107-615: Either/Or is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Elliott Smith . Either/Or was recorded in several locations, mostly in Portland, Oregon – while Smith was still a member of Heatmiser – and was produced by Smith, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf . Either/Or was released on February 25, 1997, on the Kill Rock Stars record label, following Heatmiser's dissolution. Book-ended by its two singles, "Speed Trials" and "Ballad of Big Nothing", Either/Or did not chart in
214-547: A Backpage sex trafficking exposé, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders in September 2012, and formed the Denver-based Voice Media Group . In May 2013, The Village Voice editor Will Bourne and deputy editor Jessica Lustig told The New York Times that they were quitting
321-413: A National Merit Scholar . After graduation, Smith began calling himself "Elliott", saying that he thought "Steve" sounded too much like a "jock" name, and that "Steven" sounded "too bookish". According to friends, he had also used the pseudonym "Elliott Stillwater-Rotter" during his time in the band A Murder of Crows. Biographer S. R. Shutt speculates that the name was either inspired by Elliott Avenue,
428-440: A "sweeping kaleidoscope of layered instruments and sonic textures". However, some reviewers felt that Smith's trademark dark and melancholy songwriting had lost some of its subtlety, with one reviewer likening some of the lyrics to "the self-pitying complaints of an adolescent venting in his diary". Album art and promotional pictures from the period showed Smith looking cleaned-up and put-together. An extensive tour in promotion of
535-758: A Basement on the Hill were re-released on April 6, 2010, in the US. A greatest hits compilation titled An Introduction to... Elliott Smith was released in November 2010 by Domino Records (UK) and Kill Rock Stars (US). The Village Voice The Village Voice is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village , New York City , known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly . Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf , Ed Fancher , John Wilcock , and Norman Mailer , The Voice began as
642-482: A Basement on the Hill , shortly after the first anniversary of his death. Smith's family, as well as Joanna Bolme, Jennifer Chiba, Neil Gust, Sam Coomes , and Janet Weiss , all declined to be interviewed. It contained interviews with Rob Schnapf, David McConnell, and Pete Krebs . The book received mixed reviews, with Publishers Weekly remarking that while "Nugent manages to patch together the major beats of Smith's life, he can offer little meaningful insight". In 2005,
749-647: A cabin in the Silver Lake section of town, where he would regularly play intimate, acoustic shows at local venues like Silverlake Lounge . He also performed in Toronto in April that year. In the fall, his cover of the Beatles ' "Because" was featured in the end credits of DreamWorks' Oscar-winning drama American Beauty , and appeared on the film's soundtrack album. Figure 8 , the final album Smith completed,
856-417: A candid interview in which he spoke of his assessment of his music career until that point: Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I mostly only know things are different because people ask me different questions, but I don't feel like things are very changed. I mean, I still, I do the same things that I did before … I think about the same things, so … I'm the wrong kind of person to be really big and famous. As part of
963-412: A certain label. I've also been followed around for months at a time. I wouldn't even want to necessarily say it's the people from that label who are following me around, but it was probably them who broke into my house." During this period, Smith hardly ate, subsisting primarily on ice cream. He would go without sleeping for several days and then sleep for an entire day. A follow-up to Smith's 2000 album
1070-540: A cliff, but let's talk about something else." Christopher Cooper, head of Cavity Search Records (which released Roman Candle ), said about this time in Smith's life, "I talked him out of thinking that he wanted to kill himself numerous times when he was in Portland, Oregon. I kept telling him that he was a brilliant man, and that life was worth living, and that people loved him." Pete Krebs also agreed: "In Portland we got
1177-577: A course of treatment for substance use disorder. In one of his final interviews, he spoke about the center: "What they do is an IV treatment where they put a needle in your arm, and you're on a drip bag, but the only thing that's in the drip bag is amino acids and saline solution. I was coming off of a lot of psych meds and other things. I was even on an antipsychotic , although I'm not psychotic." Two sold-out solo acoustic concerts at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theater, on January 31 and February 1, 2003, saw Smith attempting to reestablish his credibility as
SECTION 10
#17327973369961284-454: A difficult childhood and a troubled relationship with his stepfather Charlie Welch. Smith stated he may have been sexually abused by Welch at a young age, an allegation that Welch has denied. He wrote about this part of his life in "Some Song". The name "Charlie" also appears in songs "Flowers for Charlie" and "No Confidence Man". In a 2004 interview, Jennifer Chiba, Smith's partner at the time of his death, said that Smith's difficult childhood
1391-464: A double album or a regular album with a bonus disc, it was not clear whether it would have been possible for him to release it that way had he completed it. As completed by Schnapf and Bolme, it was released as a 15-track single album. Many songs from the sessions (later leaked onto the Internet) were not included, such as "True Love", "Everything's OK", "Stickman", and "Suicide Machine" (a reworking of
1498-579: A few drum tracks, Sam Coomes contributed some bass guitar and backing vocals, but almost every other instrument was recorded by Smith. Smith's song " Needle in the Hay " was included in Wes Anderson 's 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums during a suicide attempt scene. Smith was originally supposed to contribute a cover of The Beatles' " Hey Jude " for the film, but when he failed to do so in time, Anderson had to use The Mutato Muzika Orchestra 's version of
