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New Music: Hear an Unreleased Live Version of Elliott Smith’s “Angeles”

Singer-songwriter Elliott Smith performs on stage at the LA Weekly Music Awards Show. Smith was found dead by his girlfriend in their Los Angeles apartment on October 21, 2003, in an apparent suicide. Smith's song "Miss Misery" was included on the soundtrack for the film "Good Will Hunting," and received an Oscar nomination. (Photo by Ted Soqui/Corbis via Getty Images)

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Elliott Smith’s classic album Either/Or, Kill Rock Stars will release a 2-LP expanded edition of the album on March 10, featuring three unreleased songs recorded in the studio and five live tracks from a 1997 show at the Capitol Theater in Olympia, Washington. Previously, they shared “I Figured It Out,” one of the new studio cuts, and today, they’ve given us the live version of “Angeles.”

Smith was performing at the YoYo A Go Go festival in July ’97, five months after the release of Either/Or. He played “Angeles” a half-step higher than the album version, with more agitated vocal delivery, giving the song a slightly rougher edge than we’re used to. Hear it below via Kill Rock Stars.