All things Mark Kozelek

[cobl04]

jesuuuuuus christ. That looks longer than Universal Themes, which was about a metre.

 

[liamcool]

I'm pretty sure it includes the two letters that Kozelek reads out on the album. The interview that he did with Rainn Wilson prior to its release said that he gave the authors of those letters partial songwriting credits and will mail them royalties, which is amusingly self-aware.

 

[cobl04]

Might mate Victor feel better, considering he laughs through his whole letter.

 

[cobl04]

"once your balls are freezing it doesn't matter. the rest of your body can handle that level of cold".

 

[cobl04]

My first 2016 album done and dusted. I quite liked that. Will be buying. The music is pretty great throughout. The same problems that I had with Universal Themes - the songs being too long and Kozelek going from a really affecting lyrical/singing style to him effectively mumbling what happened on a certain in pretty much every song (although to be fair that might prove to be wrong once I get the actual lyrics) - is still present, but he isn't as abrasive as he is on Universal Themes. Jesu's a great foil, the heavier songs are good, not dissonant like they were on Universal Theme's. There's some really nice moments too when he goes a bit more synthy, I've had Beautiful You stuck in my head ever since the album finished.

 

[nielsgov]

For some reason I have almost zero interest in this album. Kozelek is basically too prolific for me.

 

[liamcool]

It's a real grower. I'm liking it more with every listen - the three sludgey metal tracks at the beginning and the three tracks at the end are really something. The middle drags a fair bit.

 

[liamcool]

New covers album out at the end of May. Piano and vocal only. Kozelek and Mike Patton sing on a cover of David Bowie's "Win" - you can hear it and find some details here.

 

[bono_212]

His last covers album made me so happy. In.

Sent from my XT1575 using U2 Interference mobile app

 

[LemonMelon]

Dear God, Exodus is absolutely harrowing stuff. I should not have looked up how Mike Tyson's daughter died.

 

[cobl04]

Do you like the album? I do.

 

[LemonMelon]

I like it a lot. It's a bit strangely balanced, with all of the heavy Jesu tracks right up front, only to fall back into ambient mode for a while, then Sally stands out sharply as the lone "metal" track the rest of the way. The mixing is a bit cluttered too, I can't hear Mark as well as I'd like to on the heavier tracks.

Nonetheless, there's a lot of personality here. It was a cool idea and I find most of it very enjoyable to listen to. Mark does his thing and Justin brings droning swaths of metallic chords, while also revealing a talent for ambient soundscapes. Beautiful You in particular is a lovely song. I thought it was cute that Mark praised the instrumental while he spoke over it. You don't hear that very often.

 

[liamcool]

I'm all in. This album is tremendous. "Carondelet" is a monster, "A Song Of Shadows" makes me long for other people in a really intense way, "Sally" is this intense angry song, "Exodus" guts me, "Beautiful You" makes me laugh and feel good after hearing ten minutes of death songs.

I guess I'm at the point where Mark Kozelek can piss in my ears and I'll enjoy it?

 

[cobl04]

I'm looking forward to getting the physical release (what a fucking joke it's going to be like five weeks after it was released digitally) so I can sit with the lyrics, because that might endear me more to it. I quite like it but its excesses are ridiculous. And because it feels so fully formed it's hard for me to treat it leniently. But the great moments are great - Beautiful You, Carondelet, Last Night... (particularly the letter at the end, not for its content but the synths just sound real nice around it), America's Most Wanted.

 

[cobl04]

And of course there's Exodus, which makes Benji sound like a party album.

 

[iron yuppie]

I'm an inconsistent listener with Kozalek projects, but felt compelled to the Jesu collaboration for some reason. This is an oddly, strongly affecting album. Exodus is of course harrowing, but what hit me the most were the readings of the fan letters. The tone in his voice is so shot through with resignation, like he's trying desperately to feel something but can't manage it.

 

[cobl04]

Yeah, I'm finding myself weird drawn to the one at the end of "Last Night I Rocked the Room..." something about the combination of the drawn-out synths and his voice as he's reading it. Same as the one at the end of "America's Most Wanted", possibly even more so.

 

[liamcool]

Fucking god damnit Mark Kozelek. Every time you put out an album, I'm unsure about it's quality, but then you draw me back in and I listen to it again and again...and then I'm hooked. Might be the best thing he's ever done. Fucking "Carondelet". Fucking "Exodus", fucking "A Song Of Shadows".

 

[Axver]

Well that was... interesting? I've been a Jesu fan since the beginning, but I'd never listened to Sun Kil Moon outside of a couple of songs - even though I had enjoyed the amusement of keeping half an eye on Kozelek's career and the overreactions to it.

This hasn't converted me into a Kozelek fan. I'd have preferred Justin K. Broadrick's distant vocals to a disgruntled gruff old bloke rambling about this and that and reading out fanmail to be... self-aggrandising? I don't know. If you're going to have vocals as prominent as this in Jesu's music, please do more than sound like a boring family friend who accosted you at a barbecue with one of his long and mildly socially inappropriate stories. The more droning, sludgier instrumental parts were enjoyable, though the first track in particular was some serious Jesu-by-numbers, the sort of thing anybody who's followed Broadrick's career has heard him do a hundred times already.

 

[liamcool]

There's a new EP out! It's not the covers album, either!

Spoiler

 

[cobl04]

^ what's that?!

I finally sat down with the lyrics last night. I do not recommend doing that. I get the sense that even including the lyrics is Kozelek trolling. There's so many spelling mistakes and things missing that I'm betting he got wasted one night and just sat there typing it all out, grinning at his own (perceived) goodness. Lyrically, much of it is utter crap, the whole 'I did this and then I did this' is really played out now. But there are some great moments. A Song of Shadows is quite nice, Father's Day has its moments, as does Sally.

The last three songs are the highlight of the album and make it worth sitting through. America's Most Wanted is great, and his reading of the fan letter amidst the synths is lovely, like iYup attested to above. Exodus, jesus fucking christ, that is brutal. One of the saddest songs you will ever hear. Which is then followed by Beautiful You, which is lovely and warm.

 

[cobl04]

The man is nothing if not prolific.



This is from a covers album he dropped in May, forgot about it. There's a fucking cover of Bob Seger's Mainstreet on here!!!

 

[liamcool]

New album in February 2017. Common As Light and Love Are Red Valleys Are Blood.

Here's a track off it. Sun Kil Moon "God Bless Ohio"

 

[cobl04]

What?!??

 

[cobl04]

How did I miss this! Shit yeah. I hope it's a lot better than Universal Themes.

 

[liamcool]

Go listen to the new track. It's...kind of funky?

(I loved both the Jesu collab and Universal Themes, though. So I guess I'm all in with Kozelek at this point.)

 

[cobl04]

I'm a fan of the Jesu collab. It still has the lyrically issues that I hated about Universal Themes but I like it a lot.

Heard the covers album?

 

[liamcool]

Not yet! I've got it on my phone, but not actually had a chance to dig in yet. Good?

 

[cobl04]

Go listen to the new track. It's...kind of funky?

(I loved both the Jesu collab and Universal Themes, though. So I guess I'm all in with Kozelek at this point.)

I don't think it's anything close to funky it's pretty decent though.

 

[iron yuppie]

He wrote a song for Laz apparently:

Sun Kil Moon “Glad” That Michael Jackson Is Dead on New Song: Listen | Pitchfork