Red House Painters
|
|
Red House Painters is an indie rock group formed in 1989 in San Francisco by singer/songwriter Mark Kozelek. Kozelek used this group primarily as a vehicle for his very personal and emotional songs of despair, pain and suffering. Mark Kozelek was a troubled teenager in the 1980s, being addicted to drugs at a very early age. He entered rehab intermittently during those years. While in Atlanta, he became friends with one Anthony Koutsos, a drummer. He then moved to San Francisco, adding guitarist Gorden Mack and bassist Jerry Vessel to complete the lineup for Red House Painters.
They signed up with 4AD Records in England in 1992. 4AD issued the group's first demos as an LP entitled Down Colorful Hill. It was a compilation of haunting melodies complemented by Kozelek's eerie yet emotional vocals. In 1993, the group came out with two eponymous records, solidifying Kozelek's reputation as a songwriter by writing harrowing autobiographical tales of his troubled life and errant living with no punches being pulled. In 1994, they released an EP entitled Shock Me and in 1995, the introspective Ocean Beach. When Kozelek was beginning work on a solo project, 4AD Records quit on him after a tumultuous relationship. Entitled Songs for a Blue Guitar, it was released on Polygram in 1996. It was more of a guitar-driven rock album that they released under the Red House Painters name to give the album more publicity. A year later, they came up with Old Ramon, their most accessible recording to date. However, major label mergers during the late 90's would leave them without a record label, and it was only in 2001 that they were able to release the album.
Prior to the release of Old Ramon, Kozelek released a solo six-song EP entitled Rock 'N' Roll Singer in 2000. The record was comprised of three original acoustic compositions with minor full-band arrangements and three covers: two AC/DC covers from the Bon Scott era and one John Denver cover. Following the release of the first solo EP, Kozelek released his first solo album six months later. The record, entitled What's Next To The Moon, was released in January of 2001, but would greatly surprise fans. What's Next To The Moon was comprised entirely of acoustic AC/DC covers from the Bon Scott era. The record was also greatly uncharacteristic of Kozelek (though he was prone to enjoy covering songs by his favorite artists) in that it is the shortest full length to date clocking in at just over thirty minutes. Even the first Red House Painters album with only six tracks was over forty-five minutes in length. Both solo albums were released by Badman Records.
4AD Records would release the best-of package, Retrospective. Kozelek appeared on a John Denver tribute album, Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous, a benefit album for AIDS and an album of classic rock covers. In 2003, Kozelek and Koutsos--along with Geoff Stanfield and Tim Mooney--reformed as Sun Kil Moon, releasing the album Ghosts of the Great Highway on Jet Set Records.