1605-418: A fully digital venture, on a date to be announced. The final printed edition, featuring a 1965 photo of Bob Dylan on the cover, was distributed on September 21, 2017. After halting print publication in 2017, The Voice provided daily coverage through its website until August 31, 2018, when it announced it was ceasing production of new editorial content. On December 23, 2020, editor R. C. Baker announced that
1712-426: A host to underground cartoonists. In addition to mainstay Jules Feiffer , whose cartoon ran for decades in the paper until its cancellation in 1996, well-known cartoonists featured in the paper have included R. Crumb , Matt Groening , Lynda Barry , Stan Mack , Mark Alan Stamaty , Ted Rall , Tom Tomorrow , Ward Sutton , Ruben Bolling and M. Wartella . Backpage was a classified advertisement website owned by
1819-604: A live performer. Before the show, Smith scrawled " Kali – the Destroyer" (the Hindu goddess associated with time and change) in large block letters with permanent ink on his left arm, which was visible to the crowd during the performance. On several songs, he was backed by a stripped-down drum kit played by Robin Peringer (of the band 764-HERO ), and members of opening band Rilo Kiley contributed backing vocals to one song. Near
1926-718: A lot of noise." He was also in the process of recording songs for the Thumbsucker soundtrack , including Big Star 's " Thirteen " and Cat Stevens 's "Trouble". In August 2003, Suicide Squeeze Records put out a limited-edition vinyl single for "Pretty (Ugly Before)", a song that Smith had been playing since the Figure ;8 tour. Smith's final show was at Redfest at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on September 19, 2003. The final song he played live
2033-989: A platform for the creative community of New York City. It ceased publication in 2017, although its online archives remained accessible. After an ownership change, The Voice reappeared in print as a quarterly in April 2021. The Village Voice has received three Pulitzer Prizes , the National Press Foundation Award, and the George Polk Award . The Village Voice hosted a variety of writers and artists, including writer Ezra Pound , cartoonist Lynda Barry , artist Greg Tate , music critic Robert Christgau , and film critics Andrew Sarris , Jonas Mekas , and J. Hoberman . In October 2015, The Village Voice changed ownership and severed all ties with former parent company Voice Media Group (VMG). The Voice announced on August 22, 2017, that it would cease publication of its print edition and convert to
2140-499: A small acoustic guitar bought for him by his father. At this age he composed an original piano piece, "Fantasy", which won him a prize at an arts festival. Many of the people on his mother's side of the family were non-professional musicians; his grandfather was a Dixieland drummer, and his grandmother sang in a glee club . At fourteen, Smith left his mother's home in Texas and moved to Portland, Oregon, to live with his father, who
2247-486: A street that Smith had lived on in Portland, or that it was suggested by his then-girlfriend. A junior high acquaintance of Smith speculates Smith changed his name so as not to be confused with Steve Smith , the drummer of Journey . In 1991 Smith graduated from Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts with a degree in philosophy and political science . "Went straight through in four years", he explained to Under
SECTION 20
#17327973369962354-416: A tribute album, A Tribute to Elliott Smith , was released. It featured various bands performing tributes to Smith. On May 8, 2007, a posthumous compilation album New Moon , was released by Kill Rock Stars. It contained 24 songs recorded by Smith between 1994 and 1997 during his tenure with the label, songs that were not included on albums, as well as a few early versions and previously released B-sides. In
2461-522: A two-bedroom apartment in Greenwich Village ; that was its initial coverage area, which expanded to other parts of the city by the 1960s. In 1960, it moved from 22 Greenwich Avenue to 61 Christopher Street in a landmark triangular corner building adjoining Sheridan Square, and a few feet west of the Stonewall Inn ; then, from the 1970s through 1980, at 11th Street and University Place; and then Broadway and 13th Street. It moved to Cooper Square in
2568-775: A valuable resource for reporters covering the Trump presidency. The Voice has published investigations of New York City politics, as well as reporting on national politics, with arts, culture, music, dance, film, and theater reviews. Writers and cartoonists for The Voice have received three Pulitzer Prizes : in 1981 ( Teresa Carpenter , for feature writing), 1986 ( Jules Feiffer , for editorial cartooning) and 2000 ( Mark Schoofs , for international reporting). The paper has, almost since its inception, recognized alternative theater in New York through its Obie Awards . The paper's " Pazz & Jop " music poll, started by Robert Christgau in
2675-432: A white van followed him wherever he went. He would have friends drop him off for recording sessions almost a mile away from the studio, and to reach the location, he would trudge through hundreds of yards of brush and cliffs. He started telling people that DreamWorks was out to get him: "Not long ago my house was broken into, and songs were stolen off my computer which have wound up in the hands of certain people who work at
2782-540: Is Elliott Smith's best selling release (it still has never charted) and has sold 429,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan . Either/Or was critically acclaimed. Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club wrote that the album "marks something of a thematic transition" for Smith, noting "brightness and a pop feel" on Either/Or in contrast to the "stark, guy-with-acoustic-guitar confessionals about drug abuse and darkness" on Elliott Smith . It
