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From a Basement on the Hill

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From a Basement on the Hill is the sixth and final studio album by the American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith. Recorded from 2000 to 2003, and faced with multiple delays due to Smith's personal problems that resulted in his death, it was released posthumously in the UK and Europe on Domino on October 18, 2004,[2] and in the US the following day on October 19, 2004, through record label Anti-,[3] almost a year after his death.

From a Basement on the Hill
Studio album by
Elliott Smith
ReleasedOctober 18, 2004 (2004-10-18)
Recorded2000–2003
GenreIndie rock[1]
Length57:54
Label
Producer
Elliott Smith chronology
Figure 8
(2000) 		From a Basement on the Hill
(2004) 		New Moon
(2007)
Singles from From a Basement on the Hill
  1. "Pretty (Ugly Before)"
    Released: 2003

The album was initially planned as a double album, and was incomplete at the time of Smith's death.[4] Many of the songs Smith intended for the album remained unfinished, in some cases lacking only vocals. Smith's family hired his former producer Rob Schnapf and ex-girlfriend Joanna Bolme to sort through and finish the batch of over thirty songs that were recorded for the album, although the estate retained final decision on which tracks to include.[4]

Many of the songs reference Smith's struggles with drug addiction and depression. His cause of death is officially unknown, as the coroner's report remarks that some aspects pointed to suicide and some to murder. The official nature of the case and statements from close friends state that his death is still under speculation. It has not been investigated further.[4]

From a Basement on the Hill became Smith's highest-charting album in the US and was praised by critics, with reviewers complimenting the album's attempts to expand Smith's sound, such as the incorporation of instrumental passages, as well as heavier, guitar-based material.

Background

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On October 21, 2003, Elliott Smith died of two stab wounds, presumed by many to be self-inflicted. The wounds occurred following a heated argument at the Los Angeles home of his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba. The coroner's determination was that the mode of death was undetermined and raised the possibility of homicide.[5]

Smith battled heavy drug addiction and severe depression for most of his life,[6] although he was sober in his final days, seeking treatment at the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills and even giving up alcohol, caffeine, red meat, refined sugars and most of his prescribed psychiatric medications on his 34th birthday. Smith took to sobriety with the same intensity with which he took to intoxication, and he found himself suddenly face-to-face with a lifetime of depression and unmanaged emotional trauma.[4]

Recording and production

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The album was initially planned as a double album, due to contractual obligations with the DreamWorks label (now Interscope).[7] Smith had over fifty songs on tape reel or digital hard drive. He completed mixing on nine of these tracks with several others lacking only minor revisions or final vocals. Smith's estate hired Schnapf and Bolme to complete mixing on these tracks and eventually chose fifteen for inclusion on the album, which was ultimately released on the Anti- label.[4] During the recording period for the album, Smith had recorded with Steven Drozd and Russell Simins, drummers for The Flaming Lips and Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, respectively.[8]

Following Smith's death, Rob Schnapf, producer of Smith's earlier albums Either/Or, XO and Figure 8, was hired to mix and produce the album, along with Smith's former girlfriend Joanna Bolme. David McConnell, although present throughout much of the actual recording process, was not consulted during the mixing, nor was he asked for the extensive three years' worth of notes he and Smith had made while the album was being recorded.[9] When asked why he personally took up the job of finishing the album, Schnapf stated, "I had a paternal, protective feeling. I didn't want anybody mucking it up."[10]

Content

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"Coast to Coast" features poetry by Nelson Gary. Smith told Under the Radar in 2003: "I asked this friend of mine to make up something he could say as fast as he could in fifteen minutes about people healing themselves or being unable to heal themselves. While he's saying this thing there is a main vocal that goes over that."[11] The lyric "You're keeping me around, until I finally drag us both down" details a dysfunctional relationship.

"Pretty (Ugly Before)" was previously released as a single in August 2003 on Suicide Squeeze Records, along with a different version of "A Distorted Reality Is Now a Necessity to Be Free".[12] According to McConnell, Smith did not intend to have "Pretty (Ugly Before)" on the album.[13]

In "King's Crossing", where he sings "It's Christmas time and the needle's on the tree, the skinny Santa is bringing something to me", Smith alludes to using heroin, which he had many problems with.[14][15]

The lyrics also contain references to the practice of a Circuit rider (religious), the Liberty Bell, The Dalles, Oregon and Lite-Brite toys.

