Sun Kil Moon - Ghosts of the Great Highway
(Jetset)
After a few years break from being in an official band, and after releasing two solo records, mostly filled with reinterpreted AC/DC covers, it seems that Red House Painters' Mark Kozelek decided he was ready to release an album with a full band again. Sun Kil Moon's Ghosts of the Great Highway is the result.
I guess I will just get my bias out of the way now: I have never disliked a single record by Kozelek. Some are better than others, but I believe all of them are worth listening to and owning. Kozelek's songwriting, guitar playing, and singing is almost universally interesting, poignant, and affecting... and Ghosts of the Great Highway is no different.
The album is in classic Red House Painters mode, with songs like "Carry Me Ohio," "Gentle Moon," and "Salvador Sanchez," which is possibly one of the best songs that Kozelek has ever written. "Salvador Sanchez" has Kozelek going back to the dirty but lush distorted guitar sound that is common on many Red House Painters' records, and it contains my favorite guitar solo that he has ever played on any album.
"Last Tide," "Duk Koo Kim," "Si Paloma," and "Pancho Villa," show Kozelek branching out and impressively incorporating new elements of orchestration into his songwriting. His use of cello, violin, bells, and mandolin are used beautifully to accent his songwriting and to give them more breadth while still remaining close to his style and sound.
"Lily and Parrots," the only weak moment on Ghosts of the Great Highway, and the only reason this album is receiving an 11 instead of a 12, is an upbeat, herky-jerky rock song. While it isn't terrible, it stands out as substandard, and just doesn't fit the feel of the rest of the album.
Ghosts of the Great Highway is a classic Kozelek record, as good as any he has released in the past, and while I am not sure why he's formed Sun Kil Moon instead of reforming the Red House Painters (especially since Anthony Koutsos and other collaborators of the Red House Painters are also in Sun Kil Moon), I am just glad he has released another beautiful, thoughtful, and stirring record.
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