Elliott Smith recorded his own songs on lo-fi 4-track and 8-track at home, playing all the instruments and singing the vocals as well. A friend passed along some of the recordings which he had written/recorded while a member of the band Heatmiser. His solo works received a great deal of attention, and his song Miss Misery was nominated for an Oscar after appearing in the movie Good Will Hunting. Haunting, private, confessional, and honest. Smith sang candidly from the front lines of his own experiences, touching on subjects where most songwriters might hold back in trepidation. Smith was in the process of recording an album in his home near Los Angeles when he died at age 34 from a stab wound to the heart on October 21, 2003. The cause of death was ruled undetermined, though it has been wrongly reported as a suicide by drug overdose. The album A Basement on a Hill was released posthumously.