Recommendations #2

Today's installment of Recommendations starts with an update! It's been a while since the first one, and I've decided to change how this series works. The original plan, organizing recs in batches of five, put less emphasis on each individual piece, and made each installment feel like a chore. From now on, one article equals one rec.

Also, NO BOOKS! Feel free to recommend them, I'll check them out eventually, but they won't appear in this series. I'm not a particularly quick reader, and some psycho (love you Waseef) decided to recommend a novel series where the first book has 1007 pages. That will not be happening, because I'll end up too busy reading to write anything. Give me short stories instead! With that out of the way, today I spun the wheel of recs, and I got...

Elliott Smith - Either/Or, recommended by Lily

I'd heard of Elliott Smith's music before this rec, but all I knew was 1.It's pretty depressing and 2.I'd probably like it. Either/Or lived up to expectations. Smith's trademark whisper-quiet delivery paired with cutting, unforgiving lyrics makes for a fascinating contradiction. He'll sing the most devastatingly sad or acidically sarcastic line like a lullaby. His best lines land like a silenced gunshot to the chest. At just 36 minutes, Either/Or is a quick but nowhere near painless ordeal. It sounds great, don't get me wrong. I'm a big fan of sad people with soft voices and acoustic guitars. Just know that it will have a catastrophic impact on the vibe. From confessions of a doomed addict in Between the Bars to a car-crash-in-slow-motion depiction of collapsing relationships in Alameda, Either/Or is perfect for feeling terrible.

That's no criticism of the album. If you're feeling terrible, it's great to have art that reflects that feeling and tells you that you aren't alone. Some people think listening to depressing music when you're feeling depressed will just make you wallow. To me, unless you're actively souring good moods and putting I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself by Elton John on your workout playlist, it's A-okay to listen to depressing stuff. When the music matches the mood, it's incredibly cathartic. Alright, back to the album.

Either/Or has a specific, consistent style that it rarely strays from, but it packs as much variety within this niche as one could imagine. The melodies here are haunting, layered, and memorable. The drums on fantastic opener Speed Trials feel like they're being played from somebody's garage, adding some bite and DIY aesthetic to an already emotionally potent song. Between the Bars, an alcoholic's ballad, earns its place as the album's biggest hit, encapsulating all of Elliott's strengths. It's got divine guitars, crushing lines, and fragile vocals remniscent of Josh Homme on QOTSA's Mosquito Song. The closer Say Yes provides a bittersweet glimmer of hope deseprately needed in a project as gloomy as this.

Within minutes of starting Either/Or, I placed who Smith reminded me of - Sufjan Stevens, one of my all-time favorite singer-songwriters. Sufjan's first album came out the same year as Elliott's last, and the influence is immediately apparent. The fluttering acoustic guitars, the whispered vocals, all things I love about Stevens, are owed in part to Elliott Smith.

There are a few songs here that venture into different territory, like the surprisingly direct Pictures of Me, or the suspensful, cinematic Cupid's Trick, a detour so explosive it barely matters that the lyrics are gibberish. In fact, Elliott didn't include this song on the lyrics sheet for the album's physical releases because "...that song isn’t about the words; it’s about the way it sounds." And you know what, I'm inclined to agree, because it sounds fantastic. Some tracks, like No Name No. 5 and Punch and Judy, fit the aesthetic but lacked memorable instrumentation. Either/Or strikes me as the type of album where each listen reveals a new favorite song, so I could imagine these songs growing on me, as they've got the same great foundations behind the rest of the album.

For my first foray into Elliott Smith's music, this was a very solid listen. If you can stomach the subject matter, I'd heavily recommend giving Either/Or a try! Elliott's lyrics are brutal and honest in equal measure. If you've been through a breakup, a death in the family, or really anything that makes you feel bad for a while, I can see this album being a major comfort. Thanks for reading, have a great day!

Extras

While listening to the song Alameda, a repeated vocal line struck me as oddly familiar, and I kept humming it trying to figure it out. I laughed my ass off when I finally placed it. This Elliott Smith song reminded me of It's Been So Long by The Living Tombstone, the Five Nights at Freddy's song. You can really hear the influence.

Some lines I really liked:

"Nobody broke your heart

If you're alone, it must be you that wants to be apart"

"The people you've been before that you

Don't want around anymore

That push and shove and won't bend to your will

I'll keep them still"

Every single lyric on 2:45 AM, but particularly:

"Looking for somebody's arms

To wave away past harms"

TLDR of my thoughts on the album:

Thinking about how well-written this album is :)

Actually listening to the lyrics :(