Schnapf noted that the track "Ostrich & Chirping", a short instrumental made from sampling and looping the noises made by a toy bird, had nothing to do with Smith and was something that McConnell had recorded by himself. McConnell said "don't ask me how this ended up on the record, I totally forgot I had put that on one of his reels."[16]

Release

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From a Basement on the Hill was released on October 19, 2004, almost a year after Smith's death, through record label ANTI-, a sub-label of Epitaph.

It debuted at No. 19 in the US, selling 43,000 copies, giving him his best first week sales,[17] and making it his highest-charting album in the US to date.[18] The album has also been re-released by Kill Rock Stars, alongside a remastered reissue of his 1994 debut, Roman Candle.[19]

When asked what Smith would have thought of the album, McConnell told Benjamin Nugent, "I don't think he would have delivered [that] record. The record he would have delivered would have had more songs, would have had different mixes and [been] a little more in-your-face."[20] Schnapf also expressed that the final result that he and Bolme had produced was not the album that Smith would have made, simply because Elliott was not around to finish the album. Bolme also said that they did not add anything to the songs, and only mixed whatever had been recorded: "I would never presume to add anything. We didn't add anything."[21]

Reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic88/100[22]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [23]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[24]
The Guardian     [25]
Los Angeles Times    [26]
Mojo     [27]
NME9/10[28]
Pitchfork7.2/10 (2004)[29]
8.4/10 (2010)[30]
Q     [31]
Rolling Stone     [32]
SpinA−[33]

After his death and the release of From a Basement on the Hill, many critics and fans viewed the album as a suicide note. Sindri Eldon, a journalist for Reykjavík Grapevine wrote, "...the foreshadowing of his suicide is so strong that it's difficult to listen to."[34]

From a Basement on the Hill was well received by critics. On music review aggregator website Metacritic, the album holds an approval rating of 88 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". It is one of the site's all-time highest-rated albums. Many reviewers complimented the album's attempts to expand Smith's sound, such as the incorporation of instrumental passages, as well as heavier, guitar-based material.[22]

Pitchfork called it "perfectly coherent and cohesive, without any sense of being slapped together from half-finished parts."[29] E! Online called it "a beautiful swansong to one of this generation's best."[22] Filter called it "large and epic, but tense and claustrophobic as well, and, gratefully, it's as close to Elliott as we've ever been."[22] Billboard stated that "Smith bundles together subtlety and ferocity to create one of his heart-aching best... Consider it a 'fond farewell' to one of this generations most poignant and gifted songwriters."[3] Rolling Stone had some reservations, observing that "this is an album about the seductions of oblivion, and a few of the more densely arranged songs mimic the characters in the lyrics, stumbing around without quite connecting. More often though, Smith teases extraordinary wit and warmth from songs that float lazily toward happiness."[32]

In the UK the album was received even more enthusiastically than in Smith's home country. Q wrote, "Given that its backstory involves one of the grimmest deaths in music history, it's tempting to view this album darkly, but really, there's no denying the new twist here... Without wanting to second-guess his mindset, this music often sounds like the madness surrounding its creator – his heroin troubles, an allegedly turbulent relationship, his struggles against depression. So what dominates are these loud, wayward Los Angeles epics full of gothic grandeur, broken-glass emotions, bizarre soundscapes and heavy, early-'70s guitars." The review concluded, "All posthumous releases receive garlands of praise but this would take your breath away whatever the circumstances".[31]

