IckUber

Thats all I can really say, it was confirmed late tonight, apparently it happend some time early Tuesday. Its really sad we keep loosing so many musicians....expecially when they are young.

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anti fishstick

i heard about it. i was just listening to him this morning too sigh.

is it morbid for me to know it would come to this? i just...didn't want it to. you could tell in his music. in his eyes. and the way he carried himself. both in pictures and on stage.

i'm glad i got to see him in concert once.

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K-Wise

<center>R.I.P.
</center>

Asta!!

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high_way

umm dont mean to be offewnsive, but who is eliot smith?

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quadro2000

Well, the simplest answer is that he did some great songs for Good Will Hunting (Between The Bars and Miss Misery are the ones you might know if you heard them) and he did the excellent Beatles cover of "Because" over the credits of American Beauty.

Here's an article from MTV News

Singer/Songwriter Elliott Smith Found Dead, An Apparent Suicide
10.22.2003 9:32 AM EDT

Folk-punk singer/songwriter Elliott Smith has died, an apparent suicide, according to the Los Angeles County Department of the Coroner's office. Smith's body was found in his apartment, in the Silverlake section of Los Angeles, by a female friend, who took him to a local hospital at approximately 12:18 p.m. on Tuesday.

He was pronounced dead at Los Angeles County University of Southern California Medical Center just over an hour later. He was 34.

A single knife wound that appeared to be self-inflicted was evident on the body, though police detectives are investigating the incident for foul play and/or other possibilities. No other details were available at press time.

Smith (real name Steven Paul Smith) had battled drug and alcohol addiction throughout his career. His first two albums, 1994's Roman Candle and the next year's self-titled LP for Olympia, Washington's Kill Rock Stars label, intimated these subjects with haunting, sparsely recorded acoustic songs such as "Needle in the Hay" that drew comparisons to 1960s singer/songwriter Nick Drake and Simon and Garfunkel. He reportedly cleaned up midway through his career, but the problem was believed to have escalated in recent years due to a reclusive nature and sporadic public performances.

A cornerstone of the indie-rock scene in Portland, Oregon, in the mid-1990s, Smith gained critical acclaim with 1997's Either/Or and 1998's XO, albums that best demonstrated his ability to delicately deliver poetic, emotional lyrics and beautifully dark, lush pop melodies. "Miss Misery," his contribution to the film "Good Will Hunting" that earned him an Academy Award nomination in 1997, brought mainstream recognition to the artist regarded as a figurehead of the indie-rock underground, and who influenced such artists as Bright Eyes and Dashboard Confessional.

Born August 6, 1969 in Omaha, Nebraska, Smith grew up near Dallas and took an interest in music at age 9, and began writing and recording original compositions as a teenager. He moved to Portland in high school, where he played in a local band, before attending Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts.

Returning to Portland, he formed the alternative-rock quartet Heatmiser with future Quasi member Sam Coomes. The band released three albums and disbanded after hitting its creative stride with 1996's Mic City Sons.

While still a member of Heatmiser, Smith retreated to his basement to focus on more intimate material in vast contrast to Heatmiser's heavier sound. Roman Candle, on which he played all the instruments, was recorded on a four-track and epitomized the lo-fi DIY aesthetic while showcasing Smith's talent to craft emotive song structures that emphasized the dark themes of his lyrics.

The promise of a great songwriter was furthered on Smith's self-titled album. While keeping with an overall melancholy vibe, he concentrated on beautifying the melodies. The songs floated like lullabies, though the lyrics could disrupt sleep for weeks.

Smith continued to play all the instruments on 1997's Either/Or, while focusing on the arrangements. Dramatic constructions combine with Smith's eerily potent stripped-down fare for the album that cemented his role in the indie-folk pantheon. At the time of the LP's release, filmmaker and Portland resident Gus Van Sant used Smith's music for the soundtrack to "Good Will Hunting." Smith performed "Miss Misery," which was nominated for Best Original Song, at the Academy Awards show in April 1998. The Oscar went to Celine Dion's "My Heart Will Go On," from "Titanic," though simply being nominated helped his subsequent LP, 1998's XO, become Smith's best-selling album.

