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Album Reviews
Album Review: Elliott Smith – Roman Candle (Domino)
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 21 April 2010
Ignoring the slight controversy surrounding Domino’s decision to release a remastered version of Elliott Smith’s first album – the idea and formulation of Tape Op Magazine’s Larry Crane to “make the album more listenable” – one can appreciate it for the fact that it’s reintroducing the earliest work of a lost songwriting master.
‘Roman Candle’, originally released in 1994 when Smith was still working with the heinously under-appreciated Heatmiser, is an extremely short but sweet collection of lo-fi DIY indie, recorded in a basement, the first output of a very promising but far too short career. Smith’s voice, so familiar now that it’s featured on the soundtracks of almost every contemporary American indie film, is tender and raw, scraping but soft as it recites the poetry of a generation who inspired and gave life to the likes of Conor Oberst and Adam Green.
Although remastered, Smith’s original mixes are intact, and the record still has the rough, home-recorded quality of the original release, keeping it organic as Smith intended. A pointless re-release then? Maybe yes, maybe no. But there’s no denying the delicate beauty of this man’s artistry, and I always say that the best thing you can do to keep someone alive after their gone is to remember them well. TW
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