Rec
🔹
There was a time when media, social or otherwise, just focused on a few people. Usually going through the things humans go through. But it was amplified. Fewer avenues and fewer stars.
Where were was once dozens of famous people, there were hundreds, thousands, and now millions/billions(?). Everyone looking for their 2 minutes of fame. Where there was once 15.
And a lot of it's infamy but we take views, clicks, likes, hearts as doing the thing.
Even this post tings of a lil' hypocrisy. Early twitter, like 16 years ago - until 2012, I was pretty famous on the app with an account that'd say pretty disrespectful and gnarly things about celebrities. It was when the death hoax joke was a fad and when I saw an obvious one I'd lambast the celeb hoaxed and get my likes and laughs. Even sold a few of the jokes to some known trash comics (Gilbert Gottfried sent me 100 check that I never cashed cuz his handwriting (or so I believe) was on it. Lost it tho anyway.
Until 2012 when Whitney Houston passed. I was first to crack something mean - and boy I found out what the sole of my foot and the soul in my heart tasted like when she really passed.
I stopped. I apologized and just left social media in a broad sense.
Managed accounts for awhile after but too many clients wanted the flame bait and many of them would lie to tie in scams in their 'deals' and I just couldn't stomach it.
So in a nutshell I wanted to post this song and make a quip. Now I've wrote a novel. Sorry PI
I fucking love it here tho'.
21h ago
Related Recs
Rec
"I don't really care where I fit into anything, or if there's even anything to fit into. I like music, that's the thing. It's very uncomplicated."
There's a lot I could write here about this film, about Elliott himself. Who was actually VERY complicated even if his attachment to music was not.
I'm actually in the movie (that's where this site's profile photo comes from).
But then again, lots of his Portland friends from that time period (early to mid 90s) are in the movie and typically never talked about Elliott publicly after he passed: Pete Krebs (Hazel), Tony Lash (Heatmiser), Joanna Bolme (Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks), Sean Croghan (Crackerbash), the amazing Larry Crane who serves as the archivist for the Elliott Smith estate and built his studio Jackpot! with Elliott's help. Autumn DeWilde. Jon Brion. The list goes on. Most of us never really went on-the-record about him again. We trusted the makers and let this stand as thee best/final/most definitive word on Elliott.
I will just leave it at this: watch the film.
Nickolas Rossi and Kevin Moyer did such a terrific and respectful job of allowing Elliott's music to speak much more loudly than his well-publicized troubles ever did.
I miss Elliott all the time. I miss his music even more.
I wrote a bunch of things about him over the years but perhaps this one remains the most emotionally true way of remembering him, at least for me: https://magnetmagazine.com/2003/10/27/the-moon-is-a-lightbulb-breaking-in-memory-of-elliott-smith/
Apr 26, 2024
Rec
Hard to believe it's nearly twenty years old now.
Three things stand out for me, reading it again today. Took like 3 months of reporting, or so, to get it all done.
1) The Courtney Love vignette from the Shins' show at the Hollywood Bowl (it was all very Ab Fab and unintentionally hilarious). She is every bit the piece of work she was described to be.
2) James was living in a house in Portland, OR that Elliott Smith used to live in. We smoked pot in the basement and he showed me the washer/dryer that was basically where Elliott four-tracked the "Roman Candle" album.
3) He had a guitar hanging in his home studio that had "You'll be Dead" spray painted on it -- a line from Star Wars (I think his brother, an artist I worked with at Starbucks, did that). I used to have a photo of that but IDK what happened to it.
It was a fun era to be writing about rock music.
Apr 5, 2024
Rec
"Dying is another way. Or, like, killing your emotions, with drugs, alcohol or whatever. Those would be types of failure."
Some sage life advice courtesy of Elliott Smith.
This compilation of random video interviews and tour footage is a total discovery.
There is one interval where I can see evidence of substances/the issues that dogged him later in life.
But otherwise it's just the wryly funny, observant, articulate guy we all knew.
"Dminor. The saddest of all keys." (laughs; BTW, Elliott never wrote a song in this key as best I can tell)
Nov 14, 2024
Top Recs from @burn
Rec
🔎But there was a guy at a factory job I had who kept quiet. He'd sit with use loud folk and didn't say much for 2 years. We brought up flat earth, big foot, and the like. He chimed in finally "Only one I believe is that superior procreation is achieved via anal"
That's not an exact quote... But yeah we had him explain more. That stronger and more intelligent humans are conceived in a way the government and clergy are against. Because the normal way makes more compliant citizens.
We were wilding at how serious he was.
The barbarians that sacked Rome... Butt babies.
I didn't go into biology with him. I left the job shortly after. Not cuz of this.
Rec
😃I'm not a conventionally handsome or even good looking guy. lol I can admit it I'm comfortable being me. Mostly cuz years ago a well dressed older pretty lady with a thick Tennesse accent said "Boy, the girls that know are gonna eat you up."
That Appalachian witch cursed me with the best of luck that day.
