Thank you, Jason.Elliott Smith Alternate Versions from Either/Or
What makes this EP of outtakes so exhilarating is how these four songs dialogue with the full album. The jittery timing of “Punch and Judy,” for instance, is unnerving compared sullen groove of the Either/Or version. But the most exhilarating detail is the alternate refrain of “Alameda”—I won’t spoil your surprise, but it contrasts with the album version’s “nobody broke your heart / you broke your own / ‘cause you can’t finish what you start”––which completely and breathtakingly changes the meaning of the song.
Alternate Versions unfolds like the posthumous New Moon, showing Elliott Smith experimenting with his songs, poking at themes, and as always toying with feelings of wounded vulnerability.
