Elliott Smith - From a Basement on the Hill
List Price:
Our Price: $14.64
You Save: $3.34 (19%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $1.89 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Elliott SmithEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-10-19
Music Label: Anti
Soundtracks:
- Coast to Coast
- Let's Get Lost
- Pretty (Ugly Before)
- Don't Go Down
- Strung Out Again
- Fond Farewell
- King's Crossing
- Ostriches & Chirping
- Twilight
- A Passing Feeling
- Last Hour
- Shooting Star
- Memory Lane
- Little One
- A Distorted Reality is Now a Necessity to be Free
Music reviews of From a Basement on the Hill
Music Review: ULTIMATELY UPLIFTING AND SWEET
Rating: 4 Stars
There are all sorts of "red flags" that go up when you approach an album such as FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL. We have a musical genius who has a long history of drug abuse and mental illness who is not signed to any major label making recordings in his own private studio. This genius dies under mysterious circumstances (some say murder-most say suicide) and friends and family assemble various tapes left behind into a final album. In other words, the album in hand is probably not what he would have put together himself.
Truth be known, there are more of these guys "out there" than one would guess. I would venture to say almost every burg has one; major cities having several. Elliott Smith was an exception in that he actually had several albums out there that actually had some national distribution. It also doesn't hurt that Smith was featured prominently on the GOOD WILL HUNTING soundtrack. Smith is commonly said to dabble in Beatlesque melodies-but to my ears he had more than a few Simon & Garfunkel influences as well.
First as few words about Smith's fabled suffering from depression. Depression is said to be the common cold of mental illness. It has been variously described in such unfriendly terms as "selfish", "at bottom just feeling sorry for oneself" and "anger turned inward". While most will readily concede that depression is a mental illness, there is also this perception that there is an element of choice and self-indulgence in the matter. People who hold this viewpoint tend to be firm in their convictions and you will even find a few former depressives who will agree. But this is a confusion of cause with effects.
Depressives are self-involved because they suffer-not the only way around. Depression has been diagnosed as involving a chemical imbalance in the brain and a failure to achieve adequate phenolic amine neurotransmitter levels across the synapses. Whether this gets at the bottom of the mental illness is still an open question. What is generally not appreciated is that the depressive perceives reality differently. The anguish and sadness the depressive feels in daily life is real and is carried around in everyday life much like shrapnel in a war veteran. Much like embedded jagged piece of metal in the flesh, some days it is tolerable-other days the pain is so bad one can think of little else. This changes how everything appears. One of the more frightening aspects in the life of a depressive is that he tries to behave and react normally with others only to have those in daily life erupting in indignation and anger. Depressives often withdraw or are paralyzed into inaction because the reactions of others are unpredictable and beyond control. The depressive thinks he is acting appropiately and on a civil level; but the reality is he is abrupt and abrassive and unpleasant to be around. Those living normal lives only have so much patience for depressives. It is not that most people are unwilling to understand--they can't understand. Real depression is so remote from normal human experience that you might as well be talking about another planet elsewhere in the great expanse of the Milky Way. On a general level, depressives become self-involved because they are constantly trying to account for (at least to themselves if no one else) why "nothing works" and "why they are different".
One of the worst things that can happen to a depressive is when it is revealed to him that he cannot even enjoy events designed to "have a good time". The anguish and pain follow him everywhere and the depressive is incapable of setting it aside even for a short period of time. It is not that he won't-he can't. This effects even the depressive's most intimate friendships and family interactions. Messages of support and love from others simply aren't "heard". Assurances of "I love you" or "I wish I could do something for you"-the depressive hears the "words" but they come across as empty and without depth. These words said with the best intentions don't touch the world the depressive finds himself in.
So when a depressive speaks he speaks of what he knows. What he knows is that dark world filled with disappointments, sadness, anguish that can suck all the air out of the room-and a kind of beauty.
This is perhaps the hardest for people who have never suffered a mental illness to understand. Such is the strength of the human spirit that even in the worst of circumstances we all can see beauty and we try describing it to others. No matter how much we maintain that the depressive lives in a world of illusion, he firmly responds that what is happening to him is real and a part of the human experience.
Thus we have this marvelous CD from Elliott Smith that stands as testimony to an artist's certainty that no matter how individual and alienated his experience may have been something can be communicated to reveal real human emotions and a transcendent facet of splendor.
Elliott Smith obviously had an exceptional gift to master the technical aspects of his craft and the physical agility to draw all the aspects of record making together. It is surprising that a single artist can produce a mix as good as this with just a bunch of home equipment. The best songs here are "Coast to Coast", "Pretty (Ugly Before)", "A Fond Farwell", and "A Passing Feeling". While brief sketches of Smith's lyrics are included as a small booklet in the CD's gatefold, it seems to me that Smith was trying to communicate impressionistically rather than in a literal straightforward fashion. I highly recommend that you listen to this CD with headphones as there is a lot going on sonically that you are liable to miss using a regular sound system.
