Just listened to Elliott Smith for the first time, so here is a small review of Either/Or:

Oh my God.

I've heard about Elliott Smith for some time now, but I only gave him a listen yesterday. I listened to his album Either/Or, and it's the closest thing I've had to a religious epiphany since hearing Dumb by Nirvana for the first time.

It sounds so simple, with just a guitar, a soft voice, and sometimes a bass line or a little bit of drums, but at the same time the music feels all around you, like a warm hug. Or warm soup. Or a warm shirt right out of the laundry. In general, it sounds all so warm. The kind of warmth you feel when it's cold outside and you enter a building with heating.

The songs sound so heart-wrenchingly beautiful, so beautiful actually that I almost cried while listening to a good chunk of them. My favourite track was 2:45 AM, the second to last song on the album; mostly because it sounded exactly how being awake late at night feels like, but also because the very hypnotic rhythm. The drums come in once at the end of the song, with less than a minute left, and it gives this cinematic feel that somehow gives me both a rush of euphoria and melancholy. Other great tracks on here were Speed Trials, Cupid's Trick, Pictures of Me, and Rose Parade.

So, if you're like me and knew about Elliott Smith's existence but never checked him out, change your ways. Go put on that record. It's worth it.

(credits to rice-pudding-addict on Tumblr for the blinkie)