I really thought I was off of sensitive singer-songwriter guitar type records- my tastes as of late have run almost exclusively towards electronic bleeps and blurps. But this album hit almost every critic's top ten list last year and I saw it used so... what the hey. So painfully beautiful. So fragile and yet tough and smart. This album is the soundtrack to every melancoly (sp?) moment in my life. Think grey skies, grey flannel and prozac. The music itself is understated and compelling and inventive; i.e. it surprises me everytime I think it's about to become cliche. My pal Andy has been into Smith for a while and says "XO" is his weakest album. I have a hard time believing it and will definately be searching for the man's back catalogue. Do yourself a favor and go buy the thing.

have you heard the stuff he did with heatmiser? before I left the u.s. last year, I felt it was my duty as a portlander to try out some of smith's work. but the only cd I found used and cheap was an old heatmiser album (I think it has the word "speed" or "cop" in the title). the songs are dull dull dull -- how much of the songwriting did smith do? I think on the album there are two singers, alternating songs. still, I'm willing to give him another chance. people I trust recommend him. I suppose his later solo stuff is distributed by the majors and can be picked up in virgin megastores worldwide?

I haven't heard Heatmeiser- I didn't even know he was in a band before (although I guess I could've assumed it- musicians rarely spring fully formed out of their own foreheads.). If Heatmeiser is boring then I'll assume Smith had little to do with the songwritting credits or that he's just gotten better (example: Tom Waits; his early stuff was pretty dull too.). Smith's three previous cds are indies and I'm not sure of titles/labels. "XO" is on Dreamworks- which means you can pretty much count on it being at the local Wal-Mart, I think.

You're off the bus, dude, for blasphemy. Tom's early stuff may have been different than the more recent ouevre, but boring? Nighthawks at the Diner is a classic, Raindogs is what got me into Tom, and I could expound at length.

"my old '55"? dull? Markus, expound at length. I'm listening.

Nah, it's rare enough that I resist the urge to dribble on past the time when the audience has turned away and is watching the mime juggle, so I'll be good this time. All I'll say is that I've got a soft spot for "I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You" as well as "The Earth Died Screaming".

Oh fuck- that's not what I meant- I guess I need to be a little more precise about 'early'."Nighthawks" is brilliant, "Raindogs" rules and "Frank's Wild Years" is playing in the background as I peck this- But have you listened to his early to mid- 70's stuff? Pre-Island records? "Closing Time" has moments (flashes, really) of what was to come, but overall... it's, uh... well, it's the kind of work you do when you're commissioned to paint for the Medicis- no wattles, no warts; lest the powers-that-be stop supporting your need to make art. And half of Waits' draw lies in the wattles and warts, y'know?

perhaps it is necessary to have been there at that time, in the mid-70's. the warts were latent, and that was ok. to have heard Tom Waits when it was the first time for both of us, well, I could expound at length.

Sheila, expound at length. You're not out of the woods yet, sonny. Nighthawks and Small Change (both brilliant and on Elektra) are from 1976, and The Heart of Saturday Night, the beginning of his bohemian/beat turn, dates to 1974. So yeah, I've listened to it, and like it as much as his later turn to Harry Partch-influenced stuff beginning with Swordfishtrombones, and the even later "found sound", and the earliest folk/rock on Closing Time. So I like Tom. I'm not weird about it; I don't tie myself up first, or anything.

I pity the person who says, "Hey, Elliot Smith, great!" and clicks on this link.

Ouch. Touche, Markus. I bow to a man with release dates at his fingertips. I prefer the "Swordfishtrombones" period on. Perhaps 'dull' was rash. Is there still room on the bus? Elliot Smith does kick ass, though. :)

All aboard. Elliot Smith is the musical guest next week on SNL.

Somebody help me. I'm obsessed with Elliott Smith. I didn't want to be. I didn't think I *could* be, considering I only liked two songs off "XO" the first time I listened to it. Now I can't take it out of the stereo except to listen to it in the car. I don't even like him all that much. I just can't stop thinking about his songs. It's like I *need* to listen to him or else feel restless. Now I'm combing Napster for songs off his other albums. Somebody stop me.

WEEN! WEEN! I'll be your Jonny on the spot! Here's what you do: listen to "baby bitch" a couple of times; it sounds SO MUCH like elliot that you won't even notice. then slowly work in some of the other less weird stuff. Captain Fantasy; erm. there are others. ask around on Napster, or wait 'till I get home to my portable brain-o-Ween. Soon you'll be hooked on Ween, instead, and from there you can jump to Megativeland or They Might be Giants, and from there, well, you're free to go, musically, where ever you please. Some people try to make the jump from Elliot straight to TMBG: I don't recommend it. If your tastes aren't in the "weird" way at all, you could try going from Elliot to Floater or Dada.

For anyone who didn't catch that, that was antithesis.

northwest music. elliott smith. nice. quasi. I think everyone here would love quasi, total geek rock of the first order. saw them a week or two ago and fell in love with that beautiful sam guy. the sleater-kinney chick (his ex-wife?) he plays with wasn't too bad herself. from their song "california," something like: life is dull, life is gray at its best, it's just ok but I'm happy to report life is also short saw my pals harvey danger at their tower records acoustic show yesterday. the new album's out (and in the liner notes I got a thank you, la la, I got a thank you, I got a thank you, la la la). it's much, much better than their first. I offered to put droopy on the list for their dallas show this friday, but he declined. the only review I've been able to find online is the amazon one (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00004X0PT). today I noticed that rolling stone sure trashed their first album. the band's "part of that class of charmless professional bands that execute well enough to feed the rock machine yet don't contribute anything to the lineage they've so diligently studied," and the album has "exactly one memorable song ... and nine punishingly average tracks that suggest the band's real creative genius might be its lawyer." ow.