My Top 100 Albums: #74 - Elliott Smith, ‘From a Basement on the Hill’

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74.

Elliott Smith, ‘From a Basement on the Hill’

ANTI-, 2004

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I wouldn’t normally include posthumous releases in this list, given the ambiguity that often arises regarding authorship and intention in certain cases, but the unique circumstances surrounding the release of From a Basement on the Hill compel me to give the album a fair shake in this celebration of musical accomplishment. Compiled by Elliott Smith’s long-time collaborator Rob Schnapf and girlfriend Joanna Bolme, from material recorded in the three years before the songwriter’s horrible, untimely passing, From a Basement on the Hill is often retrospectively labelled as a suicide note. The truth is that, while Smith is renowned for his morbid examination of mental illness, drug addiction and death, the record is much more sophisticated than that. The album is equal parts beauty and ugliness; celebration and grief; light and dark. Smith explores his whole range on this record: he’s satirical on opener Coast to Coast, he’s mournful on Twilight, he’s introspective on The Last Hour. Similarly, From a Basement on the Hill is Smith’s most explorative work from a musical perspective. While he performs comfortably in his acoustic folk milieu on the likes of Let’s Get Lost and Memory Lane, he ranges into indie rock on the unforgettable King’s Crossing, hard rock on Strung Out Again and even a sort of neo-psychedelia on Don’t Go Down. As well as showcasing Smith’s range, Schnapf and Bolme seem keen on illustrating the intelligent musicianship and beautiful voice that the influential singer-songwriter should really be better known for, with his intricate finger-picked guitar instrumentals on The Last Hour and his haunting, ethereal vocals on Twilight. So much of Elliott Smith’s life and career has passed into folklore since his death, but, almost two decades on, we can listen to this record with a bit more objectivity and celebrate the creator’s profound talent for picking apart the human psyche in truly beautiful and joyous music. As Smith sings with tongue in cheek on Coast to Coast, “If you can’t help it then just leave it alone[…]/Yeah, just forget it/It’s really easy/I believe I’ll forget it too.”

Hidden Highlight: King’s Crossing

1. Coast to Coast

2. Let’s Get Lost

3. Pretty (Ugly Before)

4. Don’t Go Down

5. Strung Out Again

6. A Fond Farewell

7. King’s Crossing

8. Ostrich & Chirping

9. Twilight

10. A Passing Feeling

11. The Last Hour

12. Shooting Star

13. Memory Lane

14. Little One

15. A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free

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See the full list so far here:

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