Maps of Music

XO (1998)

Where the lyrics of XO take you, and where it was really made.

Elliott Smith's first major-label album began its early sessions not in Los Angeles but at Larry Crane's Jackpot studio in Portland, after Either/Or came out in 1997.

Key places

Sunset Sound, Los Angeles (1998)

Recording site Sunset Sound — Credits list Sunset Sound among the studios where the album was recorded and mixed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The Sound Factory, Los Angeles (1998)

Recording site The Sound Factory — Credits list The Sound Factory among the studios where the album was recorded and mixed. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood (1998)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — Credits list Ocean Way Recording as a recording studio for the album. Only the city center is marked, so the exact building is not shown. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Jackpot! Recording Studio, Portland (1998)

Recording site Bob Ludwig's studio, Portland, Maine — The early sessions for the album began here after Either/Or came out in 1997. Only the city center is marked, so the exact building is not shown. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• XO: fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith
• Released August 25, 1998 by DreamWorks Records
• Smith's first solo record on a major label
• Title refers to the X for kisses and O for hugs placed at the end of love letters
• Pressed on 180-gram vinyl

Background

• Heatmiser's final album, Mic City Sons (1996), was already on a major label, but XO is Smith's first solo major-label record
• An early working title was Grand Mal
• Smith traveled to Los Angeles in early 1998 to work with producers Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock
• Singles: "Waltz #2 (XO)" in 1998, "Baby Britain" in 1999

Recording

• Early sessions began at Larry Crane's Jackpot Recording Studio after the release of Either/Or in 1997
• Those early sessions yielded demos of several album tracks, and outtakes later released posthumously on New Moon
• Work began in earnest in early 1998
• Credits list Sunset Sound, The Sound Factory, Ocean Way Recording, and Sonora Recorders for recording and mixing, and Jackpot! Recording Studio for recording
• Mastering was done at Precision Mastering
• Smith is credited as recording engineer on most tracks, as well as a producer and performer across the record

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

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

• Pitchfork's Mark Richardson wrote that Smith's songwriting keeps improving, with each of the fourteen tracks showing his mastery of the pop song structure more clearly than ever
• Robert Christgau of The Village Voice gave the album a one-star honorable mention, describing its music as "high tune, low affect"
• Christgau cited "Waltz #2 (XO)" and "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" as highlights

Reappraisal

• BBC Music's retrospective review said the bigger budget did not dilute Smith's melodic and melancholic writing
• BBC Music called XO perhaps the greatest long-player Smith released, and at least the equal of the preceding Either/Or
• Trouser Press called the record a tastefully commercialized production that respects Smith's privacy
• Pitchfork's Jayson Greene (2023) described the album as a transformational landmark and a logical next step for the restless composer

Records

• The Village Voice's 1998 end-of-year Pazz & Jop poll: number five
• Spin (2010): number 90 on its list of the 125 best albums of the magazine's lifetime
• Pitchfork (1990s list): number 68 among the greatest albums of the 1990s
• Matthew LeMay's 33⅓ book on XO was released April 6, 2009 by Continuum International Publishing Group

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The title of the first track, "Sweet Adeline", was inspired by Smith's recollections of his grandmother singing in her glee club, Sweet Adelines International.
• The title XO is explained as the X for kisses and O for hugs traditionally placed at the end of love letters in English-speaking countries.
• Some copies may have a manufacturing defect that causes a skip on track A1, though not all copies have this issue.

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

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