2 keepers
keeper avg .200
Delayed three years due to label shenanigans, Old Ramon was finally released in 2001, and was Mark Kozelek's final album under the name Red House Painters before finding new life as Sun Kil Moon. After a pleasant opening pair, the lush bluegrass "Wop-a-Din-Din" and moderately grungy "Byrd Joel," the gauntlet of 8-minute-plus epics begins. The stately ballad "Void" starts nicely enough until the choruses lose their footing; they're melodically weak and "fill the void in me girl", etc, a bit on the nose. The album's big riff-o-rama "Between Days"****, which sounds like Neil Young jamming on Pavement's "Rattled By The Rush," is the first memorable track, though it would have been better at half the length. And the album bottoms out at the plodding "Cruiser," almost nine minutes of one guitar doodle.
The jaunty and appropriately country-flavored Americana "Michigan" is a nice break from all those weighty productions before "River," the album's 11-minute magnum opus. It starts as a forlorn ballad, gate-crashed midway by an angular, Neil Young inspired slow jam; it's the dramatic peak of the album but it would be more effective if the drums didn't disappear into the multi-guitar attack. The remaining tracks are delivered in more reasonable proportions. "Smokey" is a pleasant, slow Neil Young-type electric ballad with lots of e-bow, followed by the modest, acoustic "Golden"****. Like the album's first half, the second ends lethargically with the tedious "Kavita." Though maybe more consistent than the previous album, the excessive length of most of the songs becomes tiring upon repeated listens; unfortunately most are pleasant at best, leaving me unconvinced by the critical adulation surrounding this album.
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