Red House Painters "Old Ramon" (2001)

Old Ramon

release date: Apr. 10, 2001
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,64]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: Sub Pop Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 2. "Byrd Joel" - 3. "Void" - 4. "Between Days" (4 / 5) - 5. "Cruiser" (4 / 5) - 6. "Michigan" - 7. "River" - 8. "Smokey" - 10. "Kavita"

6th and final studio album by Red House Painters follows almost five full years after Songs for a Blue Guitar (Jul 1996). Since that, the band has gone through a fase where Mark Kozelek was only performing member to this new line-up after guitarist Gordon Mack had already left the band in 1995, and the album is actually released after Kozelek had already issued his first solo ep Rock 'n' Roll Singer (Jun. 2000) and his first full-length solo album What's Next to the Moon (Jan. 2001) but Red House Painters is not yet a burried project. On Old Ramon, the band consists of founding member, songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Mark Kozelek, new guitarist Phil Carney (former guitarist of Indian Bingo), and a return to the band's rhythm section made up by bassist Jerry Vessel and drummer Anthony Koutsos.

The releative long timespan in between albums is not only a matter of reconstructing the band anew as this had actually been recorded three years earlier, however, due to a merging of labels, the band essentially found itself without a legal record contract, and it wasn't until Mark Kozelek succeeded in purchasing the recordings of the album that he managed to finally release it on the American label, Sub Pop. All tracks are credited Kozelek and they're typical of his style a combination of alt. folk, indie rock, and singer / songwriter with bonds to American folk traditions.

Some tracks and parts of the overall sound tend to point to what was to become one of Kozelek's most praised albums - also my personal favourite by Kozelek - the Sun Kil Moon debut Ghosts of the Great Highway (Nov. 2003). As a Red House Painter's album this appears as quite light-hearted and electrified.

Red House Painters dissolved at some point following the album release, and then Kozelek more or less morphed the remains into a new band with primarily Kozelek but also with Vessel and Koutsos taking part in the formation of Sun Kil Moon - later Carney would also be included before it would turn into a Kozelek solo-project.

Recommended.

[ allmusic.com, NME 4 / 5 stars ]

Red House Painters "Songs for a Blue Guitar" (1996)

Songs for a Blue Guitar
release date: Jul. 23, 1996
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,56]
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 appears to be the only musician on the album except from backing vocals on two tracks by Stephanie Finch. The band had been on contract with British 4AD Records but after finishing this album the band was released from its contract (as 4AD found no interest in releasing it). Supreme Recordings (sub-label of Island Records) eventually signed with the band and released the album as a Red House Painters album as the band hadn't officially disolved yet. Three of the compositions here are cover versions by Yes (track #7), The Cars (track #8), and Wings (track #10).
Songs for a Blue Guitar 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 both a weakness of the album but also provides for a certain dynamic. All in all, this is a fine release by Red House Painters.

Recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Red House Painters "Ocean Beach" (1995)

Ocean Beach
release date: Mar. 28, 1995
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,32]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Cabezon" - 2. "Summer Dress" - 3. "San Geronimo" - 5. "Over My Head" - 8. "Moments"

4th studio album by Red House Painters is the band's final release on British 4AD and it's also the last to feature founding guitarist Gordon Mack as well as being the final album with Red House Painters as a band.

The style has been altered compared to the previous albums by the band and their longer progressive takes. Instead the music has become slower, sometimes acoustic - more folk-oriented and less band-founded.

The album may be above average but not as such a favourite. In fact, I find this the least favourable of releases by Red House Painters.

[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5, Rolling Stone 4 / 5 stars ]

Red House Painters "Shock Me" (1994) (ep)

Shock Me, ep
release date: Feb. 4, 1994
format: cd
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,48]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Shock Me" - 2. "Sundays and Holidays" - 3. "Three-Legged Cat" - 4. "Shock Me (acoustic version) / [untitled track]"

A 4-track ep by Red House Painters released on 4AD follows less than 3 months after the full-length album Red House Painters [II].
The track "Shock Me" (Kiss cover song) comes in two versions, the latter being an acoustic version, lasting 4:32 min. followed by an approx. 6 min. long instrumental untitled track. Both versions of the title track are the ep's strongest (together with the untitled instrumental), and are also nice improvements to the original.
[ allmusic.com 3 / 5 stars ]

