Whilst Either/Or was a transitional album from Smith, that did not mean a lack of focus, quality or cohesiveness. He pushed his deep love for The Beatles to the fore with a sweet, scraggly variation of the kind of intimacy Paul McCartney leaned toward on McCartney and RAM, but his disarming, evocative lyrics and elegant yet vulnerable delivery were pure Elliott Smith”.
But with Either/Or, Smith established himself as far more than just a master of pastiche. Massachusetts alt-folk icon Mary Lou Lord once quipped about her longtime friend that Smith was a quintessential balance of Nick Drake and Lou Barlow.
It became the Cinderella story of 1997: the first male marquee act on Kill Rock Stars ascends from the CMJ charts to the Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song with “Miss Misery”-a song that wasn’t on Either/Or, but which embodies everything that has rendered the LP as Smith’s singular masterpiece to this very day. Nevertheless, it was an album unique to the company line not only in gender but style as well the folky wisp of Elliott Smith was a stark contrast to the more aggressive punk energy of popular groups like Huggy Bear, Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney.īut it wasn’t until Smith released Either/Or on Februthat his legend was carved in stone.Ī genuine pop masterpiece boasting a fuller, richer sound, Either/Or was the launching pad that catapulted Smith from the tiny clubs of Portland to playing the Oscars at The Shrine Auditorium when we was nominated for a song he wrote for Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting. Smith expanded his lo-fi setting to include elements of drums, harmonica, cello and organ upon debuting on Kill Rock Stars with his self-titled second solo LP in 1995. The guitarist and vocalist of esteemed Portland indie-pop outfit Heatmiser was no stranger to recording under his own name, crafting a stark, brittle solo debut in 1994 with Roman Candle for the Cavity Search imprint utilizing nothing more than a cheap four-track and a Radio Shack microphone to capture the sound. That all changed the day Moon signed singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. “ When Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson founded Kill Rock Stars in 1991, the record label was distinct among the American indie scene with its roster made up almost exclusively of female artists. The Observer looked back at Either/Or on its twentieth anniversary in 2017: To show its reputation and impact, there are some reviews that I want to source, prior to rounding things off. It is one of the most affecting albums that I have ever heard. I am a recent convert of Elliott Smith, and I have spent a lot of time with Either/Or. I think that, prior to its twenty-fifth anniversary, more people should listen to it. It is possessed of masterful and beautiful songwriting throughout. Containing tracks such as Angeles, and the immortal Behind the Bars, Either/Or is regarded as one of the best albums ever. Either/Or was recorded in several locations, mostly in Portland, Oregon, and it was produced by Smith, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. One of his very best turns twenty-five on 25th February, 1997.
In his short lifetime, he left us with some phenomenal albums. The Portland-born songwriter was only thirty-four. The world received the heartbreaking news that Elliott Smith had died (from suspected self-inflicted stab wounds).
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