From a Basement on the Hill

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From a Basement on the Hill
From a Basement on the Hill cover
Studio album by Elliott Smith
Released October 19, 2004
Recorded Unknown
Genre Indie Rock, Baroque Pop
Length 57:54
Label ANTI-
Producer(s) Elliott Smith
Rob Schnapf
Joanna Bolme
Professional reviews
Elliott Smith chronology
Figure 8
(2000)		 From a Basement on the Hill
(2004)


From a Basement on the Hill is the final album by the late Elliott Smith, which was released posthumously on October 19, 2004. It peaked at #19 in the US and #41 in the UK.

Originally intended to be a double album, Basement was incomplete at the time of Smith's death. Smith's family hired his former producer Rob Schnapf and ex-girlfriend Joanna Bolme to sort through and put the finishing touches on the more than thirty songs that were recorded for the album; although Smith had stated many times before his death that he wanted Basement to be a double album, they put together a single album of fifteen songs, as contractual obligations with the singer's former label DreamWorks (now Interscope) prevented them from releasing a double album on an independent label. In addition, many of the songs Smith intended for the album remained unfinished, in many cases lacking vocals. Some fans accuse Elliott's family and the producers of cutting the darkest songs from the album (such as "True Love," which deals graphically with addiction and then rehab, "Abused," and "Suicide Machine") in an attempt to make the album 'happier', an accusation that has been denied. [4]

David McConnell, the man who produced seven [5] of the tracks that appear on the album with Smith and thus obviously present through some of the actual recording process, was not consulted during the mixing, nor was he asked for the extensive "three years worth" of notes made by himself and Smith while the album was being finalized. [6] The producer also noted that the track "Ostriches & Chirping," a strange and 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. [7] Smith most likely did not intend for this song to be on the album. When asked what he believed the late Smith would think of the released version of the album, McConnell told Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing author Benjamin Nugent, "I don’t think he would have delivered {that} record. The record he would have delivered would had more songs, would have had different mixes and {been} a little more in your face."

Jennifer Chiba, Elliott Smith's live-in girlfriend at the time of his death, was also not consulted while the album was being finalized, although the singer had spent hundreds of hours talking to her about his directions for the record (SPIN, Dec. 2004).

Due to the album's originally intended length, the possibility remains that a collection of unreleased material may someday be released. However, due to the aforementioned contractual obligations, all of the remaining material is the property of Interscope, making a release unlikely without a boom in the popularity of Elliott Smith's music.

The album was released on Anti- Records on Compact Disc, Vinyl LP and Digital Download.

Contents

[edit] Track listing

(All songs written by Elliott Smith except "Ostriches & Chirping")

  1. "Coast to Coast" – 5:33 sample (help·info)
  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 sample (help·info)
  7. "King's Crossing" – 4:57
  8. "Ostriches & Chirping" – 0:33 (David McConnell)
  9. "Twilight" – 4:29
  10. "A Passing Feeling" – 3:22
  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

[edit] Outtakes

The following songs were known to have been written and in various stages of recording (with some fully completed) during the Basement era, but were ultimately not included on the 2004 album:

  • "Dancing on the Highway" also known as "Still Here (if you want me)"
  • "Flowers for Charlie"
  • "From a Poison Well"
  • "Mr. Goodmorning"
  • "See You In Heaven" / "My New Freedom" also known as "I'm Doing Okay, Pretty Good" (Thought to be different versions of the same song)
  • "Stickman"
  • "Suicide Machine" (A reworking of the Figure 8 outtake "Tiny Time Machine")
  • "True Love" also known as "True Love is a Rose"
  • "Blue Mood"
  • "Everything's Okay" (A reworking of the Either/Or outtake, "Pretty Mary K")
  • "Cecilia/Amanda" (originally recorded for XO)
  • "Abused" (originally recorded for Either/Or in 1996)
  • "Sorry My Mistake" (originally recorded for Figure 8)
  • "Brand New Game" (originally recorded for Figure 8)

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Notes

  • "Coast to Coast" features poetry by Nelson Gary. Smith told Under the Radar Magazine 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."
  • "Pretty (Ugly Before)" previously appeared on a 2003 single on Suicide Squeeze Records, along with a different version of "A Distorted Reality Is Now a Necessity to Be Free". According to McConnell, Smith did not intend to have "Pretty (Ugly Before)" on the album.
  • "Ostriches and Chirping" is a short instrumental track, apparently not intended for the album and not even created by Smith.
  • "Twilight" was originally entitled "Somebody's Baby".
  • If the song "Little One" is played backwards, one can hear some acoustic guitar lines as they were originally recorded, unreversed.
  • Some of the songs that Smith may have been working on at the time of his death that did not make it onto the fifteen-track disc leaked online about a year after the release of this album. They can be found at http://www.elliottsmithbsides.com/BasementIIDemos.htm and at http://www.trashtreasury.com/html/basement-II.html

[edit] Samples

Elliott Smith
Discography
Albums: Roman Candle - Elliott Smith - Either/Or - XO - Figure 8 - From a Basement on the Hill
Singles: No Confidence Man - Needle in the Hay - Division Day - Speed Trials - Ballad of Big Nothing - Waltz #2 (XO) - Baby Britain - Happiness - Son of Sam - Pretty (Ugly Before)
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