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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk
This second posthumous Elliot Smith release -- the first being 2004’s From a Basement Hill -- collects together 24 previously unreleased songs written between 1994 and 1997. It’s a lighter, sweeter document than ... Basement Hill, not only because it’s aligned to Smith’s generally more insouciant Kill Rock Stars period but also because - unlike its predecessor – New Moon is distanced enough from Smith’s downward descent into depression (and subsequent suicide) to avoid the same intense levels of psychological scrutiny and lyrical analysis. The songs here are more in line with seminal Smith albums like Elliot Smith and Either/Or; that is to say they largely feature Smith -- his voice, his timeless lyricism, his versatile melodies -- mixing it up between fairly breezy pop tunes and deeper, melancholic fare. No strings. No tricks. Just songs. In contrast to later works, New Moon never gets seriously heavy, and hearing tracks like the early version of "Miss Misery" is a definite bonus, even for hard-core fans. Far from being an album of second-rate off-cuts, New Moon is a very worthy addition to a formidable oeuvre. --Paul Sullivan
Review
Before his untimely death in 2003 there were moments when Elliott Smith seriously looked like becoming the Neil Young of his generation. Nowadays it feels rather like he's been hard done by. Is it wrong to suspect that had he looked a bit more like Jeff Buckley and rather less like a particularly unhappy lumberjack things would be different?
Elliott Smith gave the impression of having become famous by mistake, that he was just too precious for this cruel world and the very titles of the songs here on New Moon add to this feeling. "Miss Misery" "Fear City," "See How Things Are Hard," and my particular favourite "Going Nowhere," veer alarmingly close to being a parody of the sensitive singer songwriter. There ain't no 'hello sky, hello sunshine' type of songs to be found here.
However if the titles are depressing the music definitely isn't. The vibe may be fragile and sensitive but the overall feeling is one of melancholy rather than misery which is a whole different experience. His deceptively delicate voice hovers somewhere between Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel's and has a very real power which stays with you long after the songs are over.
However New Moon is a collection for people who are fans already. These songs may have been recorded during his peak years in the mid to late nineties but frankly the albums Either/Or and Xo, recorded at the same period, are far better and if you aren't aware of Smith's work start there. For the already initiated though, New Moon is a delight which can only add to the growing legend of a special talent. --Brian McCluskey
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
24 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
From beyond the grave, this precocious talent still has the power to astound. Mined from his most prolific period, 24 gems that were thrown away, probably never intended to be released. Such is the genius of the troubled troubadour, that even the songs deemed unworthy of being included on an album, are infinitely better than some artists' entire canon.
His haunting voice holds more resonance now that he is no longer with us, and will always be at odds with the gorgeous melodies. We need him around more than ever, with the James Blunts and Morrisons polluting our airwaves. And that's what makes this album all the more melancholy, albeit triumphant that he's still putting music out there that is far superior to his supposed peers.
His haunting voice holds more resonance now that he is no longer with us, and will always be at odds with the gorgeous melodies. We need him around more than ever, with the James Blunts and Morrisons polluting our airwaves. And that's what makes this album all the more melancholy, albeit triumphant that he's still putting music out there that is far superior to his supposed peers.
17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It's a quite remarkable suprise to find such brilliant "new" music from a man who died in 2003, but such was Smith's songwriting ability that he could release a series of brilliant records and find no room for gems such as these. And that's even before getting to his later unreleased works, some of which have been leaked over the internet, and which will hopefully also receive a proper release at some stage.
The previous reviewer said most of what needs saying with "Such is the genius of the troubled troubadour, that even the songs deemed unworthy of being included on an album, are infinitely better than some artists' entire canon."
Songs like New Monkey and Going Nowhere are some of the best songs Smith wrote in the 1990s. There is hardly a duff track among the 24, and it stands on its own as a great Elliott Smith album. Moving, fragile, and beautiful. A gift from the Gods...
The previous reviewer said most of what needs saying with "Such is the genius of the troubled troubadour, that even the songs deemed unworthy of being included on an album, are infinitely better than some artists' entire canon."
Songs like New Monkey and Going Nowhere are some of the best songs Smith wrote in the 1990s. There is hardly a duff track among the 24, and it stands on its own as a great Elliott Smith album. Moving, fragile, and beautiful. A gift from the Gods...
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
By International Cowgirl
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Audio CD
Another posthumous release from the sorely-missed Elliott Smith, a man with the sort of back catalogue most singer-songwriters can only dream of. This two-disc compilation is kind of a mixed bag: twenty-four tracks pulled from various sources - demos, rarities, alternate versions - all recorded in the mid-nineties when Smith was putting together seminal albums such as `Either/Or'. Most of these songs were never meant to see the light of day, so it's understandable that `New Moon' lacks the coherence of the previous offering, `From a Basement on a Hill', but it's still worthy of five stars.
Quite a few of these tracks have been knocking around on the internet for a couple of years, but there's almost certainly something here that even the most devoted fans haven't heard (or been able to own) yet. It's all pretty lo-fi really, just Elliott singing and strumming, a raw sound more like his eponymous second album than later, larger-scale works like `XO'. But there really are some gems here. We get an early version of his Oscar-nominated song, Miss Misery, and a lovely cover of Big Star's `Thirteen'. Highlights for me are `Seen How Things Are Hard', `Going Nowhere', `High Times', `Whatever (Folk Song in C)' and a truly beautiful solo rendition of 'Half Right', an old track from his Heatmiser days.
Money doesn't grow on trees, but you might be forgiven - in Smith's case - for thinking that songs do. He was so prolific in his too-short life that we've been spoiled so far with the illusion of `new' songs. But logic dictates that the treasure trove must be nearly empty by now. He was doing some of his best work in the months before he died, and listening to `New Moon' is a bittersweet reminder that we might easily have had another two or three beautiful albums by now if not for his tragic death.
Quite a few of these tracks have been knocking around on the internet for a couple of years, but there's almost certainly something here that even the most devoted fans haven't heard (or been able to own) yet. It's all pretty lo-fi really, just Elliott singing and strumming, a raw sound more like his eponymous second album than later, larger-scale works like `XO'. But there really are some gems here. We get an early version of his Oscar-nominated song, Miss Misery, and a lovely cover of Big Star's `Thirteen'. Highlights for me are `Seen How Things Are Hard', `Going Nowhere', `High Times', `Whatever (Folk Song in C)' and a truly beautiful solo rendition of 'Half Right', an old track from his Heatmiser days.
Money doesn't grow on trees, but you might be forgiven - in Smith's case - for thinking that songs do. He was so prolific in his too-short life that we've been spoiled so far with the illusion of `new' songs. But logic dictates that the treasure trove must be nearly empty by now. He was doing some of his best work in the months before he died, and listening to `New Moon' is a bittersweet reminder that we might easily have had another two or three beautiful albums by now if not for his tragic death.
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4.7 out of 5 stars
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
RIP
Tragedy and shame aside this unreleased material is pretty good but I would reccomend 'XO' to fans and 'Either/or' to newcomers to the amazing sounds of Mr Smith
XO... Read more
XO... Read more
Published on 22 Feb 2009 by K. Cross
5.0 out of 5 stars
Indescribably wonderful - but I'll try...
Although this isn't strictly speaking a new album release by Elliott Smith, which - given his premature death in 2003 - would be difficult, this posthumous release of unreleased... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2008 by A. Sweeney
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good Moon Rising
The trouble with untimely death is the fact that someone at some point will dust off those tapes put to one side and stick them on an unsuspecting public. Read more
Published on 8 Feb 2008 by pjr
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