969. Elliot Smith - From A Basement On The Hill

This is a depressing album to listen to because it is so fucking good that you can't help but wish it had been finished. Who knows what he would have done with the tracks, what the second half of it would have sounded like or even what it would have looked like (I hate the cover to this - it should have been black with his handwriting, that's it). What is so great about this disc is that musically Elliot seems to be breaking out into all sorts of sounds, playing with different instruments, get drunk on a particular sound then moving onto another. I'm glad to have this but of course I'm upset he had to fuck it all up. All the lyrics, traditionally gloom and doom, accompany the imagery of a self inflicted knife into his chest.

9 out of 10

Give me one good reason not to do it, so do it