I'll tell you why I don't wanna know where you are.
I don't know if there's anyone who reads this who doesn't also read Pitchfork, so I won't pretend this is a press release about how Elliott Smith died yesterday. What's odd is that the major newswires are taking their sweet time picking this up-- Pitchfork had it when I woke up this morning, and Entertainment Weekly's website just posted something; they were tipped off by MTV's website. Still nothing from the AP, though.
I won't pretend to be any kind of hardcore Elliott Smith fan. I just have XO, and I'm reluctant to get any more of his albums anytime soon, wary as I am of being one of those people. You know, the people for whom the annual Jeff Buckley box set is a main event. But it does make me sad, and it is a certain kind of surreal. I think Elliott Smith is the first musician who died *after* I had one of their records. If he isn't, he must be the first semi-major one. It's just a weird feeling-- and this is such a self-centered response, I know. To "feel weird" about the poor, misguided guy, who apparently killed himself. And to have an ever-increasing, super-morbid curousity about that final, double album. Which will doubtless sell like hotcakes. Indie hotcakes, anyway. Probably better than hotcakes. I don't know anyone who buys hotcakes.
I saw Elliott Smith twice. The first time he was opening for Beck and Ben Folds Five, before I knew anything about him, and didn't pay much attention, although years later occurred to me that this was probably the best triple-feature non-festival concert lineup I had ever seen, despite my inattention at the time. The second time was a free show he played at Empire State Plaza in Albany. He was odd and a little sloppy; you can read more extensive reports about his apparently erratic concert behavior elsewhere. But I was glad to have seen him; it was a good set overall.
It goes almost without sayin that some of his music was really beautiful. Besides "Waltz 2", one of the best songs I've ever heard, I also especially love "Pitseleh" and "Independence Day." Like I said, I only really know XO.
I feel sort of sad-- not devastated, by any means, but it's almost stranger than that. Just a weird sadness in the back of my head.
I won't pretend to be any kind of hardcore Elliott Smith fan. I just have XO, and I'm reluctant to get any more of his albums anytime soon, wary as I am of being one of those people. You know, the people for whom the annual Jeff Buckley box set is a main event. But it does make me sad, and it is a certain kind of surreal. I think Elliott Smith is the first musician who died *after* I had one of their records. If he isn't, he must be the first semi-major one. It's just a weird feeling-- and this is such a self-centered response, I know. To "feel weird" about the poor, misguided guy, who apparently killed himself. And to have an ever-increasing, super-morbid curousity about that final, double album. Which will doubtless sell like hotcakes. Indie hotcakes, anyway. Probably better than hotcakes. I don't know anyone who buys hotcakes.
I saw Elliott Smith twice. The first time he was opening for Beck and Ben Folds Five, before I knew anything about him, and didn't pay much attention, although years later occurred to me that this was probably the best triple-feature non-festival concert lineup I had ever seen, despite my inattention at the time. The second time was a free show he played at Empire State Plaza in Albany. He was odd and a little sloppy; you can read more extensive reports about his apparently erratic concert behavior elsewhere. But I was glad to have seen him; it was a good set overall.
It goes almost without sayin that some of his music was really beautiful. Besides "Waltz 2", one of the best songs I've ever heard, I also especially love "Pitseleh" and "Independence Day." Like I said, I only really know XO.
I feel sort of sad-- not devastated, by any means, but it's almost stranger than that. Just a weird sadness in the back of my head.