rewarding find, as was Either/Or when it appeared two years later. Hearing these outtakes from that era, it’s obvious that there’s no ‘Coming Up Roses,â?� ‘Angelesâ?� or ‘Say Yesâ?� in the batch. (He knew his best material.) Smith, however, often returned to certain melodic motifs, holding out certain notes, quickly running down scale, and employing the word ‘fuckingâ?� in the most casual of ways, so the songs left on the cutting-room floor are similar in tone to their released counterparts ‘ variations on familiar themes. ‘Riot Coming,â?� ‘All Cleaned Out,â?� ‘Whatever (Folk Song in C)â?� and his cover of Big Star’s ‘Thirteenâ?� are worth immediate attention. For those unimpressed by the production on Smith’s later work, these recordings come much closer to explaining Smith’s eerie appeal.

This article appears in May 2-8, 2007.