Elliott Smith -- S/T

  Elliott Smith is our modern day Nick Drake.  Smith suffered from numerous problems which came across in his music.  His tastemaker sound is taken from lush cool 60's/ 70's Folk, but I feel it's primarily in the vein of early Sebadoh mixed with Cat Stevens's Trouble, which he did end up covering.  People seem to have a hard time getting into Smith since he's so depressing, but if music's purpose is to evoke emotion, this album is a chalk full of that.  I do understand that this record might be a hard sell at a swinging party, but otherwise it's totally brilliant.  Hit track Needle In The Hay is in my mind one of the most traumatizing songs I've ever heard, which was sent into the stratosphere when it was featured in the suicide scene in The Royal Tendenbaums ... was it the pictures on the screen that made the scene so sad or the song??  the New Weird American Folk Pop groups owe a huge debt to Elliott Smith who paved their way.  Like many great artists, Smith's death is shrouded in mystique ... was it homicide, was it suicide, the details don't add up ... one thing it was for sure ... a total loss to music!