Media & Reviews

I don't know how you think of post mortem released music, but I'm generally not a big fan of this pratice, especially as you often don't know why the artist had not released these tracks during his lifetime. There's one exception to this, and that's one of my favorite song writers, if not poets, namely Elliott Smith. I became first aware of his music during the movie the Royal Tenenbaums, where one of his songs (needle in the haystack) can be heard during the sequence where one of the characters tries to commit suicide. Well, that's the kind of music you can expect from Elliott, deeply emotional, paining whimsical, melancholia at its best. Don't get me wrong, his music and lyrics are some of the best I've heard, but don't give this a try if you're all alone and feeling a bit down. It is known that Smith had a lot of emotional problems, cumulating in his suicide a couple of years ago. Anyhow, he gave the world a huge present with his works and for what it matters, I'm really grateful for that. He passed away just before the prospected release of his album From a Basement on a Hill, which was released after a few months, and now, a new album made of recordings that he had never released (and maybe had never planned on doing so). I like it, its got a nice and calm tune and feels a bit less depressing than the previous one, although something is missing, there's a certain lack of completeness that I can't quite tackle down. If you like him, give it a try, if not maybe start by listening to his best album Either Or. 7 out of 10!