Either/Or

Either/Or was recorded piecemeal across a handful of Portland, Oregon locations between 1995 and 1996, including Elliott Smith's own house and a friend's living room, and was released on the independent label Kill Rock Stars on February 25, 1997.^[1] It arrived as Smith was stepping away from his louder rock band Heatmiser to commit fully to the hushed, self-recorded style he had been developing on the side.

The title borrows from Søren Kierkegaard's philosophical writing on the tension between aesthetic pleasure-seeking and ethical commitment, a frame that suits a record built around characters caught between temptation and self-preservation.^[1] Smith, who studied philosophy at Hampshire College, grounded the songs in specific Portland neighborhoods and landmarks even as their concerns stayed existential.^[1]

The album never charted commercially but was acclaimed by critics and became Smith's best-selling release. It gained wider visibility when director Gus Van Sant included three of its songs, "Between the Bars," "Angeles," and "Say Yes," on the soundtrack to Good Will Hunting, and commissioned an original song, "Miss Misery," for the film, which earned Smith an Academy Award nomination.^[1]