Customer Reviews

Ocean Beach

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I listened to Ocean Beach while on a long train ride this morning. It was a mild winter's day in Melbourne and the sky was flat slate grey. By the end of the record it occurred to me that this weather was a not inappropriate setting in which to listen to such an album. For Red House Painter's 1995 release, while full of sadness, yet resonates with the clarity of a pale grey winter sky.

Mark Kozelek's songs echo those of Melbourne songwriter Gareth Edwards (the singer and guitarist in Sandro) in that they document the paradoxical yet fundamental coexistence of love and hate in the same relationship. For how can there be one without the other? This is never more achingly spelt out than on Drop, Ocean Beach's nine-minute closing song, wherein Kozelek describes in simple, awful clarity such a relationship.

Ocean Beach is a unadorned, uncluttered record. From the sweet shuffle of Cabezon and Over My Head, via the upbeat yet serene San Geronimo (with its slow, deliberate fadeout) to such tragic testaments as Shadows, all the while burnished by Kozelek's warm, pacific voice, it is a record that I cherish more and more on each listening. May it be the soundtrack to many more winter's days like this one.

There are some songs which have the ability to wash over you and somehow enlighten every cell in your body, such is the connection that they form within you. Ocean Beach contains about six of these songs. The type that you have to stop what you are doing, close your eyes and "listen". The way the organ chimes in perfectly with the piano in the middle-section of "Shadows"; the expression in Mark Kozelek's voice thru all these songs, but especially the dripping moodiness of "Moments"; the jaunty summer-flavoured "Over my Head" all send shivers of joy and sadness thru my body. This, in my opinion is the most consistent and palatable of the RHP albums. Free from too much guitar-fuzz work out (although, inevitably, there is a little) it leans towards the spare and delicate, with gently finger-picks or strums of the acoustic gee-tar, or lightly hammered piano keys to complement Mark Kozelek's becalming vocal intonations. One of those albums which still haunt you days after you have listened to it. Deservedly a classic.

Red House Painters released their fourth album OCEAN BEACH in 1995. Their last for the influential British record label 4AD, the album displays a bit of creative evolution while retaining and in fact epitomising everything that there is to like about Red House Painters' work.

Frontman Mark Kozelek was previously nervous about vocals; the singing on earlier RHP records is characterised by shyness and heavy use of reverb. This is still true on "Brockwell Park" and "Moments", but by the time OCEAN BEACH was recorded, Kozelek was feeling more confident and some tracks here feature vocals that are suprisingly up front. Kozelek was also moving towards a more electric sound, a change which ultimately led to the band's dismissal from 4AD and subsequent loss of members, and "San Geronimo" features suprising aggression while remaining recognisable as RHP. "Summer Dress", arguably the most moving song of OCEAN BEACH, features string orchestration which intensifies the melancholy for which RHP's genre was given the label "sadcore."

The most underappreciated aspect of Red House Painters was Anthony Koutsos's drumming. Though he always resisted the temptation to showboat or speed things up, he provided a rhythmic base without which none of the band's magic would have been possible. The percussion on the opening instrumental "Cabezon" and the album's transcendently beautiful closing track "Drop" is excellent.

Fans of His Name is Alive may enjoy the album, as Warren Defever plays a hidden track after "Drop" just like Kozelek was a guest on HNIA's 1996 album STARS ON E.S.P.

If you've never heard the music of Red House Painters before, I'd recommend RETROSPECTIVE, which collects the best of their 4AD-era output with live rarities and demos. OCEAN BEACH may be the best next stop for people enchanted by the band.

Sometimes you wonder just how on earth Mark Kozelek can continue to come out with songs of such raw emotional intensity. No other songwriter is able to detail pain and loss in the way Kozelek does. This was evdient even on the band's debut lp Down Colourful Hill - songs like "Medicine Bottle" and "Michael".

Perhaps what is most interesting about Ocean Beach is that it is almost entirely a Kozelek project. Granted a few of the songs employ a full band - but mostly its sparse, lonely acoustic guitar and piano. Yet this is what makes Ocean Beach so stunning - its ability to draw you deep into Kozelek's world. "Summer dress" and "Shadows" are probably the highlights, both are just Kozelek on vocals with accompanying guitar and piano. As one would expect, most songs pack a punch with its honesty and beauty. Try listening to "drop" without feeling something tingling up your spine.

