Editing Elliott Smith (section)

=== 2003: Reemergence and ''From a Basement on the Hill'' ===

[[File:Elliott Smith live NYC.jpg|thumb|left|One of Smith's last performances in New York City at the [[Lit Lounge]] in January 2003. He played Knitting Factory & North Six in June 2003.]]

Smith had attempted to go to rehab several times, but found that he was unable to relate to the popular treatments for people with substance use disorder who used a [[twelve-step program]] basis for treatment. "I couldn't do the first step ... I couldn't say what you were supposed to say and mean it."<ref name="Under the Radar 1"/> In 2002, Smith went to the Neurotransmitter Restoration Center in Beverly Hills to start a course of treatment for substance use disorder. In one of his final interviews, he spoke about the center: "What they do is an [[intravenous drip|IV]] treatment where they put a [[Hypodermic needle|needle]] in your arm, and you're on a drip bag, but the only thing that's in the drip bag is [[amino acids]] and [[saline (medicine)|saline]] solution. I was coming off of a lot of psych meds and other things. I was even on an [[antipsychotic]], although I'm not psychotic."<ref name="Under the Radar 1"/>

Two sold-out solo acoustic concerts at Hollywood's Henry Fonda Theater, on January 31 and February 1, 2003, saw Smith attempting to reestablish his credibility as a live performer. Before the show, Smith scrawled "[[Kali]] – the Destroyer" (the Hindu goddess associated with time and change) in large block letters with permanent ink on his left arm, which was visible to the crowd during the performance.<ref>{{cite web |title=January 2003 |website=Sweet Adeline  |url=http://www.sweetadeline.net/jan03.html |access-date=June 25, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Bemis |first=Alec Hanley |date=14 October 2004 |title=Sleepwalker |page=1 |department = Los Angeles (entertainment) |newspaper = [[L.A. Weekly]] |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2004-10-14/music/sleepwalker/ |access-date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> On several songs, he was backed by a stripped-down drum kit played by Robin Peringer (of the band [[764-HERO]]), and members of opening band [[Rilo Kiley]] contributed backing vocals to one song. Near the end of the first show, the musician responded for several minutes after a heckler yelled "Get a backbone".<ref name=":0"/><ref>{{cite AV media |title = Elliott Smith reaction to crowd member yelling "Get a backbone!" |via = YouTube |medium = video |url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9XwE_MDqoM }}</ref> Smith played two more Los Angeles concerts that year: The Derby in May 2003, and the ''[[L.A. Weekly]]'' Music Awards in June 2003.<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Payne |date=3 July 2003 |title=''L.A. Weekly'' music awards 2003 |url=http://www.laweekly.com/2003-07-10/music/l-a-weekly-music-awards-03/ |newspaper = [[L.A. Weekly]] |access-date=November 2, 2013 }}</ref>

After his 34th birthday on August 6, 2003, he gave up alcohol. Director [[Mike Mills (director)|Mike Mills]] had been working with Smith during his final years and described Smith's troubles and apparent recovery: "I gave the script to him, then he dropped off the face of the earth ... he went through his whole crazy time, but by the time I was done with the film, he was making ''From a Basement on the Hill'' and I was shocked that he was actually making music."<ref name=Thumbsucker>{{cite web |last=Perez |first=Rodrigo |date=16 August 2005  |title=Elliott Smith, Polyphonics bring balance to ''Thumbsucker'' soundtrack |department = Music / celebrity / artist news |website=MTV News |url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1507697/elliott-smith-polyphonics-on-thumbsucker-soundtrack.jhtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229185327/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1507697/elliott-smith-polyphonics-on-thumbsucker-soundtrack.jhtml |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 29, 2011 |access-date=June 25, 2013}}</ref>

{{listen
| filename = Elliott Smith - Shooting Star (sample).ogg
| title="Shooting Star"
| description = Sample of Elliott Smith's "Shooting Star" appearing on the posthumously released ''[[From a Basement on the Hill]]'' (2004), showing a dissonant passage on distorted guitar, an example of Smith's experimentation with different sounds and a "more noisy" style before he died
| format = [[Ogg]]
}}

With things improving for Smith after several troubled years, he began experimenting with [[noise music]] and worked on his girlfriend Jennifer Chiba's [[iMac]] with the intent of learning how to record with computers, noting that it was the only method with which he was still unfamiliar.<ref name="Under the Radar 1"/> Smith jokingly labeled his experimental way of recording "The California Frown" (a play on the [[Beach Boys]]' "[[California Sound]]").<ref name="The New York Times">{{cite news |last=Smith |first=R.J. |date=18 July 2004  |title=Elliott Smith's uneasy afterlife |department=Music |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/18/arts/music-elliott-smith-s-uneasy-afterlife.html |access-date=June 25, 2013}}</ref> He said  "They're kind of more noisy with the pitch all distorted. Some are more acoustic, but there aren't too many like that. Lately I've just been making up a lot of noise."<ref name="Under the Radar 1"/>

He was also in the process of recording songs for the [[Thumbsucker (soundtrack)|''Thumbsucker'' soundtrack]], including [[Big Star (band)|Big Star]]'s "[[Thirteen (song)|Thirteen]]" and [[Cat Stevens]]'s "Trouble".<ref name="Thumbsucker"/> In August 2003, Suicide Squeeze Records put out a limited-edition [[gramophone record|vinyl]] single for "Pretty (Ugly Before)", a song that Smith had been playing since the ''Figure&nbsp;8'' tour. Smith's final show was at Redfest at [[the University of Utah]] in Salt Lake City on September 19, 2003. The final song he performed live was "[[Long, Long, Long]]" by [[the Beatles]].