Red House Painters "Red House Painters" (2) (1993)

Red House Painters (2)
release date: Oct. 25, 1993
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Evil" - 2. "Bubble" - 3. "I Am a Rock" - 5. "New Jersey" - 7. "Blindfold"

3th studio album by Red House Painters released on 4AD follows only 5 months following Red House Painters [I] / Red House Painters [Rollercoaster] (May '93). Like that, it only carries the title of the band name, thus being referred to as either Red House Painters [II], or Red House Painters [Bridge], with reference to the front cover.
Apparently, the album contains leftovers or compositions from the same studio recordings as the predecessor, which explains the short time-span in between these two albums. It contains two covers: "I Am a Rock" written by Paul Simon and originally performed by Simon & Garfunkel, and the American national anthem "The Star-Spangled Banner" written by American poet Francis Scott Key, and in rock history made iconic by Jimi Hendrix.
This is may not be Red House Painters' best but it' still a pretty interesting release. I notice the bond to the predecessor but on this you will not find similar compositions of uptempo groove of shoegaze and dreampop. Instead, these compositions are more laidback, perhaps more introspective and also somewhat simpler. I do like how Kozelek has arranged the cover songs, and this is a fine example he follows on later releases - some of which are entirely made up of covers - but it's refreshing how he doesn't only deliver the song as it was released or say made popular, but he really makes new adaptations.
[ allmusic.com 3,5 / 5 stars ]

Red House Painters "Red House Painters" (1) (1993)

Red House Painters (1)

release date: May 24, 1993
format: cd
[album rate: 4 / 5] [3,78]
producer: Mark Kozelek
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "Grace Cathedral Park" - 2. "Down Through" - 3. "Katy Song" (4 / 5) - 4. "Mistress" - 5. "Things Mean a Lot" - 6. "Funhouse" - 7. "Take Me Out" - 8. "Rollercoaster" - 9. "New Jersey" - 10. "Dragonflies" - 11. "Mistress" (Piano Version) - 12. "Mother" - 13. "Strawberry Hill" - 14. "Brown Eyes"

2nd studio album by Red House Painters released on 4AD and produced by Mark Kozelek follows only 8 months after the band's debut, Down Colorful Hill (Sep. 1992). The self-titled album is often referred to as Red House Painters [Rollercoaster] with reference to the front cover as also the successive album is without a distict title other than the band name thus being referred to as Red House Painters [II], or: Red House Painters [Bridge].
All tracks are credited Mark Kozelek and it's simply one of the band's best albums. It's an album that points in several directions by being both electric, uptempo and also leaves room for acoustic and ballads while still sounding much like a coherent work. I really like the shoegaze and the dream pop sound and the overall feel on this one, which in a way is typical for productions on 4AD releases, although, it's not really a style that bonds super-well with much later Kozelek albums but it contains some that apparent taste for hard and slow that you'll find on early Sun Kil Moon releases.
Highly recommended.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Red House Painters "Down Colorful Hill" (1992)

Down Colorful Hill [debut]
release date: Sep. 14, 1992
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,54]
producer: non-produced (Red House Painters recordings)
label: 4AD Records - nationality: USA

Tracklist: 1. "24" - 2. "Medicine Bottle" - 3. "Down Colorful Hill" (4 / 5) - 4. "Japanese to English" - 5. "Lord Kill the Pain" - 6. "Michael"

Studio album debut by American quartet Red House Painters consisting of songwriter, vocalist and guitarist Mark Kozelek, guitarist Gordon Mack, bassist Jerry Vessel and drummer Anthony Koutsos released on the British label 4AD Records.
This is a 6-track album / ep without actual production credits. Fact is, it's practically only the demo-recordings by Red House Painters, which has been mixed by 4AD supervisors, Ivo Watts-Russell and John Fryer. All tracks are credited Mark Kozelek, and like its successor from 1993, it's characterized by a shoegaze or dream pop sound familiar to many other releases on 4AD Records.
This is a more introvert and dark album compared to most other albums by the band, and it also contains styles that may seem a bit confusing. The tracks "Lord Kill the Pain" and partly "Michael" sounds like copies of some tracks by The Smiths, which is far from the rest. Having said that, this is a great debut and also a recommended listen.
[ allmusic.com 4,5 / 5 stars ]