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Oct 13, 2016 Amanda Palmer By Christopher Roberts

American Laundromat Records are releasing Say Yes! A Tribute to Elliott Smith tomorrow (October 14). The Elliott Smith tribute album will feature newly recorded covers of Smith’s songs by Jesu/Sun Kil Moon, Waxahatchee, Lou Barlow, Adam Franklin of Swervedriver, Tanya Donelly, and others. Previously we’ve heard Yuck‘s cover of “Bled White,” Julien Baker‘s cover of “Ballad of Big Nothing,” and a cover of “Waltz #2 (XO)” by J Mascis of Dinosaur Jr. Now on the eve of the album’s release we have Amanda Palmer’s take on “Pictures of Me” (from 1997’s Either/Or). Listen below via American Laundromat, followed by Smith’s original.

Palmer had this to say about Smith and the song in a press release: “I’ve been an admirer and constant listener of Elliott’s whole catalogue since someone first gave me XO in the ‘90s. It’s just impossible to get bored of listening to his songwriting, which is so sonically quiet yet emotionally loud. He was always curating this paradox of himself for the listener, giving you pieces of the puzzle. ‘Pictures of Me’ has always been one my favorites of his, lyrically, because, like his best stuff, he deals with the struggle by putting the struggle on display. I tried to keep the arrangement personal and simple, just piano and voice, because I felt like adding any more was going to just get in the way of the intimacy. And as a blanket commentary on fame and image, c’mon: ‘Everybody’s dying just to get the disease’ as a double entendre? It’s genius….I mean that’s up there with the best Leonard Cohen lyrics. I so wish Elliott was around to keep sharing his genius. The best we can do now is just keep the songs and his soul in circulation.”

Palmer is on the cover of Under the Radar’s current print issue, the 2016 Protest Issue.

Also, Under the Radar conducted the last ever interview and photo-shoot with Smith before his passing and you can read that here.

Say Yes! A Tribute to Elliott Smith Tracklist:

01. Between The Bars - Tanya Donelly
02. Ballad Of Big Nothing - Julien Baker
03. Pictures Of Me - Amanda Palmer
04. Waltz #2 - J Mascis
05. Needle In The Hay - Juliana Hatfield
06. Bled White - Yuck
07. Say Yes - William Fitzsimmons
08. Miss Misery - Tomo Nakayama
09. Waltz #1 - Escondido
10. Oh Well, Okay - Adam Franklin
11. Condor Ave - Jesu/Sun Kil Moon
12. Angeles - Waxahatchee
13. Division Day - Lou Barlow
14. No Name #3 - Caroline Says
15. Easy Way Out - Wild Sun