2889-749: The Editor & Publisher EPpy Award for Best Overall U.S. Newspaper Online Service – Weekly, Community, Alternative & Free in 2003. In 2005, the Phoenix alternative weekly chain New Times Media purchased the company and took the Village Voice Media name. Previous owners of The Village Voice or of Village Voice Media have included co-founders Fancher and Wolf, New York City Councilman Carter Burden , New York magazine founder Clay Felker , Rupert Murdoch , and Leonard Stern of
2996-717: The Yellow No. 5 EP (1994) on Frontier Records . They were then signed to Virgin Records to release what became their final album Mic City Sons (1996). Around this time, Smith and Gust worked a number of odd jobs around Portland, including installing drywall, spreading gravel, transplanting bamboo trees, and painting the roof of a warehouse with heat reflective paint. The pair were also on unemployment benefits for some time, which they considered an "artist grant". Smith had begun his solo career while still in Heatmiser, and
3103-607: The Billboard 200 and number 123 on the UK Album Charts, while selling 400,000 copies (more than double that of each of his two Kill Rock Stars releases), becoming the best-selling release of his career. Smith's backing band during most of this period was the Portland-based group Quasi , consisting of former bandmate Sam Coomes on bass guitar and Coomes's ex-wife Janet Weiss on drums. Quasi also performed as
3210-589: The East Village in 1991, and in 2013, to the Financial District . Early columnists of the 1950s and 1960s included Jonas Mekas , who explored the underground film movement in his "Film Journal" column; Linda Solomon , who reviewed the Village club scene in the "Riffs" column; and Sam Julty , who wrote a popular column on car ownership and maintenance. John Wilcock wrote a column every week for
3317-592: The Figure 8 -era unreleased instrumental "Tiny Time Machine"). There has been unconfirmed speculation that Smith's family made the decision not to include some songs on the record due to their lyrical content, although songs such as "King's Crossing" that deal with darker subjects did make the album. Elliott Smith and the Big Nothing , a biography by Benjamin Nugent , was rushed to publication shortly after From
Either/Or (album) - Misplaced Pages Continue
3424-840: The Hartz Mountain empire. After The Village Voice was acquired by New Times Media in 2005, the publication's key personnel changed. The Voice was then managed by two journalists from Phoenix, Arizona . In April 2006, The Voice dismissed music editor Chuck Eddy . Four months later, the newspaper sacked longtime music critic Robert Christgau . In January 2007, the newspaper fired sex columnist and erotica author Rachel Kramer Bussel ; long-term creative director Ted Keller , art director Minh Oung, fashion columnist Lynn Yaeger and Deputy Art Director LD Beghtol were laid off or fired soon afterward. Editor in chief Donald Forst resigned in December 2005. Doug Simmons, his replacement,
3531-428: The lo-fi darkness of Roman Candle and Elliott Smith and the studio sheen of XO and Figure 8 ." The album's first single, "Speed Trials", was released on October 1, 1996. Either/Or was released on February 25, 1997. It did not chart in the US. The album's second and final single, "Ballad of Big Nothing", was released on June 29, 1998. Smith would briefly be cast into the international spotlight early
3638-416: The 1998 Academy Award for Best Original Song . A heavy drinker and drug user, Smith was also diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and depression . His struggle with drugs and mental illness affected his life and work, and often informed his lyrics. He died at his Los Angeles home from two stab wounds to the chest at age 34 in 2003. The autopsy evidence did not determine whether
3745-454: The 2020 series Normal People . Online magazine Pitchfork ranked Either/Or 59th in its list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1990s. Spin ranked Either/Or at number 48 on its list of the best albums from 1987 to 2012. Blender ranked it thirty-sixth in its "100 Greatest Indie Rock Albums Ever" list. In 2013, NME placed Either/Or at number 149 on its list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Consequence of Sound ranked
3852-453: The Bars" with composer Danny Elfman for the movie. Smith also contributed a new song, "Miss Misery", and three previously released tracks ("No Name #3", from Roman Candle , and "Angeles" and "Say Yes", from Either/Or ). The film was a commercial and critical success, and Smith was nominated for an Academy Award for "Miss Misery". Not eager to step into the limelight, he agreed to perform
3959-522: The Dutch television special, Smith played live versions of "Waltz No. 2 (XO)", "Miss Misery", and "I Didn't Understand"—the latter two songs were performed solely on piano, while the first song was cut short by Smith, as he explained: "I had to stop it because it's… you know, what's the point of playing a song badly? It'd be better to play it and mean it, than to just walk through it." Smith relocated from Brooklyn to Los Angeles in 1999, taking up residence at
4066-707: The GLF petitioned it to do so. Over time, The Voice changed its stance, and, in 1982, became the second organization in the US known to have extended domestic partner benefits. Jeff Weinstein, an employee of the paper and shop steward for the publishing local of District 65 UAW, negotiated and won agreement in the union contract to extend health, life insurance, and disability benefits to the "spouse equivalents" of its union members. The Voice ' s competitors in New York City include The New York Observer and Time Out New York . Seventeen alternative weeklies around
4173-435: The Hill ." In December 2009, Kill Rock Stars announced that it had obtained the rights to re-release Roman Candle and From a Basement on the Hill , originally released by Cavity Search and ANTI-, respectively. Roman Candle would be remastered by Larry Crane. Along with the press release, Kill Rock Stars posted a previously unreleased track of Smith's, titled "Cecilia/Amanda", as a free download. Roman Candle and From
