Ghosts of the Great Highway

Infobox Album | Name = Ghosts of the Great Highway
Type = Album
Artist = Sun Kil Moon


Released = November 4, 2003
February 6, 2007 (re-issue)
Genre = Alternative rock
Length = 58:12 (album)
21:15 (bonus disc)
Label = Jetset Records
Caldo Verde Records
Producer = Mark Kozelek
Reviews = * Allmusic (was originally given Rating|4.5|5 until April 2008):
** Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ff2gtq2zzu42 link]
** Rating|4|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:yz09kentyq7c link] (re-issue)
* Pitchfork Media (8.3/10) [http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/22255/Sun_Kil_Moon_Ghosts_of_the_Great_Highway link]
* Rolling Stone Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/sunkilmoon/albums/album/298608/review/5944280/ghosts_of_the_great_highway RS 936]
This album = "Ghosts of the Great Highway" (2003)
Next album = "Tiny Cities" (2005)|

"Ghosts of the Great Highway" is the 2003 debut album by San Francisco quartet Sun Kil Moon, led by Red House Painters' founder Mark Kozelek, who composed all of the lyrics and music on this album. The other members are Geoff Stanfield, Anthony Koutsos and Tim Mooney.

Kozelek has said he considers Sun Kil Moon essentially the Red House Painters (especially given the participation of Painters' original drummer Koutsos), but that he opted for a new name (and the impression of a new band) in response to critics who had gotten bored with (or stopped paying attention to) Red House Painters. The move was successful, as this has been Kozelek's biggest selling album to date, while receiving near-unanimous critical praise.

The album is marked instrumentally by both quiet acoustic numbers (including the addition of Portuguese guitar to the instrumentation), gently winding country-influenced folk-rock and louder, Crazy Horse-esque distorted guitar. Vocally this album seems more extroverted than his previous work, the lyrics balancing epic tragedy ("Salvador Sanchez," "Pancho Villa" and "Duk Koo Kim", all titled for deceased boxers — "Pancho Villa" refers not to the revolutionary, but to a Filipino boxer who fought under that name), personal emotional states, and an occasionally surprising lightness of spirit ("Sí, Paloma").

"Glenn Tipton," the album's opener, is named for the guitarist of metal band Judas Priest. The speaker makes comparative reference to the band's other guitarist, K.K. Downing. Cassius Clay, Sonny Liston, Clark Gable, Jim Nabors and Bobby Vinton are also name-checked in the song, with the observation that people tend to prefer one over the other.

"Duk Koo Kim" is a fourteen-and-a-half minute (the fatal Ray Mancini-Duk Koo Kim fight ended in the middle of the 14th round) epic that stands out from the rest of the album for its shifting sonic waves of sound and for Kozelek's impassioned, flexible vocal performance. It is one of the most experimental tracks on the album, drawing more from psychedelia than the introspective country, folk and heavy rock of the rest of the album. This song dates back to at least 1996, when it started appearing in Red House Painters set lists. Kozelek had also released a 10" vinyl record under his own name, featuring two versions of the song, earlier in 2003.

"Ghosts of the Great Highway" received positive reviews from the music press and its success paved the way for the release of a second Sun Kil Moon album in 2005, a collection of Modest Mouse cover songs called "Tiny Cities."

"Ghosts of the Great Highway" was re-issued as a double CD on February 6, 2007 on Kozelek's own label, Caldo Verde Records. The second disc features 6 bonus tracks, including two versions of Leonard Bernstein's "Somewhere," and the instrumental track "Arrival," which was originally recorded for the movie "The Girl Next Door". The songs "Carry Me Ohio" and "Lily And Parrots" were featured in the film "Shopgirl", where Kozelek also co-starred.

"When songs are this transporting, you can only hope they'll last forever." - Magnet magazine, 2003.

Track listing

CD:

Album:
# "Glenn Tipton" - 4:16
# "Carry Me Ohio" - 6:21
# "Salvador Sanchez" - 6:29
# "Last Tide" - 2:55
# "Floating" - 3:19
# "Gentle Moon" - 5:18
# "Lily and Parrots" - 4:18
# "Duk Koo Kim" - 14:32
# "Sí, Paloma" - 5:32
# "Pancho Villa" - 5:12

Re-issue bonus disc:
# "Somewhere" - 2:13
# "Carry Me Ohio" (Alternative Version) - 5:24
# "Salvador Sanchez" (Acoustic) - 4:14
# "The Arrival" - 2:28
# "Somewhere" (Version 2) - 2:15
# "Gentle Moon" (Live Radio Recording) - 4:41

Double 12" vinyl:

Side A:
# "Glenn Tipton" - 4:16
# "Carry Me Ohio" - 6:21
# "Salvador Sanchez" - 6:29

Side B:
# "Last Tide" - 2:55
# "Floating" - 3:19
# "Gentle Moon" - 5:18
# "Lily and Parrots" - 4:18

Side C:
# "Duk Koo Kim" - 14:32

Side D:
# "Sí, Paloma" - 5:32
# "Pancho Villa" - 5:12
# "Gentle Moon" (Acoustic) (bonus track) - 4:57

ingles

* "Duk Koo Kim" (Mark Kozelek solo) (September 15, 2003)
** Limited edition 10" vinyl single (limited to 2,000 copies worldwide), features acoustic studio version and live version.

External links

* [http://www.sunkilmoon.com/ The official Sun Kil Moon website]
* [http://www.sadreminders.com Unofficial Sun Kil Moon website]
* [http://www.jetsetrecords.com Jetset Records]