Customer Reviews

New Moon

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If EITHER/OR, ELLIOTT SMITH & XO are his best albums, I'd say NEW MOON is 4th in line. Longtime fans, need no persuading, but this probably isn't the best place to start. This is after all, an over-generous collection of outtakes. True, they lack the Brian Wilson-like arrangements of his last 3 albums. But the lo-fi quality here is far from sub-par. Without a doubt, the folks at KRS put this together with love & care.

For my money, Smith was undoubtedly, one of the finest songwriters to emerge from the mid 90's. In terms of angst & heartache, he all too quietly pulled the rug out from under Kurt Cobain. Suffice it to say, all the songs here are terrific. Vintage Elliott Smith. Catchy Beatleseque hooks, intimate vocals. Audio butterscotch. Smith's unique playing style is on full display, especially on "Seen How Things Are Hard".

Recorded between 1994-97, Smith was probably wise to leave these songs off his official releases. Not because the the songs were bad. But one gets the sense that his best albums would have been less so with their inclusion. Fortunately for fans, they all work so well together here. Sequencing is half the battle on things like this & folks here have done a fine job. Nothing feels particularly thrown together last minute.

Highlights include, the fragile, "Angel In The Snow" and the bleak, "All Cleaned Out". The early version of "Pretty Mary K" outshines its eventual incarnation on FIGURE 8. And it's nice to finally hear the title track of "Either/Or". Oddly enough, the last 2 tracks ("See You Later" and "Half Right") act as more of a fitting fond farewell than nearly all of FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL.

Like much of Smith's classic work, alot of the songs herein evoke a similar mood to that found on Nick Drake's PINK MOON. Comparison between Smith and Drake has never been much of a stretch though The Beatles have been cited as a major influence.

While somewhat underrated, BASEMENT felt a little stitched together and ghoulish but MOON organically captures Smith at the height of his powers. Though, there's nothing here that particlualy sheds any new light, Smith always excelled at leaving you wanting more. Well, here you go.

An essential glance back at what we all miss.

Many (but not all) of these songs have been circulating on the internet for the last several years, raising the question of whether or not this album is worth the purchase price. The answer is an unqualified yes. Having heard rough cuts of many of these songs, my jaw hit the floor when I heard how beautifully they've been remastered. The songs sparkle and gleam, and hidden complexities of Smith's virtuouso guitar work leap melodically forth from this stupendous collection.

The often-unaccompanied singing/guitar work of these songs most nearly recalls the work on his self-titled album. These are not second-rate tunes that were dredged up for release - some of these songs are as good as anything he released during his tragically-short career. "Angel in the Snow", "Looking Over My Shoulder", and "Georgia, Georgia" are immediate standouts that will surely join the top ranks of his corpus.

This is a magnificent parting gift from one of the greatest musical minds of his generation, and an absolute treasure.

Perhaps only Elliott Smith could generate an album's worth of "outtakes" and "rarities" that stand alongside even his most powerful work. At worst, New Moon is graceful. At its best, it's mesmerizing. The more I listen to this album, the more I think no one quite comes close to his balance of restraint, passion, intimacy, and splashes of baroque intensity. Not Samuel Beam, not David Gray, and certainly not the chronically overwrought Damien Rice. I think only Sufjan Stevens is on this level. And Smith didn't even think this stuff worthy of an album! The mind reels.

Gorgeous guitar work, the classic doubled vocals (sometimes harmonized, even)... the "right beside you" sound is arresting at times. Ironically, the strength of this album *as* an album is the variety, where before Smith's releases were each notably unified in tone; this sometimes pushed his work to the brink of homogeneity.

This guy was a folkie for the 21st Century. Like any great posthumous release, New Moon celebrates his strengths, over and over again. If there were any doubts, I think this one seals the deal. It's a keeper. It is quite unfortunate that the source of his genius was also apparently the source of his greatest darkness.

