Elliott Smith - Hardcover

Amazon Significant Seven, December 2007: Laden with all kinds of PostSecret-era ephemera, as well as pages and pages of outtakes from DeWilde's photo shoots with Smith and fascinating discussions between the author and Smith's contemporaries, Elliott Smith is a stunning example of how a tribute book should be made. DeWilde's photography is stark and intimate but never probing, and what comes across is as real a portrait of Elliott Smith as any fan may ever see. Thumbing through the book I was often reminded of a reluctant child, standing quietly yet somehow furiously, waiting for the scrutiny he's suffering to end--it's the same kind of sweet, sublimated emotion that makes his songs (for me, anyway) so powerfully good. That's the beauty of this book: it shows you the artist that you want to see, yet protects Smith from the kind of rueful sentiment one might expect to be lurking here. (P.S. The bonus CD featuring Smith's cover of "All My Rowdy Friends Have Settled Down" is worth the price of admission alone.) --Anne Bartholomew

Autumn de Wilde directed Elliott's video for "Son of Sam" and created the packaging for his album Figure 8; the cover image of him in front of a wall in L.A. led to the site becoming a spontaneous memorial for the singer after his death. She has also worked with Spoon, Death Cab for Cutie, the Raconteurs, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Jenny Lewis, Fiona Apple, and others. She lives in Los Angeles.

Beck Hansen has collaborated with de Wilde for many years, most recently on photographs and videos for his album The Information.

Chris Walla is a guitarist for the band Death Cab for Cutie and has worked as a producer with numerous bands.