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Perhaps it is most fitting that I review this new posthumous
collection of songs from the departed Elliott Smith in
a frame of mind that befits the tragic end of said singer. Simply
put, I'm having a real sad day, and could probably do best with
a trip to the pub for a pint. Instead, I'll sit here and try to
get through this review and make some sort of constructive use
of my mean energies.
Everyone who needs to know knows that Elliott Smith graced the
world with a few tremendous records in the decade or so before
his demise. Either/Or, XO, and Figure 8 were
all critically acclaimed, and rightfully so. They were extremely
well put together albums filled with amazing and complex songs
that were full of more heart than the popular music community
had seen in quite a while. Unfortunately for those of us who were
in on the good things, we lost Mr. Smith back in 2003. The good
news was that he had been working on a follow-up record and had
made good progress in the recordings. His family has generously
consented to, and actually pushed forward, this project in the
hopes of giving the world the last music that Elliott had been
working on. God bless them.
The songs on from a basement on the hill are full of the
charm and beauty that we had come to expect from Smith, and there
are very few clues that would lead to the conclusion that we all
know he had come to in the end. There is a deep melancholy in
the music, but there was always a melancholia in the songs of
Smith, so that is certainly nothing new. There is the same clean
sense of purpose in these songs that can be found on his previous
records, and the same clean guitar lines and softly lilting melody
lines. If one closes his eyes and sits and just listens to the
music, one can forget all the pain in the world - and all the
pain that we now know was being bottled up inside the man - and
just enjoy the musical ride.
There is a lulling sense to these songs; A sense that the world
is a wonderful and glorious place full of beauty and small joys.
Which is not to say that there is only serenity and peace to be
found on these recordings. There are moments of gloriously orchestrated
cacophony ("Don't Go Down") and oddly off kilter words
and rhythms ("King's Crossing"). The song titles, when
read through and looked at with the understanding of where these
songs were headed for Smith, are the truly overwhelming and somewhat
haunting aspect of this record.
If you read through the titles, think about Smith's infamous
death, and then listen with that spirit inside your head, you
will find the album a bit unsettling. Like a majority of people
find Pink Floyd's The Wall an exercise in madness
and depression, that road will undoubtedly lead you to the same
conclusion about from a basement on the hill. But if you
can clear your mind and listen to this record from a distance,
as if through a window in a cottage on a hill in a meadow with
a soft breeze blowing, I believe you will find these songs to
be less daunting and more comforting… like wrapping yourself
in a much needed down comforter, while nursing a nice cup of tea
on a dark, cold winter's day. God keep you, Elliott.
-Embo Blake
Track Listing:
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 And 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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