Another name for Mark Kozelek |
July 21st, 2006
contributed by |
Sun Kil Moon is a project which on paper I should love. The main reason being it’s yet another project by Mark Kozelek, the main-man behind Red House Painters and his own solo albums. As I’ve previously professed here on dark dose — Red House Painters and Kozelek’s solo albums rank high on my all-time favorite list. I can name few singer/song-writers who are able to make such emotionally potent songs. Of course, they almost always bleed with heartache, depression and painful nostalgia.
Mark Kozelek is known for making rather bizarre decisions in his musical career — such as a solo album in which he exclusively covered AC/DC songs. While an acoustic album of AC/DC songs may sound ridiculous, he’s actually able to completely reinvent most of them in his own unique style.
Sun Kil Moon is yet another name for Mark Kozelek, as he is the only song-writer (as with all his projects). I was disappointed with the debut release under the Sun Kil Moon name, “Ghost of the Great Highway“. The magical despondency which saturated early-to-mid Red House Painters albums was absent. I wasn’t too excited when I heard the second album, “Tiny Cities” would be entirely Modest Mouse covers (a band I am absolutely not fond of). However, I’m not a big AC/DC fan either — and I saw what he could do with those — so I gave it a shot. While I again feel disappointed with the majority of the album, there are undeniable gems hidden in the album, such as the song “Dramamine”. It approaches the same downer vibe I enjoy from Red House Painters and Kozelek albums.
I never understood why Kozelek releases all these albums under different names, when essentially they are almost the same exactly musical style (even if I greatly appreciate some more than others). Then I read this today from an interesting recent interview:
[Kozelek]: “Journalists that hadn’t talked to me in five years, who were bored with Red House Painters, were all of a sudden asking me about this new band I was in. [Laughs.] It was actually a Red House Painters album with a different name—I mean, Jerry [Vessel] and Anthony [Koutsos] played on the record. I wanted to confuse people and sort of bring attention to the record from the press, and it worked—the record ended up selling way more than anyone was expecting it to. And because of that, it just made sense—again, on a purely business level—that I called the next album Sun Kil Moon, just to sort of keep the momentum. If I was 22 years old, I wouldn’t give a shit, and I’d call it whatever, and I would purposely shoot myself in the foot, because I didn’t care if I was living in somebody’s closet.”
So, in the words of Mark Kozelek, this is “actually a Red House Painters album with a different name”. While that may be true, Sun Kil Moon represents my least favorite output by Kozelek. When someone is held in such high regard, even the least favorite albums can have some great moody songs.. as is the case with Dramamine.
July 23rd, 2006
at 11:53 am
you should definitely check out the MM version of Dramamine. The album it comes from, “This is a Long Drive…” is not a concept album, but it sort of has that theme of driving down a long western highway with nothing to do at 4 in the morning…Dramamine is a great song, but download “The Exit Does Not Exist.” MM has some great, oddball emotional stuff.
July 23rd, 2006
at 8:29 pm
OK Eric, I’ll try and give them another shot — specifically those songs. When I last heard them, I really wasn’t into it..
After making this post, I’ve felt “Oceans Breathes Salty” may have been a better fit for dark dose.. but I guess that also proves there are several songs I like on this album.
July 23rd, 2006
at 10:36 pm
When I saw MK live in July of 2005, he sheepishly mentioned that he had just gotten into Modest Mouse and wanted to play a cover for us. I don’t personally like Modest Mouse, but the overall crowd response was very positive. Within 4 months, we had an album of covers. I find it amazing that he could do this album so quickly, and I think it’s a true testament to his unique style and musicianship. I do like this album as a whole, especially “Ocean Breathes Salty,” which is one of my favorite MK songs ever. That said, I agree that SKM is my least favorite of his “eras,” although I do like it quite a bit. I feel that the songs are a little more light-hearted and a little less dark, and although SKM still has its moments, it doesn’t consistently touch me in the way RHP does. And I know I’ve said it before, but Jesse, you really, really, really need to see MK live, no matter what it’s billed under. He always plays a variety of his material and seeing his personality in person makes his music just “click” on a different level. He takes the time to explain certain songs, will literally play shouted-out requests on the spot and just really opens himself up to the audience. His overall performance was by far the most heartfelt I’ve ever seen.
July 25th, 2006
at 11:42 am
I was fortunate enough to see him play with Red House Painters back in early 2001 at SXSW in Austin. In those days I would loop they’re albums back to back and just dive into the downer moods.
I guess the quote above makes me worry if a new RHP album would be in this vein. In any case, there are great songs on Tiny Cities, which I wouldnt have said of their debut.
July 25th, 2006
at 8:19 pm
Upon first listening to this song, I wasn’t extrememly impressed but there was something that told me I should give it a few more listens. One more listen was all it took to click. Very meloncholy and relaxing. Excellent post.
I had been meaning to check out Red House Painters for quite some time. After listening to this, I immediatly went and just did that. I was equally impressed.
Anyways, thanks for another great post.
August 27th, 2006
at 12:24 am
I have to say, I am a bit disappointed to hear you all don’t like the first Sun Kil Moon album. I go to sleep and wake every day with the song Last Tide ringing in my head. It has been that way for months.
Carry me Ohio is another one that just blows me away. Compared to the old RHP albums, Sun kil moon is much more emotionally complex and gripping.
August 27th, 2006
at 1:12 pm
I agree that Carry me Ohio is a great song, but I couldn’t disagree more that SKM is more emotionally complex and gripping than old RHP. Of course it’s just an issue of personal taste, but that’s the first time I’ve hear someone prefer SKM to RHP at all..
August 27th, 2006
at 3:51 pm
Well, this might be a clue, I have all the RHP albums and my favorite is Songs from a Blue Guitar - which IMHO sounds more like the Sun Kil Moon stuff.
September 7th, 2006
at 5:28 pm
I guess some just like KK Downing more than Glenn Tipton