Elliott Smith: An Introduction To Elliott Smith [KILL ROCK STARS]

Why you'll love it

This 180g LP gathers songs from every Elliott Smith album, plus rare versions: an early "Miss Misery," the single version of "Happiness" and a fresh mix of "Angel in the Snow." Pitchfork gave it 8.8 and Drowned in Sound a perfect 10.

This edition

• 180g vinyl

About the album

Every great songwriter needs a front door, and this is Elliott Smith's. Kill Rock Stars put it together in 2010 with Larry Crane, Smith's archivist and longtime engineer, picking songs from across the catalogue, from the Portland bedroom recordings of Roman Candle to the full-band polish of XO and Figure 8. Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf, who produced his later albums, share the credits.

Either/Or gets the biggest share, with "Ballad of Big Nothing," "Alameda," "Pictures of Me," "Angeles" and "Between the Bars," while "Needle in the Hay" and "The Biggest Lie" show how much he could do with a whisper and a guitar. Crane remixed "Last Call" from the original 4-track cassette master, and "Angel in the Snow" arrives in a new mix with better tape transfers. "Miss Misery," the Good Will Hunting song that earned Smith an Academy Award nomination, appears here in an early version.

Domino issued it in the UK, and it scored 81 on Metacritic. It's the record we hand to anyone who says they've heard of Elliott Smith but don't know where to start, and they nearly always come back for Either/Or within the fortnight.

Also at Kops: more Elliott Smith on vinyl · browse Singer-Songwriter

Tracklist

Listen

On Kill Rock Stars (cat# KRS541), a reissue of the 2010 compilation.