The mural pictured on the cover of his penultimate LP, Figure 8, became an unofficial shrine for fans from around the world. In 2003, the 34-year-old was completing what would be his final studio album, From a Basement on the Hill, when he died at his L.A. Despite his often dark subject matter, a preternatural gift for melody helped him pivot from the lo-fi classic Either/Or to the expansive pop of its follow-up, XO, released on Dreamworks in 1998, soon after his surprise Oscar nomination for “Miss Misery” from Good Will Hunting. He became known for intimate, nervous shows, emotionally complex lyrics, and recordings that framed his angelic voice with elegant fingerpicking and microphone crackle. rock group Heatmiser, but it was his self-titled second album (and Kill Rock Stars debut) that established him as a singular wordsmith. Smith had found his feet in Portland, Oregon, with the grungy alt. Here's a song with no name We recorded this cover last year for the Theme Music Tributes version of Elliott Smith's album 'Either/Or' and. Through its dozen tracks, the album oscillates between harmony and dissonance, sentiment and cynicism, culminating in a record that is unmistakably and unabashedly Elliott Smith.

With richer instrumentation and songs that push past the boundaries of his previous releases, Either/Or presents Smith at his most dichotomous. From the 1994 release of his debut, Roman Candle, the singer-songwriter blended elements of folk, pop, and indie-rock into quiet masterpieces that gathered in complexity and scale, cementing him by the turn of the century as an indie-pop powerhouse. The highly acclaimed Either/Or, the third album from Elliott Smith and his last written and recorded in Portland, OR, broke through to a larger international audience. In his brief and sprawling career, Elliott Smith released a trove of music that enchanted, soothed, and devastated listeners.

Elliott smith either or album cover