Elliott Smith

One part of G.&N.'s excessively generous Christmas present to me was a copy of Elliott Smith's Either/Or. It was they who turned me onto Smith in the first place, several years ago, by including the gorgeous "Between the Bars on" a mix. Eventually, I acquired a copy of his later XO and have been listening to it ever since. It has become one of my favorite albums. Even as I sang the praises of XO, however, G.&N., especially N., kept saying that Either/Or was better. Finally, I could compare them, and at the risk of violating the gift horse principle I had to conclude that I didn't like Either/Or nearly as much. There are several reasons for this, most of them not entirely good, I suspect.

First of all, G.&N. have talked up Either/Or so much over the years and raised my expectations so unreasonably that no record could meet them, in all likelihood. Second, I have been listening to XO frequently for over a year, and in music, rock and pop music in particular, familiarity doesn't breed contempt – quite the opposite, in fact. So any newcomer had to challenge a well-entrenched incumbent. Finally, and I am a little embarrassed even to be taking this into account, XO sounds better. Either/Or sounds like the self-produced album recorded in Smith's basement that it is. The dynamic range is compressed, the mix is muddy, and the nuances in both vocal and instrumental parts are lost more often than not. XO, on the other hand, is a polished, professionally engineered studio job. So on some level I am comparing apples to oranges, but the net result is unavoidable – XO is simply more pleasant to listen to.

From a purely musical perspective, Either/Or is good, but XO is excellent. It has everything – great melodies, killer arrangements, and solid playing. It is not original, but nothing in rock music is, and the models Smith imitates on XO – mostly post-Sgt. Pepper Beatles – are nothing to scoff at. By that measure, one could argue that Either/Or is more original, but as we all know, originality alone does not a quality record make (cf. Cecil Taylor, John Cage, and countless others). The melodies, to my ears, are not as strong, the songs are more monotonous, the arrangements simplistic.

To be fair, Either/Or does have its moments. The aforementioned "Between the Bars" is a masterpiece – melancholy, wistful, the sparse accompaniment beautifully supporting Smith's brooding lyrics. I really wish it sounded better. I suppose no remastering will help if the original tape is poor, and Smith, being dead, is not readily available to re-record it. "Alameda" hits the bull's eye with its Beatlesque refrain, and prefigures later tunes like "Bottle Up and Explode." "Punch and Judy" gets points for its general seventies' vibe. But as a whole, XO remains undeposed. I hear all of Smith's official albums are available on vinyl as of last fall. I'm planning to check out Figure Eight, reportedly his lushest and most orchestral, in the near future.