4280-513: The Radar in 2003. "I guess it proved to myself that I could do something I really didn't want to for four years. Except I did like what I was studying. At the time it seemed like, 'This is your one and only chance to go to college and you had just better do it because some day you might wish that you did.' Plus, the whole reason I applied in the first place was because of my girlfriend, and I had gotten accepted already even though we had broken up before
4387-544: The Reading Eagle Company, and holds the same roles at The Village Voice . After taking over ownership of The Voice , Barbey named Joe Levy, formerly of Rolling Stone , as interim editor in chief, and Suzan Gursoy, formerly of Ad Week , as publisher. In December 2016, Barbey named Stephen Mooallem, formerly of Harper's Bazaar , as editor in chief. Mooallem resigned in May 2018, and was not replaced before
Either/Or (album) - Misplaced Pages Continue
4494-501: The US, but was acclaimed by critics. Director Gus Van Sant was highly impressed with the album, incorporating three of its songs; " Between the Bars ", "Angeles" and " Say Yes " along with a new song, " Miss Misery ", into the Good Will Hunting soundtrack . "Miss Misery" was nominated for Best Original Song at the 1998 Academy Awards , and was performed at the televised ceremony in an abridged version by Smith, backed by
4601-490: The United States are owned by The Voice's former parent company Village Voice Media . The film section writers and editors also produced a weekly Voice Film Club podcast. In 1996, after decades of carrying a cover price, The Voice switched from a paid weekly to a free, alternative weekly. The Voice website was a recipient of the National Press Foundation 's Online Journalism Award in 2001 and
4708-427: The United States, the album debuted at number 24 on the Billboard 200, selling about 24,000 copies in its first week. The record received favorable reviews and was Metacritic's 15th best-reviewed album of 2007. A portion of the proceeds from album sales were to go to Outside In , a social service agency for low-income adults and homeless youth in Portland, Oregon. On October 25, 2007, a book titled Elliott Smith
4815-540: The album No. 97 on their list of best albums ever. Rolling Stone ranked the album at 216 on the 2020 re-release of their 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Pitchfork ranked the album #23 on its best albums of the decade list (2022). The restaurant Either/Or , in Portland, Oregon , references the album's title. All tracks are written by Elliott Smith Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith ,
4922-553: The audience began shouting out lyrics when Smith could not remember them. In the first of only three concerts performed in 2002, Smith co-headlined Northwestern University's A&O Ball with Wilco on May 2 in Chicago. He was onstage for nearly an hour but failed to complete half of the songs. He claimed that his poor performance was due to his left hand having fallen asleep and told the audience it felt "like having stuff on your hand and you can't get it off". Smith's performance
5029-482: The brunt of Elliott's initial depression ... Lots of people have stories of their own experiences of staying up with Elliott 'til five in the morning, holding his hand, telling him not to kill himself." Smith's first release for DreamWorks was later that year. Titled XO , it was conceived and developed while Smith wrote it out over the winter of 1997/1998, night after night seated at the bar in Luna Lounge . It
5136-545: The contrast between aesthetic/subjective experience and ethical/objective being. This existential title is reflective of Smith's interest in philosophy, which he studied at Hampshire College in Massachusetts . The lyrics contain many references to Portland such as the neighborhood of Alameda , Division Street and the Portland Rose Festival . The album's style has been described as "a bridge between
5243-561: The corner." Smith had attempted to go to rehab several times, but found that he was unable to relate to the popular treatments for people with substance use disorder who used a twelve-step program basis for treatment. "I couldn't do the first step ... I couldn't say what you were supposed to say and mean it." In 2002, Smith went to the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills to start
5350-425: The early 1970s, is released annually and remains an influential survey of the nation's music critics. In 1999, film critic J. Hoberman and film section editor Dennis Lim began a similar Village Voice Film Poll for the year in film. In 2001, The Voice sponsored its first music festival, Siren Festival, a free annual event every summer held at Coney Island . The event moved to the lower tip of Manhattan in 2011, and
5457-492: The end of the first show, the musician responded for several minutes after a heckler yelled "Get a backbone". Smith played two more Los Angeles concerts that year: The Derby in May 2003, and the L.A. Weekly Music Awards in June 2003. After his 34th birthday on August 6, 2003, he gave up alcohol. Director Mike Mills had been working with Smith during his final years and described Smith's troubles and apparent recovery: "I gave
SECTION 50
#17327973369965564-459: The fact that sometimes people look at major labels as simply money-making machines, they're actually composed of individuals who are real people, and there's a part of them that needs to feel that part of their job is to put out good music." Smith also claimed in another interview that he never read his reviews for fear that they would interfere with his songwriting. It was during this period that Smith appeared on Dutch television in 1998 and provided
5671-471: The first day." After he graduated, he "worked in a bakery back in Portland with a bachelor's degree in philosophy and legal theory". While at Hampshire College, Smith formed the band Heatmiser with classmate Neil Gust . After Smith graduated from Hampshire, the band added drummer Tony Lash and bassist Brandt Peterson and began performing around Portland in 1992. The group released the albums Dead Air (1993) and Cop and Speeder (1994), as well as
