ELLIOT SMITH NEW MOON DOUBLE LP VINYL 33RPM NEW 2007

This second posthumous Elliot Smith release -- the first being 2004�s From a Basement Hill -- collects together 24 previously unreleased songs written between 1994 and 1997. It�s a lighter, sweeter document than ... Basement Hill, not only because it�s aligned to Smith�s generally more insouciant Kill Rock Stars period but also because - unlike its predecessor � New Moon is distanced enough from Smith�s downward descent into depression (and subsequent suicide) to avoid the same intense levels of psychological scrutiny and lyrical analysis. The songs here are more in line with seminal Smith albums like Elliot Smith and Either/Or; that is to say they largely feature Smith -- his voice, his timeless lyricism, his versatile melodies -- mixing it up between fairly breezy pop tunes and deeper, melancholic fare. No strings. No tricks. Just songs. In contrast to later works, New Moon never gets seriously heavy, and hearing tracks like the early version of "Miss Misery" is a definite bonus, even for hard-core fans. Far from being an album of second-rate off-cuts, New Moon is a very worthy addition to a formidable oeuvre