180g Vinyl! Compilation Album Includes Early Version Of "Miss Misery" and Single Version of "Happiness!"
This compilation album was released posthumously in November 2010. All songs on the album were written and composed by Elliott Smith (1969-2003).
An Introduction To Elliott Smith is, as the title suggests, intended as an introduction to one of the greatest songwriters of our era. Hopefully this will enable new generations to learn about Elliott's music by providing a pathway for people to delve more deeply into his immensely satisfying catalog.
Elliott started to write and record songs at home in Portland, OR on a four-track recorder. He attended Lincoln High School and graduated in 1987 as a National Merit finalist. While in high school he formed his first band, Stranger than Fiction. Elliott attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts and graduated in 1991 with a major in political philosophy.
He then moved back to Portland and formed the band Heatmiser along with Neil Gust, his friend and fellow-musician from Hampshire College. Elliott released his first solo album, Roman Candle (Cavity Search), in 1994. He followed with the self-titled Elliott Smith (1995) and Either/Or (1997), both issued on the independent label Kill Rock Stars. He also recorded three albums with Heatmiser in the early 90s: Dead Air and Cop and Speeder (both onFrontier) and Mic City Sons (Virgin/Caroline). In 1997, director and Portland resident Gus Van Sant used some of his songs in the film Good Will Hunting (Van Sant had been a friend and fan of Smith's since hearing Roman Candle). One of those, Miss Misery, went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Song in a Motion Picture. Elliott performed Miss Misery on the Academy Awards telecast March 23, 1998.
Elliott signed a contract with DreamWorks Records in 1998 and quickly released XO, his fourth solo album. That same year his cover of The Beatles Because was the end-credit song for the Academy Award winning film American Beauty. In 2000, Smith released his fifth solo album, Figure 8, to much critical acclaim. After the release of Figure 8 and subsequent touring in support of the record, Smith concentrated on writing and reworking more songs, many of which made up From a Basement on The Hill, which was released posthumously on Anti Records in October of 2004. Before his death on October 21, 2003, Elliott had realized his long time dream of building his own recording studio, New Monkey, located in Van Nuys, California.
Kill Rock Stars released New Moon, in May 2007. New Moon is a collection of 24 songs recorded from 1994-97, during the period of the release of the self-titled album and Either/Or.
Features:
180g Vinyl
Includes free mp3 download
Selections:
1. Ballad of Big Nothing (from Either/Or)
2. Waltz #2 (XO) (from XO)
3. Pictures of Me (from Either/Or)
4. The Biggest Lie (from Elliott Smith album)
5. Alameda (from Either/Or)
6. Between the Bars (from Either/Or)
7. Needle In the Hay (from Elliott Smith album)
8. Last Call (from Roman Candle)
9. Angeles (from Either/Or)
10. Twilight (from From a Basement On the Hill)
11. Pretty (Ugly Before) (from From a Basement On the Hill)
12. Angel In the Snow (from New Moon)
13. Miss Misery (early version)
14. Happiness (single version)
This compilation album was released posthumously in November 2010. All songs on the album were written and composed by Elliott Smith (1969-2003).
An Introduction To Elliott Smith is, as the title suggests, intended as an introduction to one of the greatest songwriters of our era. Hopefully this will enable new generations to learn about Elliott's music by providing a pathway for people to delve more deeply into his immensely satisfying catalog.
Elliott started to write and record songs at home in Portland, OR on a four-track recorder. He attended Lincoln High School and graduated in 1987 as a National Merit finalist. While in high school he formed his first band, Stranger than Fiction. Elliott attended Hampshire College in Massachusetts and graduated in 1991 with a major in political philosophy.
He then moved back to Portland and formed the band Heatmiser along with Neil Gust, his friend and fellow-musician from Hampshire College. Elliott released his first solo album, Roman Candle (Cavity Search), in 1994. He followed with the self-titled Elliott Smith (1995) and Either/Or (1997), both issued on the independent label Kill Rock Stars. He also recorded three albums with Heatmiser in the early 90s: Dead Air and Cop and Speeder (both onFrontier) and Mic City Sons (Virgin/Caroline). In 1997, director and Portland resident Gus Van Sant used some of his songs in the film Good Will Hunting (Van Sant had been a friend and fan of Smith's since hearing Roman Candle). One of those, Miss Misery, went on to earn an Academy Award nomination for Best Song in a Motion Picture. Elliott performed Miss Misery on the Academy Awards telecast March 23, 1998.
Elliott signed a contract with DreamWorks Records in 1998 and quickly released XO, his fourth solo album. That same year his cover of The Beatles Because was the end-credit song for the Academy Award winning film American Beauty. In 2000, Smith released his fifth solo album, Figure 8, to much critical acclaim. After the release of Figure 8 and subsequent touring in support of the record, Smith concentrated on writing and reworking more songs, many of which made up From a Basement on The Hill, which was released posthumously on Anti Records in October of 2004. Before his death on October 21, 2003, Elliott had realized his long time dream of building his own recording studio, New Monkey, located in Van Nuys, California.
Kill Rock Stars released New Moon, in May 2007. New Moon is a collection of 24 songs recorded from 1994-97, during the period of the release of the self-titled album and Either/Or.
Features:
180g Vinyl
Includes free mp3 download
Selections:
1. Ballad of Big Nothing (from Either/Or)
2. Waltz #2 (XO) (from XO)
3. Pictures of Me (from Either/Or)
4. The Biggest Lie (from Elliott Smith album)
5. Alameda (from Either/Or)
6. Between the Bars (from Either/Or)
7. Needle In the Hay (from Elliott Smith album)
8. Last Call (from Roman Candle)
9. Angeles (from Either/Or)
10. Twilight (from From a Basement On the Hill)
11. Pretty (Ugly Before) (from From a Basement On the Hill)
12. Angel In the Snow (from New Moon)
13. Miss Misery (early version)
14. Happiness (single version)
