Elliott Smith

I know it would make the most sense if I were to start a music-related blog with the Beatles, but what'd be the fun in that? Instead I'm going to start with an artist who I consider to be one of the most brilliant musical minds of the last 20 years. Perhaps he holds some specific significance to me because he was based in Portland OR, my hometown. But quite simply put his acoustic arrangements, which he wrote and played almost exclusively by himself, were brilliant. Despite that he probably would've remained totally obscure if it weren't for a chance encounter with fame when he got nominated for an oscar.

The fact remains that while he was brilliant throughout, the best of his music came in the middle of his career. Shortly before he penned Miss Misery for the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting, he created the album Either/Or, which has his distinct acoustic songwriting and contains many brilliant songs including "Say Yes", still his most popular song to date http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LcnHjjLdNXQ. The other songs on the album are fabulous for their simplicity. You need look no farther than “Between the Bars” or “Angeles” to find songs that are very dreamlike and yet have a dark and subversive meaning that is hard to see at first.

The other one of his albums that should definitely be looked at is XO, which he wrote after he became relatively famous, and his evolving sound is clear in his incorporating more instrumentation. Both of the waltzes on the album are combinations of great instrumentation and poetic lyrics. Perhaps the best song on the album though is “I Didn’t Understand”, which not only has a beautiful tune, but also happens to be entirely composed of Elliott’s voice layered over itself in an a capella-like way that sounds amazing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rt499rX2smk&feature=fvst. Like I said, brilliant.

Elliott’s death (supposedly a suicide) was a huge tragedy and his memory and music will be remembered for a long time. To anyone who happens to be reading this: check out his music. You might just find a song or two that means something to you.