5778-516: The first time since 2018. At the time, The Village Voice was a quarterly publication. The Voice has published columns and works by writers such as Ezra Pound , Henry Miller , Barbara Garson , Katherine Anne Porter , James Baldwin , E.E. Cummings , Nat Hentoff , staff writer and author Ted Hoagland , Colson Whitehead , Tom Stoppard , Paul Lukas , Lorraine Hansberry , Lester Bangs , Allen Ginsberg and Joshua Clover . Former editors have included Clay Felker . The newspaper has also been
5885-423: The following year when he performed his song, the 1997 standalone single "Miss Misery", at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony, following the song's appearance in the major motion picture Good Will Hunting and its subsequent Oscar nomination for Best Original Song. Following this appearance, Smith was signed to major label DreamWorks and started work on his fourth studio album, XO . As of March 2017, Either/Or
5992-534: The house orchestra, briefly propelling him into the international spotlight. In 2020, the album was ranked at 216 on Rolling Stone 's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. Either/Or was recorded at several locations: Joanna Bolme 's house; Smith's own house; Undercover, Inc.; Laundry Rules Recording; and the Heatmiser House – all in Portland, Oregon – as well as The Shop in Arcata, California . The album
6099-410: The house orchestra. Smith did not voice disappointment about not winning. He described the experience as surreal, and said: "The Oscars was a very strange show, where the set was only one song cut down to less than two minutes, and the audience was a lot of people who didn't come to hear me play. I wouldn't want to live in that world, but it was fun to walk around on the moon for a day." In 1998, after
6206-475: The intent of learning how to record with computers, noting that it was the only method with which he was still unfamiliar. Smith jokingly labeled his experimental way of recording "The California Frown" (a play on the Beach Boys ' " California Sound "). He said "They're kind of more noisy with the pitch all distorted. Some are more acoustic, but there aren't too many like that. Lately I've just been making up
6313-642: The label, as well as poor promotion for the Figure 8 album. The talks proved fruitless, and soon after, Smith sent a message to the executives, stating that if they did not release him from his contract, he would take his own life. In May 2001, Smith set out to re-record the album, mostly on his own, but with some help from David McConnell of Goldenboy . McConnell told Spin that, during this time, Smith smoked over $ 1,500 worth of heroin and crack per day, often talked about suicide, and on numerous occasions tried to give himself an overdose. Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips and Scott McPherson of Sense Field played
6420-600: The last article to be published on the website. Two weeks after the Village Voice ceased operations on September 13, co-founder John Wilcock died in California at the age of 91. In January 2021, a new original story — the first one in two-and-a-half years — was published on the website of The Village Voice . On April 17, 2021, the Spring 2021 issue of The Village Voice appeared in news boxes and on newsstands for
6527-429: The management by some of its current writers, Hentoff himself, and by The Voice ' s ideological rival paper National Review , which referred to Hentoff as a "treasure". At the end of 2011, Wayne Barrett, who had written for the paper since 1973, was laid off. Fellow muckraking investigative reporter Tom Robbins then resigned in solidarity. Following a scandal concerning The Village Voice 's editorial attack on
SECTION 60
#17327973369966634-401: The newspaper referred to the riots as "The Great Faggot Rebellion". Two reporters, Howard Smith and Lucian Truscott IV, both used the words " faggot " and " dyke " in their articles about the riots. (These words were not commonly used by homosexuals to refer to each other at this time.) Smith and Truscott retrieved their press cards from The Voice offices, which were very close to the bar, as
6741-444: The night in jail. Smith's back was injured in the incident, causing him to cancel a number of shows. Wayne Coyne , lead singer of The Flaming Lips and a friend of Smith's, stated concern over Smith's appearance and actions, saying that he "saw a guy who had lost control of himself. He was needy, he was grumpy, he was everything you wouldn't want in a person. It's not like when you think of Keith Richards being pleasantly blissed out in
6848-445: The opening act at many shows on the tour, with Smith sometimes contributing bass guitar, guitar, or backing vocals. On October 17, 1998 , Smith appeared on Saturday Night Live and performed " Waltz No. 2 (XO) ". His backing band for this appearance was John Moen , Jon Brion , Rob Schnapf , and Sam Coomes . In response to whether the change to a bigger record label would influence his creative control, Smith said, "I think despite
6955-466: The paper for decades. Feingold was rehired as a writer for The Village Voice in January 2016. Michael Musto was also rehired in 2016 and wrote cover stories regarding subjects like Oscar scandals and Madonna's body of work. Musto returned again to write features in 2021 under new publisher Brian Calle. In July 2013, Voice Media Group executives named Tom Finkel as editor. Peter Barbey , through
7062-445: The paper rather than executing further staff layoffs. Both had been recent appointments. By then, The Voice had employed five editors since 2005. Following Bourne's and Lustig's departure, Village Media Group management fired three of The Voice ' s longest-serving contributors: gossip and nightlife columnist Michael Musto , restaurant critic Robert Sietsema , and theater critic Michael Feingold , all of whom had been writing for
7169-431: The paper would resume publishing new articles both online and in a quarterly print edition. In January 2021, new original stories began being published again on the website. A spring print edition was released in April 2021. The Voice 's website continues to feature archival material related to current events. The Village Voice was launched by Ed Fancher , Dan Wolf, and Norman Mailer on October 26, 1955, from