I could say a lot of things, but tt the end of the day, Ocean Beach is a great album. Its music at its most intense and emotional, yet still remaining simple and unoffensive in its delivery. A classic.

Ocean Beach is a timeless album. it could have been written and produced any time within the last few decades. there are no catchy hooks here, no stand out single, just seamlessly crafted songs about love and loss that occasionally give way to moments of joy. Ocean Beach beach begins with the crisp and happy shuffle of "cabezon" and then turns brooding but hopeful with "summer dress". "san geronimo" begins the descent into the heart of the album, the song somehow manages to be both up-tempo(for RHP) and somber. it's rolling, extended fade out drops us unexpectedly into "shadows", a brutally simple and introspective meditation... the next song "over my head" takes a shot at happiness but finds only poignancy because of the songs that surround it. and the best is yet to come: "brockwell park", "moments", and "drop" are all melancholic works of art. don't forget to listen for the coda tagged on the end of "drop". the album is sad and beautiful... not much else to say.

there are seven commercially released RHP albums. i recommend you buy this second, after Songs For a Blue Guitar. next on the list is RHP: "Rollercoaster Cover".

Ocean Beach completely takes my breath away. I suppose I am a new Red House Painters fan, first buying "Songs for a blue guitar" about 6 months ago. I loved certain songs on that album, but I thought it was filled with too many songs that were totally out of place and lost the cohesive feeling. Ocean Beach not only has stronger songs in general, but you can safely listen to the album from start to finish and just let the emotion flow. This album certainly does make you feel like you are no longer in the living room. My favorite track is "San Geronimo" - while upbeat for RHP, it has a very dark and sad feeling which I love so much about RHP. I would highly recommend this album for anyone who wants a emotionally deep experience.

A finally cohesive mix of accessible melodies and sprawling soundscapes that make you forget you're in your living room. This is the RHP album that, unlike the urgent catharsis of earlier albums, has a feel of craftsmanship and is all the stronger for it. It's spiked with a few upbeat (for RHP anyway) notes--"Cabezon" and especially "San Geronimo" make you wish you owned a convertible in California--but never loses the m.o. of brooding about deteriorating relationships. "Shadows" and "Drop" take what made "Mistress" (from Rollercoaster) such a great song and throw in Kozelek's newfound confidence in songwriting and singing--the almost trademark reverb is absent from his voice on this album, and the lyrics are searching even for him. My one complaint is "Moments"--this song would be amazing but for Mark's by-now-predictable meandering in the last six minutes; while usually adding texture and depth, it seems out of place here in tempo and feel, and more like filler to round out a merely 9-track disc. Nonetheless, this album is to RHP's catalogue what Renoir is to folk art; the spirit's there, but with the meditation and new knowledge of the medium to render it majestic.

I love this record. This is the record that made me a Red House Painters fan, and is the record that is responsible for altering my musical tastes since. I own every Red House Painters record (all of which are amazing), but this one is simply perfect. There is not a bad moment, note, or lyric on this album. In fact, I'd go as far as saying there isn't a more beautiful record in existance. Fans of Nick Drake, Elliot Smith, Van Morrison, etc. should do themselves a favor and buy this record. Mark Kozelek's voice will get you every time.

I have only recently discovered Red House Painters, but man have I been impressed. This is real music - this is why there is music. It's all about emotions. Mark Kozelek voice is quite something else: it's so pained. I don't want to presume too much, but there must be some deep-seated ancient break-up or heartache over a woman that has allowed him to produce this library of good, incredibly sad ballads. "Cabezon" actually began more upbeat than I would've expected, but the rest of the album is just about what an 'already fan' would expect - a good thing in the case of RHP. "Shadows" would be my personal fave, but they're all morbidly fascinating. If you're feeling down, this is the definitive group to accompany you in your sorrows. Not necessarily this album even - any RHP will have the same mellowing, tearful effect.

I was with Mark when he played for 4AD at a club in San Francisco, CA. We worked a hotel job together to make ends meet. He's a wonderful guy who I've lost track of over the past 12 or so years. But, the first album is really magic and it comes from his heart. Mark is a real talent, as was his band.

Dean Phillips

The Chelsea Motor Inn and Suites

1992-1994

3-11pm shift

Lombard St. SF, CA