XO and his final album, 2000's Figure 8, both released on major-label DreamWorks Records, were marked by lush textures and acoustic melodies inspired by the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson and latter-day Beatles, that brimmed with a sunny brilliance, but still retained Smith's keen commentaries and forlorn sentiments. He had been working on a follow-up album, From a Basement on the Hill, at the time of his death (see "Elliott Smith Flying Solo On Next LP, But It Won't Sound Like It").

The limited-edition 7-inch single "Pretty (Ugly Before)" was released in August on Seattle indie Suicide Squeeze Records, and the previously unreleased songs "Splittsville" and the instrumental "Snowbunny's Serenade" appear in the film "Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician," directed by Silverlake resident Steve Hanft, who's helmed videos for Beck. After limited theatrical showings, the movie was released on DVD October 7. Hanft was also responsible for the Smith documentary "Strange Parallels," released in 1998.

In June, Smith performed on the second stage of the Field Day festival in East Rutherford, New Jersey, which was headlined by the Beastie Boys, Radiohead and Blur. A brief tour of the U.S. followed. He was scheduled to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival in Los Angeles on November 9.

—Joe D'Angelo, with additional reporting by Ryan J. Downey and Rodrigo Perez

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a2k

Very sad. Here's the Rolling Stone article:

http://www.rollingstone.com/news/new....asp?nid=18861

teflonian

That is a shame... Just recently got into his music too. Elliot Smith you will be missed.

IckUber

He had a great song, on the royal tenembaums, (where he is sliting his rists) called needle in the hay. Download it, you wont regret it.

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anleja

I feel bad.

Johnny Rotten

Here's the CNN article: http://www.cnn.com/2003/SHOWBIZ/Musi....ap/index.html

Truly a sad day for music. Apparently he was a little more tormented than we thought. At least we have his music to remember him by, and some great songs for two excellent films. "2:45 AM" and "Between the Bars" are my favorites. I hope he's found a happier place.

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anti fishstick

needle of the hay was the first song i heard from him

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And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.
~Anais Nin

mystmarimatt

wow. i'm really sad. we lost so many great, talented people this year...just didn't expect this. i hope he's in a happier place now.

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If you could really get to know someone and know that they weren't lying to you, then you would know the world was real. Because you could agree on things, you could compare notes. That must be why people get married or make Art. So they'll be able to really know something and not go insane.

Craven Morehead

really a shame - was a very talented songwriter

Rudel73

oh man that sucks. I love listening to his stuff.....WTF?

Esen

This is really sad,
One of the Ironic things is that some of his music kinda reminded me of Nick Drake, who also committed suicide years ago.

Bah this sucks

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~Esen
What is everyone doing in my room?

Spektr

I am so goddamn depressed right now...I found out this morning, and it's been raining all day, which doesn't help my mood. I've been listening to XO all day. This is a sad, sad day

almostaugust

This is terrible. So sad.

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Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell my myself
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quadro2000

Here's an article with artist reaction from [ur=http://billboard.com/bb/daily/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=2008549]Billboard[/url].

Friends, Peers Mourn Elliott Smith

The album Elliott Smith was working throughout the last year of his life was an extraordinarily diverse effort that ranged from "phenomenal, experimental soundscapes to the most intimate guitar vocals," his DreamWorks Records A&R man, Luke Wood, tells Billboard.com.

"He was really having fun experimenting with recording," Wood says. "And as always with Elliott, the lyrics were incredibly poignant and very consistent and very beautiful." However diverse, the album -- reportedly titled "From a Basement on the Hill" -- was a focused effort, Woods notes. "It wasn't like a free-for-all."

There's no word yet on what will happen to the recordings. Although Smith had tracked more than 30 songs and was said to have been considering a double album, Wood says it's unclear how many are complete, as Smith had a habit of working on multiple songs at a time. "He was always editing and working," he says. "He always had a large cycle of songs that he was making better, and sometimes that cycle took years."

Yet the Flaming Lips' Steven Drozd tells Billboard.com that when he did some casual recording with Smith roughly a year ago, the singer had "tons of stuff that hasn't been released. And I know a bunch was recorded and mixed and all ready to go."

