Pitchfork

October 21 will mark the two-year anniversary of Elliott Smith's untimely demise. Has it really been that long? What the hell have I been doing? Elliott Smith has released an album, contributed to a soundtrack, and had a book written about him, and he's been dead. Man, do I feel lame.

But enough complaining... As previously reported, several of Elliott's friends in his former home of Psortland, Oregon have been recording their own versions of Smith's sad, beautiful compositions. On February 7, 2006, their hard work and loving dedication will pay off, when the Portland-based label Expunged Records will release the covers compilation To: Elliott From: Portland. Ten percent of the proceeds will go to the Elliott Smith Foundation's charity, Free Arts for Abused Children.

From this stellar lineup, we can only hope that To: Elliott From: NYC and To: Elliott From: Los Angeles aren't far behind. Highlights include the Decemberists' take on "Clementine" (we're assuming that's not just the Decemberists song of the same name), the Helio Sequence's "Satellite" and Lifesavas' (yes, the rap group) "Happiness." The Thermals' cover of "Ballad of Big Nothing" was recorded by Joanna Bolme, who is the bassist for Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, as well as Elliott's ex-girlfriend and the mixing engineer on his posthumous album From a Basement on a Hill.

Chamber-popsmith Eric Matthews contributes a (surprise, surprise) dense, lush cover of "Needle in the Hay". In a preview of the tribute's liner notes, Matthews recalls, "The original version of ['Needle in the Hay'] was built up with drums, trumpets, a harmonica, and various percussion instruments. In the end Elliott decided to tear back down the arrangement and go for the more starkly acoustic version that we know today. In a tribute to the original version, I added new instrumental sections that produce a mournful and heavy quality that depicts the sad nature of what must have been Elliott's life and inner mind. The music is pretty but underneath there is a grave solemnity. It is the best tribute to Elliott that I can pay."

Smith's former Portland roommate (and former Crackerbash frontman) Sean Croghan, takes on a track not found in the troubled troubadour's discography, "High Times". The song was mined from a batch of unreleased home recordings. Croghan writes in the liner notes of his intentions for the cover: "The song itself is a story, ultimately prophetic in regard to Elliott's relationship with drugs, of some soul here in Portland (oh yes it reeks of this city) trying to cop for the first time. I wanted to try to create the tension I felt in the lyrics, the sense of a fate that is unavoidable and catastrophic."

Here's the tracklist in ABC order, since the final sequence hasn't been finalized yet:

Amelia: "Between the Bars"
Sexton Blake: "Rose Parade"
Sean Croghan: "High Times"
Crosstide: "Angeles"
The Decemberists: "Clementine"
Dolorean: "The Biggest Lie"
The Helio Sequence: "Satellite"
Lifesavas: "Happiness"
Eric Matthews: "Needle in the Hay" Society of People of Ambience and Elegance: "Speed Trials" Swords: "I Didn't Understand"
The Thermals: "Ballad of Big Nothing"
To Live and Die in L.A.: "King's Crossing"
Jeff Trott: "Wouldn't Mama Be Proud"
We Are Telephone: "Division Days"

Elliott Smith covers seem to be all the rage these days. The man himself appears on the soundtrack to the new movie Thumbsucker warbling Big Star's "Thirteen" and Cat Stevens' "Trouble". Jimmy Eat World's new EP, Stay on My Side Tonight, features a version of the old Heatmiser song "Not Half Right." And classical pianist Christopher O'Riley, famous for his takes on Radiohead songs, has recorded a collection of Smith covers entitled Home to Oblivion: An Elliott Smith Tribute by Christopher O'Riley, scheduled for a spring 2006 release on World Villiage / Harmonia Mundi. The "provisional" tracklist, according to O'Riley's website:

01 Coast to Coast
02 Let's Get Lost
03 I Didn't Understand
04 Speed Trials
05 I Better Be Quiet Now
06 Roman Candle
07 Satellite
08 Independence Day
09 Cupid's Trick
10 Oh Well, Okay
11 No Life
12 Between the Bars
13 Christian Brothers
14 Everything Means Nothing to Me
15 Waltz #1
16 Not Half Right
17 Stupidity Tries
18 Bye

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-07/25.shtml#elliott">Decemberists to Head Elliott Smith Tribute
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