And Its Beautiful

Here is "Twilight" by the late Elliott Smith being played live and acoustically (with Smith mimicking the backing synths with his mouth) back at the stage it was still tentatively called "Somebody's Baby". One of the most beautiful voices in pop and a song that never fails to make my bottom lip quiver, whilst simultaneously soaring through my heart. It has an additional sting especially as it was never released in Smith's lifetime following his suicide in 2003 - issued posthumously on the incredibly essential 2004 rarities / unreleased tracks collection "From A Basement On The Hill".

If you like it and want to search out more then I particularly recommend his 1997 album "Either / Or" which never steps a foot wrong with some of his strongest pop moments, although it would be his follow-up "XO" after signing to Dreamworks Records and having several songs appear in "Good Will Hunting" that saw him truly breakthrough to a real mainstream audience.

Failing that, the cheap and cheerful "An Introduction To...Elliott Smith" is an equally welcome starter guide to his work, mixing the rawer and acoustic-driven moments with some of the later more commercial tracks (although bizarrely only one track from XO and an earlier version of the Oscar nominated "Miss Misery".) If you want to hear the song as it was mixed then I've provided that for you too.

Please enjoy.