Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Angel in the Snow
2. Talking to Mary
3. High Times
4. New Monkey
5. Looking Over My Shoulder
6. Going Nowhere
7. Riot Coming
8. All Cleaned Out
9. First Timer
10. Go By
11. Miss Misery [Early Version]
12. Thirteen

Disc 2:

1. Georgia, Georgia
2. Whatever [Folk Song in C]
3. Big Decision
4. Placeholder
5. New Disaster
6. Seen How Things Are Hard
7. Fear City
8. Either/Or
9. Pretty Mary K [Other Version]
10. Almost Over
11. See You Later
12. Half Right

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11185 in Music
• Brand: Dig
• Released on: 2007-05-08
• Number of discs: 2
• Dimensions: .28 pounds

Album Description
Disc One: 01. Angel In The Snow From the Jan/Feb 1995 sessions at Leslie Uppinghouse's home studio that yielded much of the S/T record. Elliott's mix appeared on a CD that came with Mike McGonigal's magazine, Yeti: Volume I.

02. Talking to Mary From the 1995 sessions at Leslie's. This is Elliott's rough mix as the master tape is sadly missing.

03. High Times From the 1995 sessions at Leslie's. An early working title was "Coma Kid". The "drums" are really just doubled snare (with the throw off loose) and ride cymbal.

04. New Monkey From sessions for Either/Or. The "bar" was certainly La Luna in Portland, with "the millions of fans ignoring the bands."

05. Looking Over My Shoulder From sessions for Either/Or. The title of this song is not certain.

06. Going Nowhere From sessions for Either/Or. Due to the limits of eight tracks you rarely get bass guitar on these sessions unless it is integral to the arrangement. One of the most haunting songs in this collection.

07. Riot Coming From the 1995 sessions at Leslie's. Notice the excellent melodic electric guitar part.

08. "All Cleaned Out" This song was tracked at Jackpot! Recording Studio in early 1997. The title is an assumption as there were no notes on or in the tape box.

09. First Timer Tracked at Jackpot! in early 1997. With different lyrics this song has seen life as "Ghost Writer" or "From a Poisoned Well". Elliott recorded the guitars too loud to tape in this collection, hence the occasional "chunk" noise.

10. Go By From sessions for Either/Or. Recorded to 8-track by Elliott in 1996, but then bounced to 2" tape by Rob and Tom where they added overdubs. It was obviously a contender for Either/Or at some point. Early versions of the song were known as "Bye Bye" and "Two Timed".

11. Miss Misery (early version) This song was tracked at Jackpot! in early 1997. It was later recut with lyric changes at Jackpot! and used in the film, Good Will Hunting.

12. Thirteen This Big Star/Alex Chilton song featured often in Elliott's live sets and in the Lucky Three short film by Jem Cohen. This version was recorded by Rob Jones and Elliott Smith in Elliott's Basement in April 1996 and was broadcast June 1, 1996, on Rob's Locals Show on KWVA 88.1 Eugene, OR. This was a simple live take with acoustic guitar and vocals.

Disc Two: 01. Georgia, Georgia From the 1995 sessions at Leslie's. Even though it was older, it was an early contender for the Either/Or running order.

02. Whatever (Folk Song in C) Apparently from the September 1994 sessions at Tony's. Features JJ Gonson's vintage Domino guitar that Elliott favored. Also known under the working title "Hanging Out With Me".

03. Big Decision From the 1995 sessions at Leslie's. Elliott's mix appeared on the CD compilation, A Slice of Lemon.

04. Placeholder From sessions for Either/Or. Sung so softly, but really beautiful.

05. New Disaster From sessions for Either/Or. Vocals and music are from different takes. Vocals are from the reel that provided From a Basement on the Hill with "Last Hour", but the tape reel flange scraping sound (which you can hear on "Last Hour") was even more distracting on this song. Music was from a later instrumental take, with organ and drums but no vocals. This is the only instance on this record where we combined takes in this manner.

06. Seen How Things Are Hard This song was actually recorded on a 4-track cassette. Mixed by Tom and Rob for possible inclusion of Either/Or. Also known under the working title, "Sleigh Bells".

07. Fear City From sessions for Either/Or. Also known as "See My City Dead". Check out the cool melodic organ part and Elliott's grooving drum style.

08. Either/Or From sessions for the album Either/Or. Apparently the song title was appropriated for the album title but not the song. There's also a version of this song with alternate lyrics called "No More".

09. Pretty Mary K (other version) From sessions for Either/Or. This is a completely different song than the Figure 8 track, but seems to feature different words with a parallel theme. An early version was worked up as "Everything's Okay" - note the similar phonetics.

10. Almost Over From sessions for Either/Or. Some of his fastest guitar picking in this collection.

11. See You Later

12. Half Right These are two Heatmiser songs from their third album, Mic City Sons, performed solo in this collection. From the Rob Jones' Locals Show sessions, "See You Later" was released on the Air Check cassette on Rob's label, Jealous Butcher.

Technical Note: Except for the special case of "New Disaster", where independent instrumental and vocal takes were combined, all songs are presented as tracked by Elliott, and every effort was made to check stereo placement, track levels, editing ideas, arrangement ideas and the overall feel that were present in his rough (or released) mixes. In many cases remixing was simply an attempt to make the elements of the song slightly more legible, and in other cases to reduce the background tape hiss. In no way is this album simply a product of the studio in 2006 - it is a collection of songs, any of which could have easily been included on his albums of 1995 or 1997.

Songs previously unreleased except for: "See You Later", Air Check cassette (1999,JB020/Jealous Butcher/limited to 300 copies) "Angel in the Snow" Yeti: Volume I (2000, 2500 issues printed/pressed) "Big Decision" - A Slice of Lemon (1995,KRS100/Kill Rock Stars, still in print)

Amazon.com
When Elliott Smith died late in 2003, he took with him one of the unique songwriting gifts of his generation: part folk grandeur, part punk fury, and virtually bottomless in eight short years of solo recordings. Thankfully for that generation, and many to come, he left behind two dozen songs that his Portland, Oregon, producer and pal Larry Crane has crafted into a retrospective celebration of Smith's contribution to music. Mostly house-recorded demos plucked from the fertile three years that followed his 1994 debut Roman Candle (including an early take of "Miss Misery"), there's an eminent clarity to these songs that makes them sound like they were recorded yesterday. A lone acoustic guitar is the general accompaniment to Smith's lamenting wail, his self-deprecating lyrics forever a contrast to the sheer beauty of the melodies. "What are you doing hanging out with me?" he asks in "Whatever (Folk Song in C)," his double-tracked harmonies mocking both Simon and Garfunkel. Along with fragile versions of "Angel in the Snow," "Looking over My Shoulder," and a cover of Big Star's "Thirteen," it's as eternal as anything Smith offered when he was with us, and, as one of several shining moments, makes you forget he ever left. --Scott Holter

More from Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith	Roman Candle	Either/Or
Figure 8	XO	From a Basement on a Hill

Customer Reviews

Pink, Pink Moon
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.

a masterpiece
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.

He was a gift, and a gifted man
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.