When a musician dies way too young as is the case with Elliott Smith, there is always a fear of their legacy being tarnished. For us on the outside we have no idea of what Elliott's wishes were. It was clear that others had to make some decisions before they released "From a Basement On the Hill" so I think it's safe to assume that the songs on the new release "New Moon" were also left behind with no clear cut idea to what Elliott wanted done with them. Being a fan and loving his music the way I do I would hope that where ever he is, he realizes that these songs are being released for the right reasons. And reason number one is because they are damn good! This is not a 2 cd set of scraps and bottom of the barrel material that he saw unfit to release. But it's a glimpse into the soul of a brilliant and troubled guy who had something to say on many different levels. Many of these songs have been making the rounds between fans for the last couple of years but many times they were of poor sound quality. So it's nice to have cleaned up versions of gems like "Placeholder" and "Going Nowhere". The two highlights for me were "First Timer" and "All Cleaned Out". If you don't get a chill down your spine when the sweet double-tracked vocals come in on "First Timer" then you have no soul in my opinion. The hardest thing with a release like this is that it brings back all of those feelings of why?? As in why did he leave us so soon. There is talk that there is plenty more left in the vaults so maybe over the next few years we might get to hear what else was on his mind. It's amazing that songs recorded over 10 years ago by an artist that most people don't know have more soul and meaning then any multi-platinum flavor of the day garbage you hear today. I feel sorry for those who have never heard an Elliott Smith song or album as they are really missing out on something special.

Thanks Again Elliott
XO

It totally astounded me. I had no expectations, but would not have been surprised if these tracks were left off Elliott's records because they were somehow sub-standard. They are not. Either/Or could have been a perfect double CD with the inclusion of these tracks. If you are an Elliott fan, you will be exstatic about these archival gems.

This CD is pretty much amazing.

I've had it for about a year now, and still haven't gotten sick of it.

Best songs:
Almost Over
Going Nowhere
Fear City
... actually this is pointless it's all incredible, even in comparison to other Elliot Smith cds. Just get it.

...friends and family of Elliott for putting out these b-sides and previously unreleased songs. I already knew a few of the songs, (like the alternate versions of his Heatmiser songs, the other take of "Miss Misery" and "Thirteen") and the rest are already growing on me. However, there are still plenty of songs left in Elliott's canon that have yet to see the light of day (on an official album), such as his collaboration with Jon Brion. But this only leaves hope for future b-side compilations. Even after the man dies, his music lives on.

What an awesome album of mutli-layered guitars and vocals, just the way Smith's used to excel at.
Listening to it, I kind of doubted during a minute that he actually was dead. I laughed to myself imagining for a moment that this story was a joke and that he was there somewhere still recording albums.
Well, it's not the case.
But luckily enough we still have something to discover about Elliott Smith's music. And it's one of the most beautiful piece of it. Love it, share it.

Simply amazing. If you think you've heard the best of this beautiful man, you will think again once you've listened to this. All of his astonishing gifts, as always, coalesce and make for another transcendant musical and poetic experience. Of all of his recordings, this is to me without a doubt the absolute best. I am so grateful for the opportunity to experience and share Elliott smith's music. Genius and sensibility. Pain and beauty. Inspiration.

I lived in Portland Oregon in the mid 1990's and some of my best memories are the Elliot Smith shows i saw in quaint local bars and clubs, up close and personal, just Elliot and his guitar. I always loved him with his band as well, but to me, the true artist in Elliot Smith always came shining through in his solo shows, when his fantastic songwriting was front and center.

If you are the kind of person who owns every Elliot Smith CD, and considers the Kill Rock Stars records to be his best, then New Moon is a must have. There is no need for me to go through track by track to describe the beauty of this album. The care that went into this release by the people who put it together deserves five stars in itself.

Listening to New Moon made me realize how great Elliot Smith was and how much i miss hearing him and seeing him create new music.