Elliott Smith’s Self-Titled Album To Be Reissued Via Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition

For the 25th anniversary of Elliott Smith’s self-titled second album, Kill Rock Stars will be releasing an expanded reissue titled Elliott Smith: Expanded 25th Anniversary Edition on Aug. 28. As a treat, Smith’s “Big Decision” (Live at Umbra Penumbra) was released today.

The package will have a new remastering of the original album, plus a bonus disc of the earliest-known recording of Smith performing as a solo act, which took place at Portland’s Umbra Penumbra. A 52-page coffee table book of handwritten lyrics and other memorabilia will also be included. Artists will be working on covers for the album, including Bonny Light Horseman, Marisa Anderson, MAITA, Prateek Kuhad and Califone.

The producer/engineer Larry Crane worked as the archivist to collect all of the materials for this project—files, reels, cassettes, and DAT tapes. Crane says, “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.”

Listen to “Big Decision” (Live at Umbra Penumbra) below, and preorder the forthcoming reissue here. Scroll down to hear audio from the Paste vault of Smith performing in 1998.