release date: Jul. 23, 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,44]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: Supreme Recordings - nationality: USA
Track highlights: 1. "Have You Forgotten" (alt. version) - 2. "Song for a Blue Guitar" - 3. "Make Like Paper" - 5. "Trailways" - 7. "Long Distance Runaround" (4 / 5) - 8. "All Mixed Up" - 9. "Revelation Big Sur" (4 / 5) - 10. "Silly Love Songs"
5th studio album by Red House Painters released on Supreme Recordings is basically a Mark Kozelek solo album, as he is the only musician on the album. The band had been on contract with British 4AD Records but after finishing this album the band was released from its contract (as 4AD wouldn't release it). Supreme Recordings (a sub-label of Island Records) eventually signed with the band and released the album. Three of the tracks here are cover versions by Yes (track #7), The Cars (track #8), and Wings (track #10).
It contains both very quiet and slow primarily acoustic tracks, as well as a few garage rock-styled or folk rock-oriented compositions that come close to the style of Neil Young with Crazy Horse, and I think the many soft and hard (unpolished) directions are the weakness of the album, but all in all, a fine album.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]
