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Rating:
Let's start from this assumption: "Tiny Cities," the second album of the project Sun Kil Moon (led by the American Mark Kozelek) is probably the most criticized work of this project, one with the least emotional force.
The album was released in 2005, two years after the debut "Ghosts of the Great Highway," and from the day of its release, it sparked much debate among Kozelek fans. Many people saw it as a sparse work (with a runtime around 30 minutes), but above all, a record lacking bite, devoid of the nostalgic charge that instead emerged strongly with the debut album. These were all criticisms that "clashed" with the positive comments (the minority) directed at "Tiny Cities."
So after listening to the album in question a couple of times, I decided to address it, to highlight a positive perspective towards an album that the majority considered negative instead. In "Tiny Cities," we find Kozelek capable of describing to us with his guitar and his deep voice, a universe of stories written by Isaac Brock, Eric Judy, and Jeremiah Green, three members of the indie band Modest Mouse, from which Kozelek draws some compositions, reinterpreting them in his decadent style. All the tracks on the album have been taken from Modest Mouse and reworked by Kozelek, thus becoming musical stories, masterfully and lightly narrated by the voice of the American singer-songwriter.
All the criticisms aimed at this album, particularly those concerning its sparseness, are entirely valid, and frankly, it is unclear why this choice was made, with short songs that end up going "unnoticed." The fact remains that for those who write, "Tiny Cities" represents a good alt-country album, closely linked to Kozelek, although the tracks were not born from his mind. The cornerstone of his music lies in the "ancient" touch he injects into what he plays, that feeling of music tied to another time, where the voices of sadness and nostalgia fit gloriously. In this sense, I am inclined to mention "Neverending Math Equation", which, although it develops on an acoustic and almost "cheerful" base, manages to sound dark in its tone, in its progression through Kozelek’s vocalizations. The same can be said of "Grey Ice Water" and "Convenient Parking". Alongside these good guitar visions over which Mark's voice overlays, there are, however, some forgettable pieces, which fortunately pass by given the short duration of the songs.
The final result is an album teetering between a "experimental" solution and some frankly somewhat incomprehensible choices that the good Kozelek will have made for his reasons, but which impact an overall judgment that directs "Tiny Cities" towards sufficiency, distant from the strings of one of the greatest songwriters of recent decades.
1. "Exit Does Not Exist" (1:24)
2. "Tiny Cities Made Of Ashes" (3:13)
3. "Neverending Math Equation" (2:53)
4. "Space Travel Is Boring" (3:42)
5. "Dramamine" (2:44)
6. "Jesus Christ Was An Only Child" (1:59)
7. "Four Fingered Fisherman" (2:41)
8. "Grey Ice Water" (2:32)
9. "Convenient Parking" (1:56)
10. "Trucker's Atlas" (2:49)
11. "Ocean Breathes Salty" (4:35)
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Tiny Cities Made of Ashes (03:13)
Were going down the road to tiny cities made of ashes
Im going to hit you on the face
Im going to punch you in your glasses, oh no
I just got a message that said
Yeah, hell has frozen over.
I got a phone call from the lord saying,
Hey boy, get a sweater, right now.
So were drinkin drinkin drinkin drinkin coca coca cola
I can feel it rolling right on down
Oh right on down my throat now
As were headed down the road towards tiny cities made of ashes
Im gonna get dressed up in plastic
Gonna shake hands with the masses, oh no!
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away?
Does anybody know a way?
Were going down the road to tiny cities made of ashes
Im going to hit you on the face
Im going to punch you in your glasses
Im wearing myself a t-shirt that says
The world is my ashtray
Our hearts pump dust and our hairs all grey
And I just got a message that said
Yeah, hell has frozen over.
I got a phone call from the lord saying,
Hey boy, get a sweater, right now!
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away?
Does anybody know a way?
Were drinkin drinkin drinkin drink coca coca cola
I can feel it rolling right on down
Oh right on down my throat
As were headed down the road towards tiny cities made of ashes
Im going to lay down (at the spa? ) where they coat you in molasses
Right now!
Does anybody know a way that a body could get away?
Does anybody know a way?
baculaat
05 Dramamine (02:44)
Traveling swallowing Dramamine
Feeling spaced breathing out Listerine
I'd said what I'd said that I'd tell ya
And that you'd killed the better part of me
If you could just milk it for everything
I've said what I'd said and you know what I mean
But I still can't focus on anything
We kiss on the mouth but still cough down our sleeves
Traveling swallowing Dramamine
Look at your face like you're killed in a dream
And you think you've figured out everything
I think I know my geography pretty damn well
You say what you need so you'll get more
If you could just milk it for everything
I've said what I said and you know what I mean
But I can't still focus on anything
08 Grey Ice Water (02:32)
You're standing by the grey ice water
Out in the wind above ground out in the weather
You had yourself a crazy lover
Becoming frozen trying hard to forget her
You got a job up in alaska
To save what the cannery pays
There ain't no way to spend it
On a boat, it's a fish trap
You took the path of least resistance
On the phone cutting out talking
Short to long distance
You're standing by the grey ice water
Out in the wind above ground out in the water
You had yourself a crazy lover
Become unfrozen trying hard to forget her
You got a job up in Alaska
To save what the cannery pays
There ain't no way to spend it
On the arctic blast
10 Trucker's Atlas (02:49)
I'm going to Colorado
to unload my head
I'm going to New York City
and that's in New York,friends
I'm going to Arizona
sex on the rocks all warm and red
and we bled
and the writing in stall said
"we write our maps in the stalls"
I'm going up to Alaska
I'm going to get off scot-fucking-free
and we all did
This truckers atlas roads the ways
the freeways and highways don't know
The buzz from the bird on my dash
Road locomotive phone
I don't feel and it feels great
I sold my atlas by the freight stairs
I do lines and I crossed roads
I crossed the lines of all the great state roads
I'm going up
going over to Montana
You got yourself a trucker's atlas
You knew you were all hot, well
Maybe you'll go and blow a gasket
Start at the northwest corner
Go down through California
beeline you might drive three days
and three nights to the tip of Florida
Do you speak the lingo?
Oh No. No no
How far does your road?
Oh no, you don't know
I'm going to Colorado
to unload my head
I'm going to New York City
and that's in New York, friends
I'm going up to Alaska
I'm going to get off scot-fucking-free
And we all did
And the writing in the salt syas
We ride on out to the stars
I'm going to Arizona
Sex on the rocks all warm and red
(c) baculaat-
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