New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Dead Letter PR) Monday, October 21 marked 10 years since the untimely passing of singer-songwriter and cult hero Elliott Smith. In loving tribute, New York musician John Brodeur has recorded a 15-song tribute album of Smith's music, and made it available on a donate-what-you-wish basis at elliottsmithtribute.com.
"The Last Hour: A Lo-Fi Tribute to Elliott Smith" was recorded on a Tascam 4-track cassette recorder, in the tradition of Smith's early solo recordings. The set list follows that of Smith's final public performance in Sept. 2003, and includes selections from each of the late songwriter's full-length LPs, as well as a few rarities and choice cuts from Smith's early band, Heatmiser. It's a varied and, perhaps, revealing set--as Brodeur puts it, "kind of like a dream mix tape as crafted by the music's creator. As a recorded album, this collection of songs is both perfectly strange and strangely perfect."
All proceeds from "The Last Hour" will benefit New Alternatives for LGBT Homeless Youth in New York City, one of the organizations associated with the recent No Name #1 tribute concert series. More information on New Alternatives is available at www.newalternativesnyc.org.
About his connection to Smith and his music, Brodeur says, "Nearly every one of Elliott Smith's songs speaks to me on a personal level, whether lyrically or musically or (usually) both. I've yet to come across another songwriter with that kind of track record."
About the recording: "These versions are generally faithful to the originals but with some extra added noise to personalize them. . . . The rapid nature of both the learning and recording process - particularly the one-take nature of four-tracking - made for some ragged performances, but it's all in the name of good fun and beautiful music. I think Elliott would have appreciated my butchering his songs for those reasons.
For more information on John Brodeur, visit www.johnbrodeur.com
THE LAST HOUR TRACKLIST
1. Happiness
2. Memory Lane
3. A Fond Farewell
4. Plainclothes Man
5. St. Ides Heaven
6. Division Day
7. I Figured You Out
8. A Passing Feeling
9. Something to Lose
10. Needle in the Hay
11. I Better Be Quiet Now
12. Waltz #2 (XO)
13. Between the Bars
14. Rose Parade
15. Say Yes
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ABOUT JOHN BRODEUR
Since announcing his arrival with 2001's "Tiger Pop," New York-based recording artist John Brodeur has produced a series of critically praised recordings as a solo artist and as frontman for power-pop trios The Suggestions and Maggie Mayday. Brodeur is a one-man band, in the tradition of Todd Rundgren and Jon Brion, and his work has earned comparisons to Elliott Smith, Beck, Matthew Sweet and
Robyn Hitchcock. Live, his presentation combines classic troubadour stylings with manic feats of looping and layering.
Brodeur's latest LP, "Little Hopes," was released August 13 and is available everywhere on Mr. Duck/Sojourn Records, with distribution by Nail/Allegro. The culmination of several years of writing and re-writing, recording and re-recording, "Little Hopes" finds the restless performer balancing his expansive arrangement instincts with his love of lo-fi recording techniques, matching introspective but relatable lyrics to simple, memorable melodies. The result is a confident, tuneful collection that brims with personality.
An active multi-instrumentalist, Brodeur has toured and/or recorded with more than a dozen acts in recent years, including Australian rockers The Morning After Girls and psych-blues duo Golden Animals. In 2012, Brodeur made a cameo appearance in the surreal "Lazuli" music video by Beach House.
This year, Brodeur has appeared at the S.S. Cape May Festival (NJ), Move
Music Festival (NY), and Hudson
Music Fest (NY); and played tour dates with Todd Park Mohr, Trixie Whitley, Goldspot and
Benjamin Francis Leftwich.
Brodeur has toured or shared stages with Greg Laswell, Fountains of Wayne, They Might Be Giants, Scud Mountain Boys/Joe Pernice,
Glenn Tilbrook, TV On The Radio, O.A.R., Mike Doughty, the Whigs, the Bravery, Gavin Degraw, and many more. He has performed at CMJ, SXSW, WordXWord (Pittsfield, MA), and Tulip Festival (Albany NY), and his music has been used on NBC, A&E, VH1 and Discovery.
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UPCOMING LIVE DATES
Nov. 15 - Brooklyn, NY - Bar Matchless*
Nov. 22 - Philadelphia, PA - The Legendary Dobbs**
Nov. 23 - Washington, DC - Tree House Lounge**
Nov. 29 - Easthampton, MA - Luther's Co-Op**
* International Pop Overthrow
** with Mark Schwaber
ONLINE
www.elliottsmithtribute.com
www.johnbrodeur.com
www.sojournrecords.com
www.facebook.com/johnbrodeurmusic
www.twitter.com/tigerpop
www.youtube.com/johnbrodeur1
PRESS MENTIONS FOR JOHN BRODEUR
"A fine mix of small studio magic and guitar-fueled power-pop with Brodeur's always brilliant songwriting providing the glue. Stanza after stanza of world-class lyrics." -Nippertown
"You'll want to play this LP over and over. Don't miss it." -Powerpopaholic
"Power pop at its finest. . . . Pop records like this may be scarce, but when they are of this caliber, they won't remain under the radar for long." -Performing Songwriter
"A stoic sentimentalism that may well catapult Mr. Brodeur into the sort of alt-rock pinup status that [Lou] Barlow once enjoyed." -PopMatters
"Well-crafted songs . . . fascinating imagery and personal lyrics with great musical arrangements." -The Inquisitor
"Musical mastermind." -The Saratogian
MEDIA INQUIRIES:
Jared Mattison /
[email protected] 