Other critics, however, were cautious about viewing the album as a suicide note: Mojo felt that "to do so would be to miss the crucial point – that From a Basement on the Hill is of a piece within a body of work that stretches back to the mid-'90s. If Smith's lyrical themes were pretty much constant, the point was only underlined by the survival of his abiding aesthetic. In very crude terms, he took the spirit of such White Album songs as "Long, Long, Long", "Julia" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", and re-rooted them in a lovelorn, druggy demi-monde... Smith, however, was no mere pasticheur. As ever, his chord changes and arrangements betray an inventiveness seemingly borne of brilliant instinct. Moreover, the songs that form this album's spine find him striding away, not only from his own influences, but the approach that had defined his last couple of records. Those who found Figure 8 and parts of XO too in thrall to the musical ways of the West Coast – slightly over-airbrushed, maybe a little too lush – will be cheered by the fractured, frankly grungey likes of "Don't Go Down" and "Coast to Coast": in their own controlled way, as messy and imperfect as the experiences described therein. The contrast between their music and Smith's ever-tender vocals makes for a compelling tension; here, he alights upon an approach that would have gone on to serve him admirably well."[27] NME observed that the opening track "Coast to Coast" "sets out the themes which run through the whole album: chronic self-doubt, poisonous sarcasm, a prevailing sense of having had enough of trying to fulfil other people's expectations", and went on to state that "while this is clearly not the record Smith intended to make, it's still an immensely gripping and cohesive piece of work. For all his experiments with grungier rock and spectral acoustics, From a Basement... holds together convincingly. It sounds like a completely finished album, and one which, remarkably, is a match for the very best in Smith's catalogue."[28]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Elliott Smith, except "Ostrich & Chirping", written by David McConnell

From a Basement on the Hill track listing
No.TitleLength
1."Coast to Coast"5:33
2."Let's Get Lost"2:27
3."Pretty (Ugly Before)"4:45
4."Don't Go Down"4:34
5."Strung Out Again"3:12
6."A Fond Farewell"3:58
7."King's Crossing"4:57
8."Ostrich & Chirping"0:33
9."Twilight"4:29
10."A Passing Feeling"3:32
11."The Last Hour"3:27
12."Shooting Star"6:01
13."Memory Lane"2:30
14."Little One"3:14
15."A Distorted Reality Is Now a Necessity to Be Free"4:32

Personnel

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  • Elliott Smith – all instruments not listed below, production, recording, front cover handwriting

Additional personnel

  • Steven Drozd – drums on "Coast to Coast"
  • Aaron Sperske – drums on "Coast to Coast"
  • Nelson Gary – poetry reading on "Coast to Coast"
  • Sam Coomes – bass guitar and backing vocals on "Pretty (Ugly Before)"
  • Aaron Embry – keyboards on "Pretty (Ugly Before)"
  • Scott McPherson – drums on "Pretty (Ugly Before)"
  • Fritz Michaud – drums on "King's Crossing"

Technical

  • Autumn DeWilde – sleeve typography
  • Joanna Bolme – mixing
  • Rob Schnapf – mixing
  • Scott Wiley – engineering assistance
  • Ted Jensen – mastering
  • Andrew Beckman – recording (additional)
  • Chris Chandler – recording (additional)
  • David McConnell – recording (additional)
  • Dee Robb – recording (additional)
  • Fritz Michaud – recording (additional)
  • Jon Brion – recording (additional)
  • Matthew Ellard – recording (additional)
  • Pete Magdaleno – recording (additional)
  • Ryan Castle – recording (additional)
  • Tom Biller – recording (additional)
  • Valente Torres – recording (additional)
  • Nick Pritchard – sleeve design
  • Renaud Monfourny – front cover photograph
  • Ashley Welch – sleeve photography
  • Dominic DiSaia – sleeve photography
  • Paul Heartfield – sleeve photography

Chart positions

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Chart performance for From a Basement on the Hill
Chart (2004) Peak
position
Australian ARIA Albums Chart[35] 50
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[36] 47
Canadian Albums Chart[37] 33
French SNEP Albums Chart[38] 45
Irish Albums Chart[39] 11
Norwegian Albums Chart[40] 37
Swedish Albums Chart[41] 52
UK Albums Chart[42] 41
US Billboard 200[18] 19
US Billboard Independent Albums[43] 1

