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| Photo by JJ Gonson |
Elliott Smith fucks me up. Discovering his music early in my high school career was the second most revelatory music-related moment of my life, and ever since then I’ve had a deep love of the tragic songwriter.
“Christian Brothers” from Elliott’s self-titled album has always been one of my favorite of his tunes, but with last month marking the 10th anniversary of his untimely death, an unreleased version of the song from Smith’s days playing with the band Heatmiser surfaced…
…And it’s way better than the original.
The solo version’s soft acoustics and plodding rhythm section are replaced with fuzzed out electric guitar and bombastic rock drums. Smith’s voice sits more prominently in the mix here and sounds stronger than ever, it’s just a shame to know that gems like this are so few and far between.
My love goes to you, Elliott. I hope you’re in a better place now.