Maps of Music

From a Basement on the Hill (2004)

Where the lyrics of From a Basement on the Hill take you, and where it was really made.

Smith died before he finished this album. More than thirty songs recorded for it were completed by his former producer and ex-girlfriend, and the estate kept the final say on which tracks made the cut.

Key places

Cherokee Studios, Los Angeles (2004)

Recording site Cherokee Studios — Cherokee Studios is listed among the studios where the album was recorded. The credits name it as a recording site, and the point uses building-level coordinates. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Fort Apache, Cambridge (2004)

Recording site Fort Apache (Cambridge) — Fort Apache is listed among the studios where the album was recorded. The point uses city-center coordinates, so the exact building is not marked. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• From a Basement on the Hill is the sixth and final studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith
• Recorded from 2000 to 2003, with multiple delays caused by Smith's personal problems leading up to his death
• Released posthumously in the UK and Europe on Domino on October 18, 2004
• Released in the US the following day, October 19, 2004, through Anti-, almost a year after his death
• Initially planned as a double album; incomplete when Smith died
• 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 recorded for the album
• The estate kept final decision on which tracks to include; fifteen tracks made the final album
• Many songs reference Smith's struggles with drug addiction and depression

Background

• On October 21, 2003, Smith died of two stab wounds to the chest after an argument with his girlfriend, Jennifer Chiba
• The coroner did not present conclusive evidence for or against homicide
• Smith experienced addiction and mental illness for much of his career
• He was sober in his final days and was seeking treatment at the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills
• His sudden, self-imposed sobriety was stressful and was followed by a more intense fixation on his own psychological trauma
• Earlier albums with producer Rob Schnapf: Either/Or, XO, and Figure 8

Recording

• Smith had over fifty songs on tape reel or digital hard drive
• He completed mixing on nine of them; several others lacked only minor revisions or final vocals
• Schnapf and Bolme completed mixing on these tracks and chose fifteen for the album
• Musician and producer David McConnell was present for much of the recording but was not consulted during mixing
• Recording credits list Smith, Jon Brion, Dee Robb, and others as recording engineers
• Studios named in the credits include Cherokee Studios, Fort Apache, Sunset Sound, and Smith's homes in Portland and Los Angeles
• Mastered at Sterling Sound, New York, by Ted Jensen

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter.
• Raised primarily in Texas; lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, where he gained popularity in the 1990s.
• Began playing piano at age nine and guitar at ten; at fourteen moved to Portland to live with his father.
• Took the name "Elliott" after high school; graduated from Hampshire College in 1991 with a philosophy and political science degree.

Members

• Formed the band Heatmiser with classmate Neil Gust while at Hampshire College; the band performed in Portland from 1992.
• Heatmiser released Dead Air (1993), Cop and Speeder (1994), and Mic City Sons (1996) before disbanding.

Career

• Began a solo career in 1994 with Roman Candle on Cavity Search Records, then released albums on Kill Rock Stars (Elliott Smith, Either/Or).
• Signed with DreamWorks Records in 1998; released XO and Figure 8 (2000).
• "Miss Misery", written for Good Will Hunting (1997), was nominated for the 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Song.
• Known for a whispery vocal style, artful chord changes, and themes of addiction, depression, and alienation.
• Died in 2003 from two stab wounds to the chest; From a Basement on the Hill was released posthumously in 2004.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Metacritic: 88 out of 100 based on 37 reviews, indicating 'universal acclaim'
• One of the site's all-time highest-rated albums
• Pitchfork called it perfectly coherent and cohesive, without any sense of being slapped together from half-finished parts
• E! Online called it a beautiful swansong to one of this generation's best
• Filter called it large and epic, but tense and claustrophobic as well, and as close to Elliott as ever
• Billboard said Smith bundled together subtlety and ferocity to create one of his heart-aching best, and called it a fond farewell
• Rolling Stone had some reservations, saying it was an album about the seductions of oblivion, but Smith more often drew wit and warmth from songs that float lazily toward happiness
• Q called the loud, wayward Los Angeles epics full of gothic grandeur and said this would take your breath away whatever the circumstances
• Reykjavik Grapevine journalist Sindri Eldon wrote that the foreshadowing of his suicide is so strong that it is difficult to listen to
• Mojo argued that viewing the album only through Smith's death would miss the crucial point, and praised its musical style
• NME said the opening track sets out the album's themes, and that while it is not the record Smith intended, it is gripping, cohesive, and a match for the best in his catalogue

Records

• Debuted at No. 19 on the US Billboard 200, selling 43,000 copies in its first week
• Best first-week sales of Smith's career, and his highest-charting US album to date
• Charted at No. 41 in the UK
• Re-released by Kill Rock Stars alongside a remastered reissue of his 1994 debut, Roman Candle

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The track Ostrich & Chirping is a short instrumental made by looping sampled noises from a toy bird; Schnapf said it had nothing to do with Smith and was recorded by McConnell alone
• McConnell said he had forgotten he put that piece on one of Smith's reels
• Pretty (Ugly Before) was released as a single in August 2003 on Suicide Squeeze Records before appearing here, and McConnell said Smith did not intend to put it on the album
• Schnapf said he took on finishing the album out of a paternal, protective feeling, not wanting anyone to mess it up
• Bolme said they did not add anything to the songs and only mixed what had been recorded
• Coast to Coast features poetry by Nelson Gary, recited over a main vocal

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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