kozelek fans

[ratsprayer]

http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/news/05-09/07.shtml

Rob Kleckner reports: Usually, if you're going to do an album of covers, they're going to be standards-- Elvis, the Beatles, Sinatra, etc. Besides, it's not too often that someone releases an album comprised entirely of songs written by another artist, let alone an artist that has been music for less time than you have. According to Billboard.com, Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon frontman Mark Kozelek is preparing an album of Modest Mouse covers. Although Kozelek won't be the first to cover Modest Mouse (Kidz Bop and Ben Lee beat you to it, Mark), he'll certainly be the first to release a full disc of 'em.****EDITOR'S NOTE: A reader just informed us of the existence of Pickin' on Modest Mouse, a bluegrass tribute album by the Alabama band Iron Horse. Pitchfork stands corrected... and in complete awe of these people.****

Kozelek seems to have a knack for fucking around with other people's work. In 2001, he released What's Next to the Moon, a collection of AC/DC covers. You'd think all this covering was a case of lazy songwriting, but Kozelek completely rearranges the songs, often leaving the lyrics as the only recognizable trace.

The Modest Mouse disc, titled Tiny Cities will be the first release on Kozelek's own Caldo Verde label, and it will be attributed to Sun Kil Moon. The songs have been selected from all over the Modest Mouse catalogue, including 2004's Good News For People Who Love Bad News.< Billboard says that the slowcore god "injects a sense of optimism into 'Neverending Math Equation' and strips the modern rock hit 'Ocean Breathes Salty' down to its inherent bittersweet reflections on past and present."

The album is due November 1 in North America, and will be released internationally by Rough Trade. Also, Cameron Crowe's Vinyl Films will handle-- you guessed it!-- the vinyl version, which will include an alternate version of "Exit Does Not Exist." You might wonder what the indie rocker and the Almost Famous writer/director have to do with each other. Well, Kozelek played the bassist in that movie's fictional band, Stillwater, and several of his songs have appeared on Crowe soundtracks.

We wanted to reach Isaac Brock for comment, but we're scared of him. Tracklist:

01 Exit Does Not Exist
02 Tiny Cities Made of Ashes
03 Neverending Math Equation
04 Space Travel Is Boring
05 Dramamine
06 Jesus Christ Was an Only Child
07 Four Fingered Fisherman
08 Grey Ice Water
09 Convenient Parking
10 Trucker's Atlas
11 Ocean Breathes Salty ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

[fitzcarraldo]

That sounds pretty rad. Love his AC/DC covers record and am a huge admirer of his music. soooo...
 :D Pickin that one up! What a nice surprise, Slainte!

[TheLink]

wow, Kozelek covering Modest Mouse.  I am fucking dreaming this.  thanks for the update dude.  I am siked!

[Jellyfish]

I like Mark too......Sun Kil Moon's "Ghosts of the Great Highway" is one of my fav all time albums.

[dogandponyshow]

Yeah...that Sun Kil Moon dsic is awesome.

D.

[The Boar]

Yeah...that Sun Kil Moon dsic is awesome.

Talk about a CD that doesn't leave my changer. As for "Tiny Cities," I like Modest Mouse and all but usually can only take so much of it at once. It'll be interesting to see what he does with Brock's angry lyrics; I'm sure he won't disappoint.

[MMJ_fanatic]

crap there appears to be a plethora of great interesting music coming this Fall.  Better set some serious dough aside...

[ratsprayer]

you cant go wrong with kozelek.  acutally i never was able to get in to the red house painters much at all until i heard sun kil moon and started to work backwards.  he has one of the most beautiful voices ive ever heard, and soooooo emotional with his lyrics, without suffering from the whiny dimension a lot of songwriters fall in to.  oh yeah, hes an awesome guitar player, too.   :)

[The Boar]

Yeah, I haven't yet got into the Red House Painters, although I'd really like to. Any recommendations on a disc to start with? Are Mark's solo albums any good?

Also, dude, is your name "Rat Sprayer" or "Rats Prayer"? Or is it supposed to be ambiguous kinda like "PetsMart"?

[ratsprayer]

Yeah, I haven't yet got into the Red House Painters, although I'd really like to. Any recommendations on a disc to start with? Are Mark's solo albums any good?

Also, dude, is your name "Rat Sprayer" or "Rats Prayer"? Or is it supposed to be ambiguous kinda like "PetsMart"?

its rats prayer, actually.  its a song by the soft boys (robyn hitchcock's first band).  

as far as RHP & mark go, im sure im not the definitive expert here.  i think OCEAN BEACH is widely considered their masterpiece, but its not my favourite.  i like SONGS FOR A BLUE GUITAR the best, i think.  the song 'make like paper' is just fucking awesome.  they have 2 self titled albums, usually called either 'bridge' or 'rollercoaster' to distinguish them.  his voice on the earlier stuff is harder for me to get in to, i think around ocean beach is when it started to fully come in to its power.  the solo albums are mainly bon scott-era ac/dc covers, but fuck youd never know it.  mark has this gift of making a cover truly is his own piece of art, totally different from the original.  

i think i have all the RHP albums, but still trying to completele the mark solo ablums.  if you need anything, PM me, a'ight?   ;D

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

nothing other than MMJ makes me cry like Sun Kil Moon.

[The Boar]

too true, JC. thanks for the help, RatsPrayer  ;)

[ratsprayer]

sooooo...i was just being curious.  i have most of the kozelek catalogue, but i wouldnt say im any expert on him or rhp at all.  wots everyones favourite mark release?  isnt ocean beach the most common considered masterpiece?  favourite rhp or sun kil moon song?  

i always read about tindersticks and rhp being similar, and i actually got in to the tinderstick beforehand.  does anyone else dig them?  

[fitzcarraldo]

Yes, Mark's solo records are good. Rock 'n Roll Singer is brilliant. About the Painters records the self titled with the Rollercoaster on the cover is damn good. Old Ramon is another favorite of mine. Favorite Kozelek songs:
Ruth Marie
Duk Koo Kim
Salvador Sanchez
Have You Forgotten?
Grace Cathedral Park
Mistess
Shadows
Revelation Big Sur
Wop A Din-Din (best song I've ever heard about someone's cat)
Void
Bad Boy Boogie (AC/DC cover)

A good resource site for the man:
www.blueguitar.info