Elliott Smith’s self-titled 1995 album has been given a reissue to mark its 25th anniversary, with a live album Live At Umbra Penumbra.
The show took place at the titular Portland cafe and was recorded on September 17th, 1994. It’s thought to be the earliest recorded solo acoustic show of Smith’s.
The tender quality to Smith’s aching vocals is wonderfully captured on the recording. Classic songs like ‘Alphabet Town’ and ‘Condor Ave.’ sound crisp and clear.
Speaking of the show in question, Smith’s family archivist Larry Crane said: “There are fan-traded MP3s out there of this show. But when people hear what I was able to extract from this original tape, they’ll be shocked.”
The reissue of Elliott Smith comes as a double vinyl LP, alongside a 52-page book with photographs and lyrics, and as a double CD. It’s excellent news for any Smith fan, the singer-songwriter still attracting a fervent cult following.
The reissue comes via Smith’s longtime home of Kill Rock Stars. Speaking of the new reissue, label founder Slim Moon said: “At KRS we follow the direction of Elliott’s family. They have always expressed a desire for us to honour his legacy by keeping the albums available, and by bringing his music to new generations of listeners.”
“As the person who originally signed him to the label, starting with the Needle In The Hay single and this self-titled album, I am especially passionate about putting forward reminders of this phase of his career – his magic as a solo performer and as a writer of songs for simply guitar and voice with little or no accompaniment.
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He added: “As the industry has changed, we’ve worked hard to make sure Elliott’s legacy is available for new fans to discover and old fans to re-discover.”
This new reissue also follows the release of remastered and deluxe reissues of Smith’s other iconic albums XO and Figure 8, which were shared to mark what would have been the singer’s 50th birthday last year. Smith sadly passed away in 2003 aged just 34.
Check out ‘No Name #4 (Live)’ by Elliott Smith:
