Sun Kil Moon

Sun Kil Moon
Mark Kozelek is Sun Kil Moon.
Background information
Origin	San Francisco, California
Genres	Folk rock
Years active	2002–present
Labels	Caldo Verde Records
Associated acts	Red House Painters
Website	www.sunkilmoon.com
Members
Mark Kozelek Tim Mooney Anthony Koutsos Geoff Stanfield Jerry Vessel (live) Phil Carney (live)

Sun Kil Moon is a music project of singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek, best known for his previous band Red House Painters. Sun Kil Moon sees Kozelek undertake the writing, composing, singing, and guitar playing, accompanied by Tim Mooney and Anthony Koutsos on drums, and Geoff Stanfield on bass. The band is named after Korean lightweight boxer Sung-Kil Moon.

History

Following the dissolution of Red House Painters after the tumultuous release of their last album Old Ramon, Kozelek released a handful of solo recordings before forming Sun Kil Moon in 2002. The band's debut album, Ghosts of the Great Highway, was released in November 2003 by Jetset Records. It contains several songs concerned with true-life stories of deceased boxers, such as Mexican featherweight champion Salvador Sánchez, Filipino flyweight champion Pancho Villa, and also Korean boxer Duk Koo Kim, all three boxers died at the age of 23. The album was well-received by critics, garnering an overall rating of 84/100 on Metacritic.com.

The band's follow-up Tiny Cities was released in November 2005 on Kozelek's own label Caldo Verde Records. The album covers eleven songs by the indie/alternative group Modest Mouse. Ghosts of the Great Highway was re-issued as a double CD in February 2007 on Caldo Verde. The second disc features six bonus tracks, including a cover of "Somewhere" written by Leonard Bernstein.

Sun Kil Moon's third studio album April was released in April 2008 and features guest vocals from Will Oldham and Ben Gibbard. The album was issued as a double CD, featuring a bonus disc of alternate recordings of album tracks. The album was met with further critical acclaim, including a 4.5/5-star rating from Allmusic and 4-star reviews from Billboard, Mojo, The Boston Globe, and Drowned in Sound.

Admiral Fell Promises was released on July 13, 2010, and whilst credited to Sun Kil Moon, only Kozelek plays on the record, on nylon stringed guitar, and vocals.

Discography

• Ghosts of the Great Highway (November 4, 2003)
• Tiny Cities (November 1, 2005)
• Ghosts of the Great Highway 2CD re-issue (February 6, 2007)
• April (April 1, 2008)
• Tonight the Sky EP (January 2009)
• Admiral Fell Promises (July 13, 2010)
• I'll Be There EP (July 13, 2010)

Soundtracks / songs in films or television

• "Kentucky Woman" (in Elizabethtown)
• "The Arrival" (in The Girl Next Door)
• "Carry Me Ohio" and "Lily and Parrots" (in Shopgirl)
• "Gentle Moon" (in Friday Night Lights)
• "Heron Blue" (in Crash season 1, episode "F-36, Sprint Left, T-4" during closing credits, in Red Dead Redemption and in Gears of War 3 "Ashes to Ashes" trailer)
• "Lost Verses" (in Californication season 2, episode 12: "La petite mort")
• "Like the River" (in Sons of Anarchy season 1: pilot)
• "Tonight the Sky" (in Brothers & Sisters season 3)
• "Ålesund" (in Sons of Anarchy season 3, episode 11: Bainne)
• "Glenn Tipton" (in Sons of Anarchy season 4, episode 12: Burnt and Purged Away)

External links

• The official Sun Kil Moon/Mark Kozelek/Red House Painters website
• The official Mark Kozelek website
• The official Caldo Verde Records website