The second 1997 record in Trusty Chords Music’s continuous nineties deep dive coverages on perhaps Elliott Smith’s most celebrated release, Either/Or.While many of us feel up to date on the latest tech terms and trends, the Internet is something most people take for granted.

When I think back on the events of past autumns, one particular moment transports. It was days after the astonishing death of my friend - an empty, drained sentiment washing over me and a new playlist in my ears.

The wispy “No Name #1” was the next track up, a staple in Elliott Smith’s debut record. In these circumstances, it is always better to be surrounded with people, but the inclination always surfaces to isolate - it’s more comfortable than talking about something traumatic. Smith, especially considering his opening three solo records, was an insular figure - layering his own vocals over a solitary guitar, and buried under rough production. The production only added to his mystique, though his apparent inaccessibility did not necessarily translate to new listeners. It is with this measured that “No Name #1” seemed as though it was a bizarre introduction to Elliott Smith, but the desire to isolate, to “ go home and live with your pain,” was, in the moment, ideal. Smith’s surface-level inaccessibility painted an ordinary, albeit damaged individual in an almost legendary light, though the luminous, sometimes grandiose arrangement of XO and Figure 8 would later level some of those barriers. Smith thrived for three consecutive records in a desolate, yet oddly intimate atmosphere, and by the time Either/Or was released in 1997, he had mastered his craft. Its predecessor Elliott Smith was perhaps the truest to Smith’s emotional well-being - “Southern Belle” detailed his step-father’s abuse of his mother “St Ides Heaven” his over-reliance on substance abuse to distort reality and “The Biggest Lie” served as a paradoxical struggle for liberation. Either/Or wades into the same depths while simultaneously launching a full-fledged assault on the evils of the music industry. On “Pictures of Me,” “everyone is dying just to get the disease,” while on “Angeles,” shrugs of “well, this is how it is” are picked apart, line after line. The latter is seminal not only for its thematic impact and lyrical brilliance, but also for Smith’s most underrated asset - his crafty guitar play.

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