• Artist: Elliott Smith
• Album: New Moon
• Label: Kill Rock Stars
• Release: 2007
• Links: Official Site

The KRS [Kill Rock Stars] period stuff still has something somehow more magical to me, and if anything this feeling has only become more pronounced over time. I count myself lucky to have been around it all in those days. -Sam Coomes, Quasi

In October 2003, Elliott Smith left behind a wealth of material that has proven to be a messy challenge for those who have been assigned to sort through it. A year after his death, Smith’s From A Basement On The Hill, the album he was so close to completing, was released. To be fair, there is no right way to release Basement because Smith himself had yet to even determine how to properly present it. My point is that the posthumous release of the album could have been handled better. For one, releasing all the songs available (the gorgeous “True Love” is a glaring omission) would have been a start. Instead, we are left with a partial glimpse and must wait for Interscope (who own the rights to what’s left of Smith’s unreleased Dreamworks material) to put out some sort of half-assed compilation. That could take time because their track record for quality releases isn’t worth gushing over.

I have complaints with the Basement edit, but I am grateful that I was able to hear a portion of it, despite feeling like I had stepped into a recording session that I never had the permission to eavesdrop upon. The second posthumous release in the Smith catalogue, New Moon, isn’t without its problems, but the best moments on the album serve as a snapshot of Smith’s Portland days, the most romanticized period of his career. Fans rightfully worship Smith’s Kill Rock Stars material. He was coming into his own as a songwriter, creating gritty acoustic gems that touched nerves in listeners that most musicians could only dream of. Curated by Jackpot Records founder Larry Crane, New Moon is dominated by tracks that Smith deemed unfit for release on Elliott Smith and Either/Or.

I can tell that Larry Crane put a great deal of love into this release and I commend him for his efforts. I have gripes with the second disc of New Moon, but the first disc is worth the purchase alone. A lot of these songs have been leaked online over the last couple of years, but are presented here with improved sound quality. Smith had so many songs in contention for Either/Or that it could have been a double album. “Going Nowhere,” one of my favorites from this collection, would have been a highlight on that album if it had been included. An early version of “Miss Misery” also pops up on disc one. It is interesting to hear the rough draft of what would become the stepping stone to the next phase in Smith’s career.

Disc two houses several tracks that would probably be best if left unheard, particularly “Seen How Things Are Hard” and “Fear City.” “Whatever (Folk Song In C)” is the complete opposite though. Smith turns on the same bittersweet charm here that makes his stripped down material such a joy. One of the things I like most about New Moon is that it exposes the sense of humor that Smith’s close friends speak so fondly of. There are a few bumps in the road, but New Moon is much more consistent than it has any right to be. The fact that Smith found faults in these songs reveals how much of a perfectionist he was. You know you are a master when the majority of your scraps can compete with many artists’ released material.

(5/25/07)

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