PRICE:
$31.00
NOT IN STOCK
ARTIST
TITLE
Both Sides of the Coin
FORMAT
LP

LABEL
CATALOG #
TLR 061LP TLR 061LP
GENRE
RELEASE DATE
5/21/2013

"Deluxe reissue of this totally unknown New England teenage folk private press from 1971. Originally released by the artist herself as a demo only blank cover edition of 100 copies. Just out of high school and hoping somebody might pay attention, the LP slipped through the cracks, the chapter closed, and life moved forward on a different course. But the album left behind stands as a true female loner folk gem, of which there aren't many at all. Just Ellie's humbly intimate vocals and her harp-like self taught finger-picked guitar playing, plus some lovely pastoral flute by a friend on a handful of tracks. The sounds are straight from the tuned-in melancholy teenage mind, reeling from the mind expansion of the 60s, but also the excesses. Deeply reflective, poetic and searching lyrics of love/nature/peace playing out in real time against stark reality/longing /loss, and balanced at the very edge of the void. The aching innocence of youth tempered by a biting contempt for all things false. In the liner notes Ellie mentions only practicing under a blanket, and there's an up-close, lo-fi, almost voyeuristic realism/fragility here that's quite special. A complex and personal trip that takes some time and attention to fully unfold. Once it does, it will be no surprise that Ellie went on to build geodesic domes and become a professional midwife, as that same unique spirit is already deeply embedded here. A really wonderful album we're happy to help finally reach some receptive ears. The original had no cover art, so we've kept the packaging suitably stark and mysterious, yet quite exquisite: each heavyweight vintage style cover is individually hand-bound in leather textured art paper, with the only graphics being a mounted 5x7 inch black and white photo print portrait of Ellie from 1970. Pressed on 180 gram virgin vinyl, with exact reproduction labels and a thick insert with new liner notes by Ellie, plus more vintage photos. Edition of 300 copies, in two cover color/texture variations (black or burgundy)."