The downbeat poetry of 'Placeholder' marks another clear standout, with Smith's unwavering ear for melodic alchemy standing strong amidst the tape hiss. 'Georgia, Georgia' is an angular, uneasy portrait of self-destruction with lines like "Oh man/What a plan/Suicide" set to make you shudder. The second disc doesn't let up on the high standards set by the first. The original's melodic purity and lyrics caught up in the idealism of young love elicits a sense of romance far-removed from the practicalities of so much of Smith's life, which only conspires to make the live-take recording more powerful. Disc one is rounded off by the near legendary cover of Big Star's 'Thirteen'. It's a breathtaking post-grunge piece that quietly swells with bristling cymbals and an authoritative emotional intensity that's practically guaranteed to raise hairs on the back of the neck. 'High Times' is far from the frivolous stoner anthem the title might suggest. The first disc is packed with similarly magnificent work: 'Riot Coming' with its sublime Kurt Cobain-via-Tom Petty melodic sensibilities, and the waltzing 'Angel In The Snow' to name but two highlights. Like so much of this collection, it's stripped down to almost nothing - just Smith's guitar and voice - but the hushed gravitas of his delivery is almost unprecedented. In fact, an alternate, early version of his Oscar-nominated 'Miss Misery' (that soundtrack's key song) appears here. "New Moon" is a very different collection to that album's broad, at times sprawling ambition, and dates back to Smith's 1994-1997 Kill Rock Stars period which led up to crossover success on the Good Will Hunting soundtrack. Since his untimely death in 2003, fans have been largely deprived of posthumously released material (Tupac he ain't), with only his unfinished final album, From A Basement On A Hill, making it as far as shop shelves. It's all too easy to eulogise excessively over the talents of a departed artist, but the importance of Elliott Smith's songwriting legacy would be hard to overstate.
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