Sun Kil Moon
Mark Kozelek's San Francisco folk-rock project, begun after Red House Painters, whose Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003) opens with "Glenn Tipton" and holds "Carry Me Ohio".
After Red House Painters
Mark Kozelek, born January 24, 1967 in Massillon, Ohio, led Red House Painters from its formation in Atlanta in 1988, through a move to San Francisco and a 4AD contract in 1992, until it dissolved after Old Ramon (2001, Sub Pop). Sun Kil Moon began in 2002 as a continuation under a new name, taken from the Korean boxer Sung-Kil Moon. Ghosts of the Great Highway (November 4, 2003, Jetset) came first; Tiny Cities (2005) onward appeared on Kozelek's own Caldo Verde label. He has small film parts in Almost Famous, Vanilla Sky and Shopgirl, and appears as himself in Youth (2015).
Ghosts of the Great Highway scored 84 on Metacritic, with Pitchfork at 8.3 and AllMusic at 4 of 5. Three of its songs are named for boxers: Salvador Sanchez, Pancho Villa and Duk Koo Kim, continuing a thread from the song "Find Me, Ruben Olivares"; the opener is named for the Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton. A 10-inch single of "Duk Koo Kim" came out on September 15, 2003 in an edition of 2,000. A double-CD reissue followed on February 6, 2007 with a bonus disc including an alternate "Carry Me Ohio" and a "Somewhere" by Bernstein. Later records include April (AllMusic 4.5 of 5) and Benji (2014), which appeared on year-end lists at Fact, Stereogum, Pitchfork and NME.
Drummer Tim Mooney died in June 2012.
Albums
- Ghosts of the Great Highway 2003 · Jetset
The first Sun Kil Moon album, with three songs named for boxers and a 14-minute centerpiece.
Songs
- Carry Me Ohio Ghosts of the Great Highway · 2003
Track two of Ghosts of the Great Highway, used in the 2005 film Shopgirl.
Sources
- Sun Kil Moon, Wikipedia
- Mark Kozelek, Wikipedia
- Ghosts of the Great Highway, Wikipedia
- Sun Kil Moon, Ghosts of the Great Highway, PopMatters (2004-01-22)