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Red House Painters II

Red House Painters

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Album Review

The second of two self-titled 1993 efforts, this Red House Painters collects the remaining tracks from the remarkably fruitful sessions which also launched the earlier, superior album. Far more experimental in nature, it opens with "Evil," an almost painfully slow and withdrawn song which acutely sets the album's haunting, dark tone. While not everything works — the electric version of "New Jersey" pales in comparison to the previous set's acoustic rendition, while the cover of Simon and Garfunkel's "I Am a Rock" is overripe — both the unrequited love song "Bubble" and the dysfunctional "Uncle Joe" rank among Mark Kozelek's most perfectly realized compositions, and the closer, a marvelously downbeat reading of "The Star Spangled Banner," allows the group's often unsung black humor to seep to the surface.

Customer Reviews

@unlkeeleer: Shock Me was not originally on this album

To unlkeleer, "Shock Me" and the following three songs you mention are not on this release because they were not originally on the album. They were on a 1994 EP. The only release of this album to feature those four songs is the 1999 4AD CD reissue. Since that CD can be found new and used for south of $10, it probably makes more sense to pick up a physical copy instead. As far as rating this album, it is probably the least essential of all of Kozelek's main albums (i.e., non-cover albums like his AC/DC, John Denver and Modest Mouse cover albums). But that only means it's a four-star album and not a five-star album. This was recorded at the same time as the previous self-titled album and released five months later. It's hard not to think that it's the "leftovers" that weren't good enough for the first release. That's only really true for the cover songs--"I Am a Rock" and "The Star Spangled Banner." Then we've got an electric version of "New Jersey" that is inferior to the version on the previous album. But, all three are still really good, if not essential RHP. The other five tracks are outstanding, and represent some of Kozelek's darkest and most harrowing songwriting. "Evil" is just that; "Bubble" is totally endearing, and "Uncle Joe" is flat-out one of the man's greatest songs ever. If you love RHP or 4AD, you gotta love a song that opens up "Where have all the people gone in my life?/I'm looking at the ceiling with an awful feeling of loss and of loneliness."

Great Album, but where is the rest?

This is my favorite RHP album. It's fits with Seattle's weather, gray and prefect for a rainy drive on autumn sunday afternoon. Too Bad they Left out four song that make the album complete :Shock Me" - 4:47 ,"Sundays And Holidays" - 3:00, "Three-Legged Cat" - 1:41 ,"Shock Me" (Acoustic) / (Untitled Instrumental) - 10:40.

Biography

Formed: 1989 in CA

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '90s, '00s

Red House Painters was primarily the vehicle of singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek, an evocative, compelling performer of rare emotional intensity. Like Mark Eitzel of American Music Club, to whose work the Painters were invariably compared and to whom their early success owed a tremendous debt, Kozelek laid his soul bare on record, conjuring harrowingly acute tales of pain, despair, and loss; unlike Eitzel, Nick Drake, and other poets of decay, Kozelek's autobiographical songs walked their tightrope...
Full Bio

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