Smith, 34, died Tuesday after apparently stabbing himself in the heart. According to a source, he did so using a steak knife at his girlfriend's apartment in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles.

About a year ago, Smith built his own studio in Los Angeles, and it was there that he was focusing on "From a Basement on the Hill." Jon Spencer Blues Explosion drummer Russell Simins, who occasionally collaborated with Smith onstage and in the studio, says he recently recorded with the singer at his own studio in New York.

Some of the new songs Smith was working on included "Strung Out Again," "Let's Get Lost," "Shooting Star," "A Distorted Reality Is Now a Necessity To Be Free" and "Fond Farewell." The titles seem to suggest he may have been contemplating suicide and revisiting his frequent themes of addiction.

In a highly unusual move, Wood says DreamWorks had reached an agreement with Smith that allowed him to take a "sabbatical" from the label. The singer, Wood says, was looking for a more intimate way to reconnect with the fans who had followed him since his indie days, during which he issued albums for the Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars labels.

"It was sort of like, 'How do you continue to motivate and be a true partner to an artist who's gonna want to take turns and do different things, and reach his audience more directly without going through radio or MTV?'" Wood says. "I think it was really a sense of him being able to feel like he was in control of his own destiny. And he wanted to bring it down and do sort of less promotion, and focus just more on making a record and getting it out."

Smith, Wood says, was going to release "From a Basement on the Hill" on an independent label of his choosing, even though he would have remained signed to DreamWorks. During his five-year tenure with the label, Smith issued a handful of releases on indies. In August, released the single "Pretty (Ugly Before)" as a limited-edition seven-inch on the Suicide Squeeze label.

While it was well-known amongst his friends and peers that Smith was battling alcohol and hard drug addiction and depression -- for which he was on medication, according to a source -- Wood says the singer's suicide was still quite shocking. In the past six months, Wood says, the singer seemed hopeful and excited about completing the album and then launching a tour to support it.

Says Simins, "He seemed to be doing really well lately. That's why it's really sad. We all had a hope that he was in a good way, or at least heading towards that."

Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne wasn't so optimistic about Smith's state of mind. He recalled the Lips' show in Los Angeles with Beck last year, where a bloated and clearly frustrated Smith was involved in a scuffle with police and seemed to be clearly losing his fight with addiction. "It really was nothing but sad," Coyne says. "You just sort of saw a guy who had lost control of himself. He was needy, he was grumpy, he was everything you wouldn't want in a person. It's not like when you think of Keith Richards being pleasantly blissed out in the corner."

"I think it points out how unglamorous the whole drug thing really is," Coyne continues. "For the people who knew him, the people who were around him, it was horrible. It's not this glamorous, jetsetting, beautiful lifestyle that everybody dreams of rock'n'roll heaven being. It wasn't like that at all. It was ugly. It was sad."

Adds Drozd, "There's an undercurrent of f***in' real sadness in a lot of his music that just f***in' crushes me. And that's just really the way he was. I hate to sound that way, but he really was. And I can hear it in his music. That's totally him."

Addiction, Wood says, was "a constant battle for him, but I gotta say, I thought it was one he was winning." Wood called Smith the "essence of what we would want DreamWorks as a culture to stand for -- the true song craft, the ambition, the artistry, his performance ability. I think he challenged the rules of songwriting and being a pop artist."

He adds that to Smith, life was "a very beautiful and brutal place, and his songs were that ground in between."

What was lost Tuesday, Simins says, was "someone who was really admirable as a person and as a star. There's so much bulls*** around, so many unhumble people who are all about the glitz and the glam and the bulls***. What we lost is a very, very, very, very truthful, truthful, honest star. I think both as a person and as a musician, as an artist. It's really sad because he was just brutally, brutally honest. And very smart. And if you put the two together, it's undeniably appealing."


-- Wes Orshoski, N.Y.

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You have to laugh at yourself...because you'd cry your eyes out if you didn't. - Emily Saliers

OMFUG

Man, I'm still bummin' over this one. How come all the great songwriters of this type seem to go so young? I hope Howie Day can manage to stick around for awhile.... anyway, you will be missed Rlliott. You brought light into the middle of my thunderstorms many, many times.

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floonine

couldn't say it better. so very very sad.

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