7276-660: The paper's first ten years. Another regular from that period was the cartoonist Kin Platt , who did weekly theatrical caricatures. Other prominent regulars have included Peter Schjeldahl , Ellen Willis , Jill Johnston , Tom Carson, and Richard Goldstein . Staff of The Voice joined a union, the Distributive Workers of America , in 1977. For more than 40 years, Wayne Barrett was the newspaper's muckraker , covering New York real estate developers and politicians, including Donald Trump . The material continued to be
7383-519: The privately owned investment company Black Walnut Holdings LLC, purchased The Village Voice from Voice Media Group in October 2015. Barbey is a member of one of America's wealthiest families. The family has had ownership interest in the Reading Eagle , a daily newspaper serving the city of Reading, Pennsylvania and the surrounding region, for many years. Barbey serves as president and CEO of
7490-454: The publication's shutdown. Under the Barbey ownership, advertisements for escort agencies and phone sex services came to an end. On August 31, 2018, it was announced that the Village Voice would cease production and lay off half of its staff. The remaining staff would be kept on for a limited period for archival projects. An August 31 piece by freelancer Steven Wishnia was hailed as
7597-454: The record ensued, book-ended by television appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and the Late Show with David Letterman . However, Smith's condition began to deteriorate as he had become addicted to heroin either towards the end of or just after the Figure 8 tour. Around the time he began recording his final album, Smith began to display signs of paranoia, often believing that
7704-519: The recording of his album XO . In the early 1990s, Smith's girlfriend at the time convinced him to send a tape of songs he had recently recorded on a borrowed four-track to Cavity Search Records . Cavity owner Christopher Cooper asked to release the entire album of songs, which surprised Smith, as he was expecting only a deal for a seven-inch record . The album became Smith's release Roman Candle (1994). Smith said: "I thought my head would be chopped off immediately when it came out because at
7811-399: The release. Following Smith's death, his estate licensed his songs for use in film and television projects such as One Tree Hill , The Girl Next Door , Georgia Rule , and Paranoid Park . In a March 2009 interview, Larry Crane said that Smith's estate was defunct and all rights previously held by Smith are now in the control of his parents. Crane went on to say that his parents own
7918-404: The rights to Smith's high school recordings, some of the Heatmiser material, all solo songs recorded until his 1998 record deal with DreamWorks Records , and From a Basement on the Hill . DreamWorks Records was acquired by Universal Music Group in 2003, and Interscope Records currently "owns all studio and live recording from Jan 1998 to his passing, except for the songs on From a Basement on
8025-426: The rock band Heatmiser for several years, Smith began his solo career in 1994, with releases on the independent record labels Cavity Search and Kill Rock Stars (KRS). In 1997, he signed a contract with DreamWorks Records , for which he recorded his final two albums. Smith rose to mainstream prominence when his song " Miss Misery "—included in the soundtrack for the film Good Will Hunting (1997)—was nominated for
8132-505: The same parent company as The Village Voice. In 2012, Nicholas Kristof wrote an article in The New York Times detailing a young woman's account of being sold on Backpage. The Village Voice released an article entitled "What Nick Kristof Got Wrong" accusing Kristof of fabricating the story and ignoring journalistic standards. Kristof responded, noting that The Voice did not dispute the column, but rather tried to show how
8239-407: The script to him, then he dropped off the face of the earth ... he went through his whole crazy time, but by the time I was done with the film, he was making From a Basement on the Hill and I was shocked that he was actually making music." With things improving for Smith after several troubled years, he began experimenting with noise music and worked on his girlfriend Jennifer Chiba's iMac with
8346-411: The sessions because of Smith's struggle with substance use disorder. Their friendship promptly ended, and Smith scrapped all of their work until that point. He later said "There was even a little more than half of a record done before this new one that I just scrapped because of a blown friendship with someone that made me so depressed I didn't want to hear any of those songs. He was just helping me record
8453-471: The song at the ceremony only after the producers informed him that if he was unwilling to perform, they would choose someone else to play it. On March 5, 1998, Smith made an appearance on Late Night with Conan O'Brien performing " Miss Misery " solo on acoustic guitar. A few days later, wearing a white suit, he played an abridged version of the song at the Academy Awards ceremony, accompanied by
8560-417: The songs and stuff, and then the friendship kind of fell apart all of a sudden one day. It just made it kind of awkward being alone in the car listening to the songs." When Brion sent a bill for the abandoned sessions to DreamWorks, executives Lenny Waronker and Luke Wood scheduled a meeting with Smith to determine what went wrong with the sessions. Smith complained of intrusion upon his personal life from
8667-405: The soundtrack of the film Good Will Hunting . Three Either/Or tracks were incorporated into the soundtrack, as well as a new song, "Miss Misery." Smith was briefly pushed to the forefront of popular culture after performing "Miss Misery" from Good Will Hunting at the 1998 Academy Awards ceremony. Van Sant later also used "Angeles" in his 2007 film Paranoid Park. The song was again featured in
