Singer Elliott Smith Dead at 34.

In an apparent suicide.

I don't know what to say. I don't suppose, looking at his work, that this should really be a shock, but cynical and depressive as his music was, he seemed to have the humor and self-awareness to handle the vicissitudes of semi-notoriety. Not enough to handle his own traitorous brain chemistry, though. I'll miss him, and I can only hope that the number of other people who will is higher than Elliott might have thought.

(Thanks to Laura for the link.)