Review:

on 2010-07-14 jakekingston Said:

I've tried to listen to this album four times now, each time something distracting happens: either my partner comes into my office, or I want to hear the Liz Phair album instead (again), or the phone rings, or I have to leave, or something. Well, I'm almost all the way through, and I'm not completely sorry I waited this long to give the album a full listen. Before I continue with the review I feel it necessary to qualify my love for Sun Kil Moon and Mark Kozelek. I love them both. Was, and still am not a huge fan of Red House Painters, but upon hearing the magnificently brilliant "Carry Me Ohio" from Sun Kil Moon's debut 'Ghosts of the Great Highway', I was hooked. I tried revisiting older tunes but they just didn't stick.

I saw Mark live in Toronto when he played Lee's Palace on July 12, 2006, and if you listen carefully at the beginning of "Tiny Cities" from the double-disc release of "Little Drummer Boy--Live" you'll hear me scream out in adoration. I like Mark solo, I like Sun Kil Moon's full band style, but there is something banal, and dare I say it, beige about Admiral Fell Promises. Mark has clearly taken to classical Spanish-ish guitar music because every single track on Admiral is simply that, an acoustic guitar and his haunting overly reverbed vocals. No song is distinguishable from the last, and although there are some striking melodies, the entire album feels like one complete and cohesive uniformed song, which is not entirely a good thing. It's difficult for me to single out specific songs, because as I listen to it all I can hear are stand-alone melodies that I cannot associate with particular numbers. There are some great melodies on track 1 (I think), track 9, track 6 (again, these are just guesses, because I think this is where the melodies took form). Perhaps the indistinguishability will become lessened once I'm holding the physical package in my hands and can refer to each individual track--I will however have to pay careful attention not to mistake song breaks for a separate track altogether.

There is some definitely interesting things here, and what I admire about Mark and his choice of limitation is that he manages to diversify his music even within the completely limited range his applying to it. He is quite the talented musician, and assuredly not a limited one, however, the conscious decision to venture through musical styles one step at a time within one particular genre is an incredible feat. Where other musicians take leaps and bounds between genres, one day rock, another day pop, another day dance, etc., Mark is taking teeny tiny baby steps. But even with his tiny movements, the change is evident between albums. And so, while this review might have suggested a more negative response, I think over time, Admiral Fell Promises will be an album I tend to gravitate towards more often than not in the Mark Kozelek/Sun Kil Moon repertoire.
Rating: 7/10