Folk Fridays: Red House Painters - Songs for a Blue Guitar

Genre: Folk Rock

Buy: Discogs $48

In Less Than 10 Words: Mark Kozelek's beautiful music adds some rock guitar.

Top Tracks: Have You Forgotten, Song For a Blue Guitar, All Mixed Up, Revelation Big Sur, Make Like Paper

I was lucky enough to find this on eBay for only $20! If you are fan of Red House Painters, you'll notice that this album shares a lot of the same qualities, but also some newer sounds. Mark Kozelek was even quoted as wanting to release it as a solo record rather than Red House Painters. The time of the albums release has some crazy history behind it, as it was when they were dropped from their label 4AD. Luckily it was released later by Supreme Recordings, which was owned by non other than John Hughes (thanks Mr Hughes!). While the entire album is great, even the insane guitar solo driven cover of Paul McCartney and Wing's Silly Love Songs, the main reason this album is so magical is the opening track Have You Forgotten. It's so tender and well written, you'll find it hard to get past it. The album contains other covers too, the Cars' All Mixed Up is probably the strongest, but Yes' Long Distance Run is also great. And while Red House Painters keep their soft "sadcore" esthetic, this album also introduces a few songs that have heavy rock driven guitar with insanely jam-y solos. Make Like Paper is a fine example of this. If you find this record, grab it quickly and love it tender (as you can see mine is still in it's shrink wrap). The vinyl version wasn't released until 2009 by Plain Recordings on a heavyweight vinyl, with 500 being blue. 

Good luck finding this one, and Happy Hunting.