Yesterday was the two year anniversary of the death of Elliott Smith, who was in my opinion one of the finest singer/songwriters my generation is ever likely to have. Like a lot of people I first heard about Smith when he had some songs on the Good WIll Hunting soundtrack, but didn’t get really interested until “Needle In The Hay” was included in The Royal Tenenbaums.

If you’ve never heard Smith or you’ve been meaning to and want a good place to start check out From A Basement On A Hill, a posthumous collection of alternate takes put together in 2004. Its wide range of song styles–from Zeppelin-esque rockers like Coast To Coast to the twee folk of Memory Lane–truly shows Smith as a serious force in music in general and not only the indie rock ghetto he often found himself in.