8774-570: The success of Either/Or and "Miss Misery", Smith signed to a bigger record label, DreamWorks Records . Around the same time, Smith fell into depression, speaking openly of considering suicide, and on at least one occasion made a serious attempt at ending his own life. While in North Carolina, he became severely intoxicated and ran off a cliff. He landed on a tree, which badly impaled him but broke his fall. When questioned about his suicide attempt, he told an interviewer "Yeah, I jumped off
8881-411: The success of his first two releases created distance and tension with his band. Heatmiser disbanded prior to the release of Mic City Sons , prompting Virgin to put the album out inauspiciously through its independent arm Caroline Records . A clause in Heatmiser's record contract with Virgin meant that Smith was still bound to it as an individual. The contract was later bought out by DreamWorks prior to
8988-526: The theme of drugs as a vehicle for conveying dependence rather than the songs being about drugs specifically. Looking back, Smith felt that the album's pervasive mood gave him "a reputation for being a really dark, depressed person" and said that he later made a conscious move toward more diverse moods in his music. In 1996, filmmaker Jem Cohen recorded Smith playing acoustic songs for the short film Lucky Three : An Elliott Smith Portrait . Two of these songs would appear on his next album Either/Or , which
9095-522: The time it was so opposite to the grunge thing that was popular ... The thing is that album was really well received, which was a total shock, and it immediately eclipsed [Heatmiser], unfortunately." Smith felt his solo songs were not representative of the music Heatmiser was making: "The idea of playing [my music] for people didn't occur to me ... because at the time it was the Northwest — Mudhoney and Nirvana —and going out to play an acoustic show
9202-510: The timeline in Kristof's original piece was inaccurate. In this rebuttal, he not only justified his original timeline, but expressed sadness "to see Village Voice Media become a major player in sex trafficking, and to see it use its journalists as attack dogs for those who threaten its corporate interests", noting another instance of The Village Voice attacking journalists reporting on Backpage's role in sex trafficking. After repeated calls for
9309-515: The track " No Confidence Man ". In 1995, Smith's self-titled album was released on Kill Rock Stars ; the record featured a style of recording similar to Roman Candle , but with hints of growth and experimentation. Though the majority of the album was recorded by Smith alone, friend and The Spinanes vocalist Rebecca Gates sang harmony vocals on "St. Ides Heaven", and Heatmiser guitarist Neil Gust played guitar on "Single File". Several songs made reference to drugs, but Smith explained that he used
9416-687: The track instead. Anderson would later say that Smith "was in a bad state" at the time. Smith's live performances during 2001 and 2002 were infrequent, typically in the Pacific Northwest or Los Angeles. A review of his December 20, 2001, show at Portland's Crystal Ballroom expressed concern over his appearance and performance: his hair was uncharacteristically greasy and long, his face was bearded and gaunt, and during his songs he exhibited alarming signs of "memory-loss and butterfingers". At another performance in San Francisco that month,
9523-555: The trouble began; they were among the first journalists to record the event, Smith being trapped inside the bar with the police, and Truscott reporting from the street. After the riot, the Gay Liberation Front (GLF) attempted to promote dances for gays and lesbians in The Voice , but were not allowed to use the words "gay" or "homosexual", which the newspaper considered derogatory. The newspaper changed its policy after
9630-617: The wounds were self-inflicted. At the time of his death, Smith was working on his album From a Basement on the Hill , posthumously produced and released in 2004. Steven Paul Smith was born on August 6, 1969, at the Methodist Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska, the only child of Gary Smith, a student at the University of Nebraska Medical Center , and Bunny Kay Berryman, an elementary school music teacher. His parents divorced when he
9737-477: Was " Long, Long, Long " by the Beatles . From a Basement on the Hill , almost four years in production, was released on October 19, 2004, by ANTI- Records (a part of Epitaph Records ). With Smith's family in control of his estate, they chose to bring in Rob Schnapf and Smith's ex-girlfriend Joanna Bolme to sort through the recordings and mix the album. Although Smith had voiced his desire for it to be
9844-692: Was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska , raised primarily in Texas , and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon , where he gained popularity. Smith's primary instrument was the guitar, though he also played piano, clarinet, bass guitar, drums, and harmonica. He had a distinctive vocal style in his solo career after Heatmiser , characterized by his "whispery, spiderweb-thin delivery", and often used multi-tracking to create vocal layers, textures, and harmonies that were usually finger picked and recorded with tape. After playing in
9951-517: Was another Kill Rock Stars release. Either/Or came out in 1997 to favorable reviews. The album found Smith venturing further into full instrumentation, with several songs containing bass guitar, drums, keyboards, and electric guitars, all played by Smith. The album title was derived from the two-volume book of the same name by Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard , whose works generally deal with themes such as existential despair , angst , death, and God. By this time, Smith's already-heavy drinking
10058-537: Was being compounded with use of antidepressants. At the end of the Either/Or tour, some of his close friends staged an intervention in Chicago, but it proved ineffective. Shortly after, Smith relocated from Portland to Jersey City, New Jersey, and later Brooklyn, New York. In 1997, Smith was selected by director and fellow Portland resident Gus Van Sant to be a part of the soundtrack to his film Good Will Hunting . Smith recorded an orchestral version of "Between