References

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  1. ^ Derrick Rossignol (April 28, 2015). "The 15 Albums That Made These Two Years the Defining Era for Indie Rock". Mic. Retrieved August 1, 2021.
  2. ^ "[Article on Elliott Smith]". Music Week. London, England: CMP Information: 21. October 9, 2004.
  3. ^ a b Hasty, Katie (October 30, 2004). "Album Reviews – Pop". Billboard. New York City, USA. p. 30.
  4. ^ a b c d e Gowing, Liam (October 21, 2013). "Mr. Misery". Spin. Archived from the original on December 22, 2013. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  5. ^ "Rocker's Autopsy Doesn't Rule Out Homicide |The Smoking Gun". The Smoking Gun. January 8, 2004. Retrieved March 12, 2015.
  6. ^ Valania, Jonathan (October 21, 2013). "Elliott Smith: All Things Must Pass". Magnet. Retrieved April 29, 2014.
  7. ^ "The Badger Herald: ArtsEtc.: Singer Elliott Smith Dead in Apparent L.A. Suicide". The Badger Herald. January 12, 2007. Archived from the original on December 29, 2011. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  8. ^ "Friends, Peers Mourn Elliott Smith". Billboard. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  9. ^ Chun, Kimberly. "No Easy Way Out". San Francisco Bay Guardian. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  10. ^ Smith, R.J. (18 July 2004). "Elliott Smith's Uneasy Afterlife". New York Times. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  11. ^ Gary, Nelson. "Coast to Coast: Elliott Smith, A Personal Account". The Lummox Journal. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  12. ^ "Final Elliott Smith Album Due in October". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  13. ^ Nanamaker, Ben (June 15, 2012). "Final Album Displays Ambivalence – Arts – The Lantern – Ohio State University". The Lantern. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  14. ^ Eldon, Sindri. "Being Him Just Wasn't That Much Fun". The Reykjavik Grapevine. Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  15. ^ Petridis, Alexis (October 15, 2004). "Review: Elliott Smith – From a Basement on a Hill". The Guardian. London, England. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
  16. ^ "David McConnell". Eye. Archived from the original on October 12, 2007. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  17. ^ "Rod Returns To No. 1 With 'Stardust'". Billboard. 2006-08-29. Archived from the original on 29 August 2006. Retrieved 2022-02-13.
  18. ^ a b "Elliott Smith – Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
  19. ^ "From a Basement on the Hill". Pitchfork. 29 March 2010.
  20. ^ "Elliott Smith Lives Again! From a Basement on the Hill V.2 – The Confabulators Archive". The Confabulators. Archived from the original on February 12, 2006. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  21. ^ Blair, Elizabeth (October 15, 2004). "'From a Basement': Elliott Smith's Posthumous Gift : NPR". NPR. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  22. ^ a b c d "Reviews for From A Basement On The Hill by Elliott Smith". Metacritic. Retrieved March 7, 2013.
  23. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "From a Basement on the Hill – Elliott Smith". AllMusic. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  24. ^ Browne, David (October 22, 2004). "from a basement on the hill". Entertainment Weekly. New York. Archived from the original on November 7, 2016. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  25. ^ Petridis, Alexis (October 15, 2004). "Elliott Smith, From a Basement on a Hill". The Guardian. London. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  26. ^ Cromelin, Richard (October 10, 2004). "Striking revelation in epics, vignettes". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  27. ^ a b Harris, John (November 2004). "Elliott Smith: From a Basement on the Hill". Mojo (132). London: 92.
  28. ^ a b Mulvey, John (October 23, 2004). "Smith, Elliott : From A Basement On The Hill". NME. London: 47. Archived from the original on March 24, 2013. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  29. ^ a b Petrusich, Amanda (October 17, 2004). "Elliott Smith: From a Basement on the Hill". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  30. ^ Greene, Jayson (March 29, 2010). "Elliott Smith: Roman Candle / From a Basement on the Hill". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
  31. ^ a b Lowe, Steve (November 2004). "Elliott Smith: From a Basement on the Hill". Q (220). London: 111.
  32. ^ a b Sanneh, Kelefa (October 28, 2004). "From A Basement On The Hill". Rolling Stone. New York. p. 98. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  33. ^ Aaron, Charles (November 2004). "Death Letter". Spin. 20 (11). New York: 105–06. Retrieved May 9, 2016.
  34. ^ Háskólabókasafn, Landsbókasafn Íslands-. "Tímarit.is". timarit.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 2021-05-09.
  35. ^ "Australian-charts.com – Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  36. ^ "ultratop.be – Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill". Ultratop. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  37. ^ "Top Of The Charts: Middle Aged Music Fans Represent As Rod Stewart Hits #1". Chart Attack. Archived from the original on February 23, 2006. Retrieved February 8, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  38. ^ "Lescharts.com – Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill". Lescharts.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  39. ^ "Irishcharts.com – Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill". Irish-charts.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  40. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill". Norwegiancharts.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  41. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Elliott Smith – From a Basement on the Hill". Swedishcharts.com. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  42. ^ "Elliott Smith". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
  43. ^ "Elliott Smith – Chart History". Billboard. Retrieved June 22, 2013.
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