Five American Portraits


Five American Portraits


Studio album by The Red Krayola with Art & Language
Released	January 26, 2010
Recorded	2009
Studio
Label	Drag City
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Track listing

Side A
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Portrait of Wile E. Coyote"	5:03
2.	"Portrait of President George W. Bush"	12:16
3.	"Portrait of President Jimmy Carter"	5:59

Side B
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Portrait of John Wayne"	15:05
2.	"Portrait of Ad Reinhardt"	5:49
Total length:		44:12

Background

Related works by Art & Language

"Map Not To Indicate" 1967

"Map Not To Indicate" 1967
"Portrait of President George W. Bush in the Style of Jackson Pollock" 2006
"Portraits of John Wayne, Jimmy Carter, Ad Reinhardt and Wile E. Coyote" 2007^[1]
"Five American Background Songs" 2009-10^[2]
"Part of an American Portrait" 2013^[3]

Personnel

The Red Krayola

Gina Birch - vocals, bass
Alex Dower - drums, percussion, backing vocals
Jim O'Rourke - bass
Tom Rogerson - piano
Mayo Thompson - vocals, guitar piano
Tom Watson - guitar

Additional musicians

Dan Cox - backing vocals
Matt Ingram - backing vocals
Fred Somsen - backing vocals

Technical

Dan Cox - engineering
Matt Ingram - engineering
Mayo Thompson - mixing
Butchy Fuego - mixing
Rian Murphy - mixing

Retrospectives

Butchy Fuego, 2011^[4]

I had been a fan of Mayo Thompson's prolific output for years, and had the opportunity to assist Mayo & Drag City on a previous project which I'm not at liberty to discuss due to a non-disclosure agreement. What I can say about it is that it involved time travel, another legendary avant-guardian and an agent of "the company" assisting my efforts. Mixing Five American Portraits at my studio Top Cat International was a joy and a breeze. DC mogul Rian Murphy was in the house simultaneously cracking the whip and jokes. Mayo was in rare form executing his laser-like vision over the session. The combination of The Raincoats' Gina Birch and the ever-confounding aural collaborations of The Red Krayola with Art & Language proves to be a potent combination. DON'T MESS WITH MAYO.

Reviews

Prefix

January 12, 2010^[5]

Mike Wood

Dusted

January 20, 2010^[6]

Jon Dale

Pitchfork

January 25, 2010^[7]

Andrew Gaerig

PopMatters

January 25, 2010^[8]

Richard Elliott

Philadelphia Inquirer

January 31, 2010^[9]

A.D. Amorosi

AllMusic

Thom Jurek^[10]

Uncut

March, 2010^[11]

OutsideLeft

April, 2010^[12]

Alex V. Cook

References

[1] ttps://www.artsy.net/artwork/art-and-language-portraits-of-john-wayne-jimmy-carter-ad-reinhardt-and-wile-e-coyote

[2] ttps://www.artsy.net/artwork/art-and-language-five-american-background-songs

[3] ttps://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/art-language-part-of-an-american-portrait-p82091

[4] ttps://redkrayolaartandlanguage.bandcamp.com/album/five-american-portraits

[5] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100202160745/http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/the-red-krayola-with-art-language/five-american-portraits/35078/

[6] ttp://www.dustedmagazine.com/reviews/5469

[7] ttps://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/13854-five-american-portraits/

[8] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20120419150225/http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/118898-the-red-krayola-with-art-language/

[9] ttps://web.archive.org/web/20200725214646/https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/20100131_New_Recordings.html

[10] ttps://www.allmusic.com/album/five-american-portraits-mw0001954602

[11] Uncut Mar 2010, p.93

[12] ttps://outsideleft.com/main.php?updateID=1239

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