10165-432: Was like crawling out on a limb and begging for it to be sawed off." One of Smith's first solo performances was in Portland at the now-defunct Umbra Penumbra on September 17, 1994. Only three songs from Roman Candle were performed, with the majority of the ten-song set being B-sides , Heatmiser tunes and unreleased tracks. The same year, Smith released a split 7-inch record with Pete Krebs via Slo-Mo Records, contributing
10272-461: Was originally planned to happen with Rob Schnapf , but their sessions were abandoned. Smith also began distancing himself from manager Margaret Mittleman, who had handled him since the Roman Candle days. He finally began recording a new album with only himself and Jon Brion as producers sometime during 2001. The pair had recorded a substantial amount of music for the album when Brion stopped
10379-680: Was partly why he needed to sedate himself with drugs as an adult: "He was remembering traumatic things from his childhood – parts of things. It's not my place to say what." For much of his childhood, Smith's family was a part of the Community of Christ but began attending services at a local Methodist church. Smith felt that going to church did little for him, except make him "really scared of Hell". In 2001, he said: "I don't necessarily buy into any officially structured version of spirituality. But I have my own version of it." Smith began playing piano at age nine, and at ten began learning guitar on
10486-491: Was produced by Smith, Tom Rothrock and Rob Schnapf. Smith wrote and recorded a song entitled "Either/Or" during the sessions for this album, but it was not included on the final release; however, the song was later included on New Moon , a posthumous compilation of previously unreleased material by Smith. The album's title derives from the Søren Kierkegaard book of the same name , in which "either/or" refers to
10593-566: Was produced by the team of Rob Schnapf and Tom Rothrock . XO also contained some instrumentation from Los Angeles musicians Joey Waronker and Jon Brion . It contained a more full-sounding, baroque pop sound than any of his previous efforts, with songs featuring a horn section, Chamberlins , elaborate string arrangements, and even a drum loop on the song "Independence Day". His familiar double-tracked vocal and acoustic guitar style were still apparent while his somewhat personal lyrical style survived. The album went on to peak at number 104 on
10700-514: Was re-christened the " 4knots Music Festival", a reference to the speed of the East River's current. During the 1980s and onward, The Voice was known for its staunch support for gay rights , and it published an annual Gay Pride issue every June. However, early in its history, the newspaper had a reputation as having a homophobic slant. While reporting on the Stonewall riots of 1969,
10807-531: Was released by Autumn de Wilde , which consists of photographs, handwritten lyrics, and "revealing talks with Smith's inner circle". De Wilde was responsible for the Figure 8 sleeve art, making a landmark and de facto Smith memorial of the Solutions Audio mural. A five-song CD featuring previously unreleased live recordings of Smith performing acoustically at Largo in Los Angeles was included in
10914-502: Was released on April 18, 2000. It featured the return of Rothrock, Schnapf, Brion, and Waronker and was partially recorded at Abbey Road Studios in England, with an obvious Beatles influence in the songwriting and production. The album garnered favorable reviews, and peaked at number 99 on the Billboard 200 and 37 on the UK Album Charts. The album received praise for its power pop style and complex arrangements, described as creating
11021-590: Was reviewed as "undoubtedly one of the worst performances ever by a musician" and an "excruciating […] nightmare". A reporter for the online magazine Glorious Noise wrote, "It would not surprise me at all if Elliott Smith ends up dead within a year." On November 25, 2002, Smith was involved in a brawl with the Los Angeles Police Department at a concert where The Flaming Lips and Beck were performing. The officers allegedly beat and arrested him and girlfriend Jennifer Chiba. The two spent
11128-451: Was sacked in March 2006 after it was discovered that a reporter had fabricated portions of an article. Simmons' successor, Erik Wemple , resigned after two weeks. His replacement, David Blum , was fired in March 2007. Tony Ortega then held the position of editor in chief from 2007 to 2012. The sacking of Nat Hentoff , who worked for the paper from 1958 to 2008, led to further criticism of
11235-441: Was six months old, and Smith moved with his mother to Duncanville, Texas . He had half-siblings through his mother, Darren Welch and Ashley Welch, and a half-sister Rachel Smith through his father. Smith later had a tattoo of a map of Texas drawn on his upper arm and said: "I didn't get it because I like Texas, kind of the opposite. But I won't forget about it, although I'm tempted to because I don't like it there." Smith endured
11342-519: Was then working as a psychiatrist. It was around this time that Smith began using drugs, including alcohol, with friends. He also began experimenting with recording for the first time after borrowing a four-track recorder . At high school, Smith played clarinet in the school band and played guitar and piano; he also sang in the bands Stranger Than Fiction and A Murder of Crows, billed as either Steven Smith or "Johnny Panic". His bandmates included Jason Hornick . He graduated from Lincoln High School as
11449-647: Was voted the 20th best album of 1997 in The Village Voice ' s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll. The poll's supervisor, Robert Christgau , was less enthusiastic about the album, finding Smith "tuneful if depressive" and believing that, "he could too be popular—he just doesn't want to be, that's all". In its retrospective review, Tiny Mix Tapes opined: "Simply put, the songs on Either/Or are Elliott Smith's best". Trouser Press called it "even more fully realized" than Elliott Smith . The album inspired Gus Van Sant to invite Smith to contribute to
#995004