Red House Painters (Rollercoaster)
Red House Painters (also known as Rollercoaster to distinguish it from the second eponymous album, also known as Bridge) is the second album by the group Red House Painters, released in spring 1993 by 4AD. 8 remaining songs from the same recording sessions made up the band's second self-titled album, Bridge. The lengthy album gives voice to Mark Kozelek's haunted lyrics of pain, desolation and loss, while musically running the gamut from the folk-pop of "Grace Cathedral Park" and "Mistress" to the stark, affecting "New Jersey" and onto the lengthy, droning soundscapes of "Funhouse" and "Mother." The chorus of "Dragonflies" is based on a famous haiku by Chiyo-ni. The LP is considered by many fans as the pinnacle of the band's work, a point which Mark Kozelek acknowledges as he discusses the Rollercoaster album in the forward of the 2002 edition (and revised 2008 edition) of his lyrics book Nights of Passed Over:
| “ | ...I know the Rollercoaster album is many people's favorite. But for me, it is and will always be the most difficult to get through. I hadn't heard it in years, and though there are some beautiful things I had forgotten about -- a delicate piano in "Things Mean a Lot," the way the band brings life to "Brown Eyes" midway through, and the chorus of "Strawberry Hill," which was sung by a group of strangers we gathered from outside the Divisadero Street studio where we were recording -- what I remembered most, even when I look at the album's cover, is nine months of worry. | ” |
The album's artwork features a sepia-toned picture of the now-demolished roller coaster Thunderbolt at Coney Island. An original idea for the album's front cover artwork was a close-up, sepia-toned photo of a fish head. The Rollercoaster album peaked at #63 upon its initial release on the UK Albums Chart in 1993.
In September 2010 Pitchfork Media included Katy Song at number 162 on their Top 200 Tracks of the 90s.
Katy Song was featured in the movie 'Totally F**ked Up'
Read more about Red House Painters (Rollercoaster): Track Listing, Release History
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