It is difficult not to listen to this album without thinking about Smith's imminent death. But this is not an album that will fill you with angst and dread. It is ultimately uplifting and sweet.
Description of From a Basement on the Hill
Elliott Smith has been a patron saint of the indie scene since his days helming Portland heroes Heatmiser. As a solo artist, his fondness for Beatlesque melody led to some of the most beautifully orchestrated pop of the last decade. This is his final recording, which found him returning to an edgier, guitar-driven sound, alongside his trademark heart-rending balladry.MUZE Notes: Elliott Smith's death in 2003 left a cavernous hole in the world of popular music. Tender, intimate, and painfully honest, the songs in Smith's catalogue capture the fragility of human existence with rare, breathtaking beauty. On his first posthumous release, Smith reaffirms his status as an extraordinarily gifted artist, giving fans yet another reason to mourn his tragic loss. Conceived as an ambitious double album, FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL was ultimately narrowed down to 15 tracks by Smith's close friends, producer Rob Schnapf (Beck's MELLOW GOLD, Smith's X/O) and musician Joanna Bolme (the Minders, Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks). The result is a heartbreaking collection of songs that plays like a retrospective of Smith's entire career. "Strung Out Again" reflects the early edge of ROMAN CANDLE; "Last Hour" recalls the bittersweet melodies of ELLIOTT SMITH; "A Fond Farewell" is a sad anthem in the tradition of EITHER/OR; "Shooting Star" employs the more polished sound of ! X/O; and "Don't Go Down" is an extension of the more electrified FIGURE 8. Of course, the most haunting aspect of FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL is the lyrical content, which is impossible to hear without placing it in the context of Smith's untimely passing.
Posthumous releases fall into two categories: those which the artist was working on at the time of their death, and those which are gathered from every nook and cranny to keep fans enthused and cash registers ringing. Elliott Smith's from a basement on the hill is of the former variety. It was close to completion at the time of his untimely death. Over the course of the set's 15 songs, Smith's powerful songwriting and production skills are shown in their full breadth. From thickly interlocked chordal guitar riffs ("Coast to Coast") to shimmering melancholia ("A Fond Farewell"), the songs are each brought to their own particular focus by whatever means were most appropriate. There are lush background vocals, keyboard washes, pounding rhythms, and heart rending balladry. This disc is a sad goodbye to richly emotive artist. --David Greenberger
Alternative Rock CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Alternative Rock CDs
Bouncing Souls - Maniacal LaughterRelease date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Blondie - Parallel LinesRelease date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $397.77
Doors - L.A. WomanRelease date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $199.99
Amon Duul - Phallus DeiRelease date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Tangerine Dream - MelroseRelease date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Tangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine DreamRelease date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
![Ska Explosion [VHS] Image](/images/Ska-Explosion-VHS-6303381014-X.jpg){kind=small}
Ska Explosion [VHS]Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops:
![Little Earthquakes [VHS] Image](/images/Little-Earthquakes-VHS-6302488664-X.jpg){kind=small}
Little Earthquakes [VHS]Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $7.00
Price in other shops:
Exileby Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
![Louder Than Live [VHS] Image](/images/Louder-Than-Live-VHS-6301627865-X.jpg){kind=small}
Soundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
Elliott Smith - Introduction to Elliott SmithRelease date: 2010-11-02; Music CD
Best price: $7.65
Price in other shops:
![For Emma, Forever Ago [Vinyl] Image](/images/For-Emma-Forever-Ago-Vinyl-B0011NVCSO-X.jpg)
Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago [Vinyl]Release date: 2008-02-19; Music CD
Best price: $10.99
Price in other shops:
Heatmiser - Mic City SonsRelease date: 1996-10-29; Music CD
Best price: $8.20
Price in other shops:
![Roman Candle [Vinyl] Image](/images/Roman-Candle-Vinyl-B00383XYQS-X.jpg)
Elliott Smith - Roman Candle [Vinyl]Kill Rock Stars; Release date: 2010-04-06; Music CD
Best price: $16.80
Elliott Smith - Roman CandleRelease date: 2010-04-06; Music CD
Best price: $10.86
Price in other shops:
Elliott Smith - New MoonRelease date: 2007-05-08; Music CD
Best price: $12.89
Price in other shops:
Elliott Smith - Elliott SmithRelease date: 1995-07-21; Music CD
Best price: $10.42
Price in other shops:
Elliott Smith - Figure 8Release date: 2000-04-18; Music CD
Best price: $5.50
Price in other shops:
Elliott Smith - Either / OrRelease date: 1997-02-25; Music CD
Best price: $10.63
Price in other shops:
Elliott Smith - XoRelease date: 1998-08-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.92
Price in other shops: