Elliott Smith Reissues Out Today

The beloved singer-songwriter's debut Roman Candle and penultimate release From a Basement on the Hill, remastered and reissued on Kill Rock Stars.

By Blurt Staff

Heads up, folks: they're ready. Elliott Smith's 1994 Cavity Search debut Roman Candle and penultimate release, 2004's From a Basement on the Hill (originally on Anti-), have been remastered and reissued by Kill Rock Stars.

For those of you who haven't been waiting in slobbery suspense, here's the skinny on the reissues campaign from Kill Rock Stars:

Roman Candle had quite an impact on Slim Moon, Kill Rock Stars' founder. "In 1994, I had been asked to be on this five-person solo-act tour called Pop Chord with Tammy Watson, Carrie Akre, Sean Croghan and Elliott Smith. The first night at the Crocodile in Seattle, I didn't pay too much attention and people talked all thru Elliott's set. Sean Croghan got up next and said, ‘All of you people who just talked through Elliott's set are bummed because you just missed something very, very special.' The next night of the tour, at The Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco, I listened very closely to Elliott's set, and it was basically one of those life-changing moments. Instead of watching the rest of the performers, I went out to the tour van and popped Roman Candle into the player, and listened to it on endless repeat for the rest of the evening and beyond. It completely blew my mind. I have never heard music as heartwrenchingly, gut-checkingly honest, intimate, and wise - before or since."

Roman Candle has been remastered for the re-release by Roger Seibel and Larry Crane, editor of Tape Op Magazine and archivist for Elliott's family.

Larry explains, "The intention that I had was to make the album more listenable. I felt that a lot of the guitar "squeaks" were jarring and very loud, and that many of the hard consonants and "S" sounds were jarring and scratchy sounding. I felt by reducing these noises that the music would become more inviting and the sound would serve the songs better. When I went to Roger Seibel's SAE Mastering, he proceeded to equalize the tracks a small amount and to make the volume slightly louder.  We never tried to make this CD as loud as current, over-limited trends, but just to match the volume of the rest of Elliott's KRS catalog in a graceful way. Please note that none of this album is "remixed" from the master tapes - it is still composed of the mixes Elliott created himself."

Kill Rock Stars will also be releasing Roman Candle on vinyl for the first time in the U.S.

With the addition of these two records Kill Rock Stars is now the home for all of Elliott Smith's independent releases: Roman Candle, Elliott Smith, Either/Or, From a Basement on the Hill, and New Moon.