Date: Thu, 22 Feb 1996 02:16:01 -0400 From: K- (ash@DHP.COM) Subject: Re: Information about RHP's "Ocean Beach" hi geoff, congratulations on getting rhp's second lp. it's fab, isn't it. i am an absolutely huge fan of the band so i suppose i'm a bit biased but here's the lowdown, not only on 'ocean beach' but the others as well, so that you can make informed decisions. red house painters first cd is called 'down colorful hill'. it is more or less a collection of demos, supposedly given to ivo (director of 4ad) by mark eitzel of american music club, who by the way, if you've not heard of them, are also very good in the same soul-baring rhp way. anyway, it's got only 6 tracks, all of which are really, really good though very stripped-down sounding. there is only one kinda rockin' tune called 'lord kill the pain' (by rockin i mean tempo-wise and somewhat loud, louder and faster than mistress). 'japanese to english', 'michael' and 'medicine bottle' contain some of the most heartfelt lyrics ever. great stuff! the second you have, so you already know, it's amazing. probably their best overall, though i like most everything they've ever done. the third, also self-titled like the second lp for some strange reason, is a collection of all the stuff they wanted to put on the second lp but 1) didn't have the room and 2) didn't quite fit the album in terms of tone or sound. the result is a slightly more eclectic and jumbled bunch than the one you have. each track, however, is wonderful by itself in its own way. stand out tracks (for me, oh, there are 9 all together, by the way) are 'evil', 'helicopter' and 'blindfold', though they also do covers of simon and garfunkel's 'i am a rock' and america's national anthem 'the star spangled banner' (the latter of which took me a while to get used to) the fourth, the one you asked about, is 'ocean beach'. i have to say. in all honesty, i think this is their least strong work though it's grown on me immensely. it is kind of a short album. the first track is an instrumental, kind of blah if you ask me, i love them mostly for mark kozelek's tremendous voice and lyrics. the second is 'summer dress', their "single" track. slow and pretty, but not much to carry it. third is 'san geronimo', really long, really noisy and really good. fourth is 'shadows', completely piano driven and very pretty, though mark's voice doesn't quite seem to reach all the notes he's trying for (i still love it). fifth is 'over my head', a jazzy number which i personally feel is their worst track ever. it's not even that awful, just not as good by comparison. sixth is a two and a half minute/three minute 'red carpet', kind of haunting and strange, seventh is 'brockwell park' which is one of my two or three faves on the album. 'moments' is next. pretty good but not great. and last is 'drop' the lp's best track and one of their best songs to date. oh, there's also a crap little instrumental which is actually 'brockwell park II', though it's not listed anywhere. also floating around if you get really into them is the 'shock me' ep. two slightly different versions of kiss's 'shock me', 'sundays and holidays' (great), 'three legged cat' (hysterical) and another unlisted, untitled instrumental which ranks with the prettiest instrumentals i've ever heard. and if you get really, really into them, look for the only other available tracks: mistress (remix) - on a promo cd single and 4ad's 7 year itch comp uncle joe (original version) - on volume 5 comp (better than the 3rd lp version) well, that's about all i can think of. hope this does you well. if i can be of any assistance let me know (i.e. picking anything up in the u.s. that for whatever reason you can't get in australia). you can look me up, if you need to on my webpage http://www.dhp.com/~ash which is a site i made up for the band lowlife. ever heard of them? Will Heggie, the bassist, used to be in cocteau twins but dropped out and started the equally amazing band lowlife, from grangemouth, scotland. check it out, if you want. hey! if you hear about any cheap airfare to or from the states, let me know! the love of my life is (unfortunately) in Yagoona, N.S.W., and until i get her to move out here (after she finishes university, hopefully) i need to get myself out there every six months or so. do you know where Yagoona is? oh well. it sucks to fall in love with someone who lives halfway around the world. don't do it. take care, K- Date: Mon, 7 Apr 1997 14:00:10 -0700 From: "David.Packer" Subject: Re: RHP On Mon, 7 Apr 1997, Shelly Lesher wrote: > > >I need a RHP album... which one should I pick first and why? Well, I suppose in order of importance, I'd say: 1> Down Colorful Hill: Quite possibly one of the greatest debut albums I have ever heard. 'Medicine Bottle' still gets to me even though I've listened to it hundreds of times by now. Prior to hearing this album, I'd never heard a band successfully pull off writing such llloooonnnggg songs with such success. '24', 'Down Colorful Hill', 'Japanese to English' and 'Michael' are all wonderful as well. My only complaint with this album is 'Lord Kill the PAin' which isn't really a BAD song, but not something that grabs me like the others do. I'd recommend this one first. 2> RHP(rollercoaster): Well, if nothing else you do get your money's worth from this album. At over 75 minutes, Mark and Co. take the listener on a definite audio rollercoaster ride. hohoho. At times achingly tender and at others achingly noisy, this is a more mature effort and contains such great songs as 'Dragonflies', 'Mistress', Katy's Song' and a whole bunch more. A truly rewarding followup to their first album. Definitely a must have as well. 3> RHP(the other self-titled): A much shorter album mostly comprised of songs left over from the other RHP album. Both came out in 93, a rather productive year I must say for any band. This includes a few covers of 'I am a Rock' and 'The Star Spangled Banner', the latter of which is a very radical reworking and takes a few listens to get used to. It also includes a much improved version of 'New Jersey' where the band really gets their rock on, this time to much better results that ever before. 'Evil' is a pretty haunting # as is the wild 'Blindfold" which is basically 3 songs in one. I heard this album second to DCH and was not at all disappointed. 4> Ocean Beach: Well, I think this album is pretty good by most standards, but according to my RHP standards(which are pretty high) there's something lacking in this album that was there in the last three. Songs like 'San Geronimo' are good, but the album seems a little too glossy for my tastes. Again, it's still good, but probably my least favorite RHP album. 5> Songs for a Blue Guitar: I was rather upset when I heard that 4AD had dropped the band over something a silly as a guitar solo, so I was a little apprehensive about this album. however, think it's truly amazing and listen to it loud and often. 'Song for a Blue Guitar' is great as is their cover of 'All Mixed Up' by the Cars, which still sends shivers up my spine. The aforementioned solos are somewhat silly, but hardly the kind that should get a band kicked off a label. Oh well, 4AD's loss, Island's gain. I won't go into the 'Shock Me'EP or bands like Dart which feature members of RHP since I'm sure you're all sick of reading this post by now. Oh well, too late, it's over now. Just my 3.141592653589793238.... rusty rubles Dave