This slab of essential Americana from the pen of Ohio songwriter Mark Kozelek is made all the rarer by its release on white marbled vinyl.
Despite being known for rubbing people up the wrong way these days, Mark Kozelek is among the most intriguing songwriters of the last 20 years. From defining the ‘slowcore’ genre with Red House Painters, to releasing full albums of AC/DC covers in his own unique style, everything Kozelek touches turns to gold. His crowning glory, however, is with Sun Kil Moon. Essentially a solo project, Kozelek spills his guts in a brutally honest, diary-like manner, set to an elegant and sullen backdrop.
The debut Sun Kil Moon album, Ghosts Of The Great Highway, is a timeless piece of work, and like nearly all of the vinyl releases from Kozelek, is incredibly collectable. The standard black-vinyl pressing is hard enough to find as it is, but even more special than that is the white marbled promo release, which is limited to just 300 copies.
Housed in that iconic sleeve, it comes with an obi strip and is pressed across a double LP. It’s the best way to enjoy the glorious Carry Me Ohio, and the brooding opus that closes the album, Duk Koo Kim. Something else that makes a vinyl copy of the album essential to your collection is the inclusion of an acoustic Gentle Moon, exclusive to the vinyl release.
Tracking down a promo copy of this record does come with a hefty price tag – it’s likely to set you back well over the £300 mark – but it’s worth every penny. With no sign of Kozelek repressing this, or any of Sun Kil Moon’s pre-Rough Trade recordings, it will only grow in value and is an essential piece of modern Americana.
Glen Bushell