It's been almost seven years since the singer-songwriter's death, but the hole Elliott Smith left in the indie music scene still feels fresh, as countless artists grasp to emulate the gentle heartbreak of his intense and fragile style, however subconsciously. The recent re-release of Elliott's final recordings, From A Basement On A Hill , brings to the surface all the sadness and tragedy that surrounded his life and death, but it's also a great reminder of the beauty and comfort his music can provide. There may never be a voice quite as quiet as Smith's, nor an [...]
The Kays Lavelle The second single ‘Ten Times’ from the Kays forthcoming debut album ‘Be Still This Gentle Morning’ is available for free digital download through the good folk over at Wiseblood Industries . Blur I guess that most of you will already be aware of this, but in case it passed you by Blur's new song 'Fools Day' that was released as part of Record Store Day has been made available for free download in exchange for your email address . Kid Carpet [...]
The third mix of Beatles covers, covering the period between the White Album (partly covered in the second mix) to the final album. The most significant song here is the Beach Boys' live recording of Back In The USSR, with Ringo Starr guesting. The song was, of course, Paul McCartney's satire of the Beach Boys. One imagines it was a find piss-take, because by 1968 the Beach Boys had long left the girs-cars-surf scene behine (well, except Mike Love, who never really got past it). Two songs here, by George Benson and by Booker T & the MGs, [...]
Apr 14, 2010, 7:25am
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Den sich inflationär verbreitenden Gratis-Labelsamplern zum Trotz behauptet Kill Rock Stars von seiner aktuellen Compilation: Best sampler ever! Natürlich ist dieser Claim etwas hoch gegriffen. Schliesslich bietet der Sampler mit "Angeles" von Elliott Smith oder "Standing In The Way Of Control" von Gossip einige Songs, die längst Eingang in den Indie-Kanon gefunden haben. Andere Stücke waren [...]
Kill Rock Stars record label are jumping on board the free online sampler band wagon this week with one of their very own digital offerings full of some tasty music. Older tunes from Elliot Smith and The Decemberists are mixed in with newer stuff The Thermals and Horse Feathers. With 21 tracks in all, a download is definitely worth your time . This top song from last year, brought to you by The Thermals, is one of many jams on the sampler. Download: The Thermals - Now We Can See [MP3]
cat power - metal heart bon iver - beach baby elliot smith - needle in the hay miles benjamin anthony robinson -buriedfed angus & julia stone - big jet plane mgmt - congratulations the drums - down by the water otis redding - for your precious love regina specktor - hero [...]
"Without my friends I got chaos, I'm off in a bead of light, Without my friends I'd be swept up high by the wind." --"Thank You Friends" It's been a rough several months for Memphis. In a span of 7 months, the city lost Jim Dickinson , Jay Reatard , and Alex Chilton . That would be a tough decade, let alone year. And yet, the city remains officially resolute. This video has to be one of the top 33 1/3 moments in congressional history. [...]
The weird thing about this week's edition of STACKS is that I honestly had it all planned, half written in my head, at least 24 hours before I heard the terrible news that Alex Chilton had suddenly passed away at the too young age of 59. I had planned on writing about one of my favorite songs off of Big Star's #1 Record , a track called "Thirteen". I didn't have anything incredibly enlightening or especially insightful to share. Then again, little else really needed to be said; its writer had already done all the work. The [...]
Portland-based record label Kill Rock Stars is reissuing two of Elliot Smith's albums—a remastered version of his solo debut Roman Candle and the posthumous From A Basement On A Hill —on April 6th. Roman Candle , originally put out by Portland’s Cavity Search Records in 1994, will also be released on vinyl for the first time in the US. To promote the venture, the label has made two songs from the albums available: "Last Call" and "Twilight." The news has caused me to dig back into Smith's catalogue—and man what a ridiculous talent. [...]
Indie rockers heading out on tour with a brand new single and cover.
by Mike Schoeck Out this week is "American Gong," the sixth studio effort from indie-pop patron saints, Quasi , and their first album for Kill Rock Stars. Formerly a duo, singer/keyboardist Sam Coomes and drummer Janet Weiss, the group is currently a trio with the addition of bassist Joanna Bolme (current bassist for Stephen Malkmus , ex-girlfriend of Elliott Smith). For the Portland, Ore. trio, it's almost like they were the original pontifical Kill Rock Stars band, after the likes of Sleater-Kinney and [...]
Benji Madden (of Good Charlotte) has posted a studio update, a cover of Elliot Smith's 'Between The Bars' and also mentions an upcoming US tour announcement in the upcoming weeks. To view, click HERE .
Roman Candle has been re-mastered for the re-release by Larry Crane, editor of Tape Op Magazine and archivist for Elliott's family, and Roger Seibel at SAE Mastering.
New York's Cymbals Eat Guitars will be releasing their new single, "Wind Phoenix" from their more than competent debut album, Why There Are Mountains ( listen on Lala ), on March 1st. The single will be backed with this expectation-crushing cover of Elliot Smith's classic "Ballad of Big Nothing". You can listen to and download the cover below, as well as check out the -side "Wind Phoenix". Tags: Cymbals Eat Guitars , Elliot Smith [...]
There is nothing better than one man and his guitar. In a world overbrimming with dubstep filth, low-grade electro and monotonous autotuned pop, there is always the one genre that has never really changed over the years. Folk music is great but after a while you get too many banjo-strumming or floot-tooting groups singing about the weather. The finger-plucking troubadour though is just the best thing, real poetry in motion for those growing up on a diet of Bob Dylan and JJ Cale, and here is just a couple of my favourites, the old, the new and the dead. [...]
Just posted a new playlist (iPod nano on the right side of the site)! It includes music from the likes of Karen O and the Kids , Elliot Smith , The Beatles , Broken Bells , Gary Jules , Vampire Weekend , and more. Enjoy!
Harvest Moon is the title track from a 1992 Neil Young album. Released a full twenty years after Young's album Harvest , a number of supporting musicians appear on both albums. Many things can influence my choice of songs for Cover Wars each week and one of them is other music blogs. Snarky Indie Blog Pitchfork had a post last Thursday where they pointed out that both Kevin Barnes and Ben Gibbard had both contributed covers of Harvest Moon for charity releases. P4K theorized... Neil Young: Having a [...]
Ballad Of A Thin Man is the fifth track on the 1965 Bob Dylan album Highway 61 Revisited . There are many theories regarding who the song is about, the most common one being that it's about a reporter who can't fully understand the meaning behind Dylan's lyrics. The Contestants: Elliot Smith : This is a very popular download on the Live Music Archive, over 100,000 people have downloaded this show, and if you're not one of them - you should be. Smith [...]
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