The Ultimate Autumn Accompaniment: Elliott Smith’s five favourite folk albums
The leaves are falling off the trees, and Elliott Smith’s discography is beginning to wave hello from afar, somewhere in the autumnal distance, beyond the swimming shorts hung out to dry after their last wash of the season.
As the world turns gold, red, and green, folk comes into its own. The softer side of music pairs with the mellowing world like a biscuit craves tea. And there are few more poignant forces to turn to than the hushed tones of the late Omaha icon.
But it’s not just the mellow solemnity that makes his music match so perfectly with the fall, he manages to capture the essence of the season in totality. As he said of his music, “Everybody gets a tag. If you listen to a Velvet Underground record, you don’t think, ‘Godfathers of Punk.’ You just think, ‘This sounds great.’”
“The tags are there in order to help try to sell something by giving it a name that’s going to stick in somebody’s memory,” he continued. “But it doesn’t describe it. So ‘depressing’ isn’t a word I would use to describe my music. But there is some sadness in it – there has to be, so that the happiness in it will matter.”
It is often decreed that folk is somehow ‘depressing’, even Bob Dylan said, “To me, folk is just a bunch of fat people.” But among that disparaging tone, there is also the deeper truth that Leonard Cohen put his finger on when he sang, “We are ugly but we have the music.”
What I think Cohen meant was what Smith decreed: that the sensitive souls of this world are more likely to accept the beauty in everything – that’s where true contentment lies. Sure, Smith’s music can, at times, be dour, but there’s also enough joy and wonder for you to find comfort in the lower patches without wallowing and celebrate in his humble, hushed wins.
Evidently, the folk that Smith liked followed a similar style. If it was too straight down the line, then he’d skip it, favouring avant-garde and encompassing expression like Nico’s classic The Marble Index. This whirling oddity carries the same sense of mystique that exists in Smith’s unique tone. ‘Where are these songs coming from?’, both artists force you to ask.
While his love for AC/DC might be a little less expected, it is also no surprise to see that Nick Drake’s gorgeous Pink Moon ranked among his favourite records. If any artist can be said to be similar to Smith, then it is surely the soft Cambridge strummer.
It’s easy to see that Smith was evidently moved by mood above all else. Take, for instance, another of his folk favourites in the form of Radio City by Big Star: somehow the ill-fated backstory of the commercially floundering LP seems to be writ large across its spirit. You can genuinely detect the humility in its tender performance and production as the hits wilt under the spotlight in the best possible way.
In fact, in these five records, you get perhaps the truest reflection of Smith’s musical inspiration as a performer himself. There is the profound sense of purpose beyond prettiness in Bob Dylan’s first masterpiece, the individuality of Nico, the gruff honesty of Alex Chilton and his warts-and-all production, the tender beauty of Nick Drake, and Big Star’s uncanny ability to convey depth beyond the tape.
Elliott Smith’s five favourite albums:
- The Marble Index – Nico
- The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan – Bob Dylan
- Like Flies on Sherbert – Alex Chilton
- Pink Moon – Nick Drake
- 1 Record/Radio City – Big Star
