Elliott Smith – Elliott Smith: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition (1995/2020) [Official Digital Download 24bit/96kHz]

When Elliott Smith’s self-titled second album came out in 1995, it was ignored by the press but championed by artists from the Beastie Boys to Fugazi. To commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of Elliott Smith, the Kill Rock Stars label is releasing a special deluxe package, which includes a new remastering of the original record; a coffee table book of previously unseen photographs by JJ Gonson with handwritten lyrics, and reminiscences from Smith’s friends and colleagues; and a bonus disc documenting the earliest known recording of Smith performing as a solo act. The set is a revelatory look at an under-appreciated work by an artist whose influence continues to expand seventeen years after his death.

Nothing can get in his way, not even death. A knife to the chest is how Steven Paul Smith aka Elliott Smith left us at the age of 34. The incident was concluded as a suicide without great conviction. But what all the world could agree on was his dazzling career which was firmly dubbed by the rock world as the exploits of a penniless genius who was caught in the wake of grunge which dominated the early 90s. After the post-punk explosion caused by his group Heatmiser, the still unknown icon from Portland very soon expressed his depression on the undisclosed solo album Roman Candle (1993) in which he touched upon the themes of predilection, abandon and disillusion. It was with this eponymous Elliott Smith that he started to experience tangible success, albeit moderate. The somewhat ironically named label Kill Rock Stars did well to promote him, putting Elliott’s face in the front window of record stores. Smith recorded the album once again from home. The sound of this new version was so intimate that one could have imagined his friend Tony Lash, on the sofa, fingers gliding and lips quietly whistling the array of folk ballads. From the opening Needle in the Hay to the closing The Biggest Lie passing through Satellite, he demonstrates the talents for writing melancholic songs with next to nothing. There are some rare touches of drums and a harmonica but all the rest is stripped of all excess. “I personally can’t get more dark than that”, he would later say on the matter, only to then say “I think I’m just about as happy as all the other people I know. Which is occasionally”. Following his worldwide recognition with the Oscar-nominated Miss Misery from Gus Van Sant’s Good Will Hunting then the excellent Either/Or.

For Elliott Smith’s 25th anniversary, Kill Rock Stars has published this new remastered version that benefits from tracks recovered by recording engineer and producer Larry Crane, who uncovered these tracks in the label’s archives. But the highlight of this re-edition is the first live solo performance, recorded in Umbra Penumbra, a cafe in Portland on the 17th September 1994. A true gem of a record! – Charlotte Saintoin

Tracklist:
1-01. Elliott Smith – Needle in the Hay (25th Anniversary Remaster) (04:16)
1-02. Elliott Smith – Christian Brothers (25th Anniversary Remaster) (04:30)
1-03. Elliott Smith – Clementine (25th Anniversary Remaster) (02:46)
1-04. Elliott Smith – Southern Belle (25th Anniversary Remaster) (03:06)
1-05. Elliott Smith – Single File (25th Anniversary Remaster) (02:26)
1-06. Elliott Smith – Coming Up Roses (25th Anniversary Remaster) (03:10)
1-07. Elliott Smith – Satellite (25th Anniversary Remaster) (02:25)
1-08. Elliott Smith – Alphabet Town (25th Anniversary Remaster) (04:11)
1-09. Elliott Smith – St. Ides Heaven (25th Anniversary Remaster) (03:00)
1-10. Elliott Smith – Good to Go (25th Anniversary Remaster) (02:24)
1-11. Elliott Smith – The White Lady Loves You More (25th Anniversary Remaster) (02:24)
1-12. Elliott Smith – The Biggest Lie (25th Anniversary Remaster) (02:39)
2-01. Elliott Smith – Some Song (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (02:56)
2-02. Elliott Smith – Alphabet Town (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (04:42)
2-03. Elliott Smith – Whatever (Folk Song in C) (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (02:53)
2-04. Elliott Smith – No Name #4 (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (02:43)
2-05. Elliott Smith – Big Decision (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (02:36)
2-06. Elliott Smith – Condor Ave (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (03:32)
2-07. Elliott Smith – No Name #1 (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (03:18)
2-08. Elliott Smith – No Confidence Man (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (04:33)
2-09. Elliott Smith – Crazy Fucker (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (03:34)
2-10. Elliott Smith – Half Right (Live at Umbra Penumbra – September 17th, 1994) (04:31)