RIP Elliott Smith 1969-2003

[Dit bericht is gewijzigd door Timo20 op 22-10-2003 11:07]

V.

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Op woensdag 22 oktober 2003 11:12 schreef Grobbel het volgende:
Jesus, wat een schok... Staat er ook nog bij waaraan hij is overleden?
Behoorlijk onverwacht, dit.

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American singer songwriter has died at the age of 34 of an apparent suicide.

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Jeeemig...

Elliott relocated to Portland, Oregon as a Sophomore at Lincoln High School where he achieved the rank of National Merit Scholar. During his time at Lincoln High School, Elliott joined the band Stranger Than Fiction in which he composed music and performed until his graduation in 1987.

Elliott later attended Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts, where he majored in Philosophy and Political Science. During his time at Hampshire, Elliott, known then as Elliott Stillwater-Rotter, co-founded the band A Murder of Crows. He later became a member of well known band Heatmiser. It was during this time that Elliott began to release music as a solo artist.

During his lifetime, Elliott released five full-length albums as a solo artist as well as a number of singles. Elliott was nominated for an Academy Award for Miss Misery, his musical contribution to the Academy Award winning movie, Good Will Hunting.

At the time of his death, Elliott was recording his sixth album, From A Basement on the Hill.

Elliott is survived by a host of family, friends and fans.

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Op woensdag 22 oktober 2003 11:22 schreef Theeboon het volgende:

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Hier was ik erg naar aan 't uit kijken... Klote zeg dit...

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Op woensdag 22 oktober 2003 11:22 schreef PsychoDude_666 het volgende:
wie?

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Op woensdag 22 oktober 2003 11:25 schreef DaisyDuke het volgende:

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had 'm graag nog een keer live gezien...

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Op woensdag 22 oktober 2003 11:22 schreef Theeboon het volgende:

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Hier was ik erg naar aan 't uit kijken... Klote zeg dit...

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Folk-punk singer/songwriter Elliott Smith rose from indie obscurity to mainstream success in 1997 on the strength of "Miss Misery," his Academy Award-nominated song from the film Good Will Hunting. A native of Portland, OR, Smith began writing and recording his first songs at age 14, later becoming a fixture of the city's thriving music scene; as a member of the band Heatmiser, he debuted in 1993 with the LP Dead Air, issuing his first solo effort Roman Candle on the tiny Cavity Search label a year later. For his 1995 self-titled album, Smith signed with the noted Kill Rock Stars label; Either/Or followed in 1997, around the same time that filmmaker and longtime fan Gus Van Sant requested permission to use the singer's music in his upcoming Good Will Hunting. Smith also composed a handful of new songs for the soundtrack, among them "Miss Misery," and when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its Oscar nominations the following February, the track was a surprise entry in the "Best Original Song" category. Although he did not win, Smith performed the song live at the televised Oscar broadcast, appearing onstage alongside superstars Trisha Yearwood and eventual award-winner Celine Dion in one of the most notably surreal musical moments in recent memory; his DreamWorks label debut, XO, followed later in 1998, and Figure 8 arrived in early 2000.

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Op woensdag 22 oktober 2003 11:45 schreef Theeboon het volgende:

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Idd, z'n verschijning en liedjes (stem) zijn vrij fragiel, 't zou haast cliché zijn.

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Customers who bought albums by Nick Drake also bought:

Either/Or
~ Elliott Smith

Elliott Smith
~ Elliott Smith

XO
~ Elliott Smith

't is kut!

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Once upon a time there was a tall, reedy, long-haired Englishman named Nick Drake who recorded three albums of poignant, whispery folk songs about isolation and alienation before overdosing on antidepressants in 1974. In the years since his death a cult has grown up around him which regards him (quite rightly) as one of the great unheralded talents in all of pop music, the brightest light in the British folk-rock scene of the '60s and '70s, and one of the artists most responsible for the development of the singer/songwriter pop idiom we know today. Drake's legacy makes mention of his name virtually unavoidable when discussing Elliott Smith, and for some, Smith seems like the late '90s American reincarnation of Drake, with his starkly minimal acoustic arrangements and breathy gossamer voice.

There are differences, of course, perhaps the most critical that Drake was, at root, a lonesome melancholy hippie, while Smith is, in essence, a defiant, angry punk. But the basic feel, of a brilliant loner making sad, solitary music with his acoustic guitar, is the same, and Smith, like Drake is a true master of this craft. With little more than some beautifully fingerpicked guitar and that plaintive voice, Smith covers a far greater emotional range than most rock combos. With every release he has matured as a songwriter, combining raw, rough poetry with backhandedly memorable melodies and subtle arrangements. Today he is among the best -- and certainly the most recognized -- in the increasingly crowded indie singer/songwriter world.

Strangely enough, it is to indie film director Gus Van Sant that Smith probably most owes his success. Van Sant, as you probably recall, used Smith's music on the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting, leading to a surprise Oscar nomination for Smith. At that time (1997), Smith had already been around awhile, as long time member of Portland rock band Heatmiser and an established solo artist with three albums to his credit. Those albums, by the way, were Roman Candle ('94), his brilliant Kill Rock Stars debut Elliott Smith ('95), and Either/Or ('97), the last of which featured a couple of songs that appeared on the soundtrack. The movie's success got Smith noticed in a big way, and earned him a deal with Dreamworks Records, which released his next two albums, XO ('98) and Figure 8 (2000). Those two records saw Smith move away from the extraordinarily intimate, stark fare of his previous releases and towards something cleaner, glossier, better produced, and more pop-oriented, but on the albums, his prodigious songwriting talent is as much in evidence as ever.

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Ik ben met mijn naieve kop al een kwartier aan het zappen langs de verschillende muziekzenders, onder de misplaatste illusie dat ze tussen Britney Spears en 50 cents door even tijd zouden maken om stil te staan bij dit feit. Maar hij had wel talent, en daar houden ze daar niet zo van, geloof ik..

Ik heb Elliott Smith pas laat ontdekt, namelijk tijdens het kijken naar Good Will Hunting 5 jaar geleden, maar voor ik het wist, had ik either/or, roman candle, elliott smith en 2 albums van heatmiser in mijn platenkast staan.
Vlak daarna kwam XO uit en ik vond het onvoorstelbaar hoe iemand zo snel zoveel moois kon maken.
Vervolgens duurde het even, maar daarna kwam ook Figure 8, en ik wachtte nu al een paar jaar op From a basement on the hill. Het album had nogal wat vertraging opgelopen door Elliott's vertrek bij zijn maatschappij.

Ik heb hem pas 1 keer live kunnen zien, in Paradiso,een paar jaar terug. Dat had wel meer mogen zijn..

Als zijn talent ook maar een beetje erkend was, hadden ze nu alle muziekzenders een dag op zwart gezet met alleen zijn muziek op de achtergrond, maar dat ben ik dan weer.
Ik ga vannacht in ieder geval lekker in mijn eentje stomdronken worden met de volumeknop op 10, melodramatisch of niet, dat zal me een worst wezen. De muziekwereld is iets heel moois kwijtgeraakt, en dat mag best herdacht worden in gepaste stijl.
Jammer dat hij zo ongelukkig was, maar ik twijfel er geen minuut aan dat het een weloverwogen beslissing van hem was om zijn leven te beeindigen. Hij heeft in ieder geval iets tijdloos achtergelaten.