It's a bit inconsistent but some of it is utterly devastating (perhaps helped along by a hard-going week at work and a bottle of red). Found the bit about 4ad's Ivo strangely emotional for some reason.
― djh, Saturday, 1 February 2014 02:27 (ten years ago) link
Man, brothers just tears my heart out
― the Norwegians are leaving! (Sufjan Grafton), Saturday, 1 February 2014 03:31 (ten years ago) link
Ian Cohen forcing me to order that vinyl (whenever it becomes available) even more promptly. That stuff sells out quick enough as it is.
― Evan, Monday, 3 February 2014 13:12 (ten years ago) link
In case you don't know what I mean: http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18860-sun-kil-moon-benji/
― Evan, Monday, 3 February 2014 13:59 (ten years ago) link
solid lol, from the interview
I can see how some of these incidents would sound odd, to say, a British journalist, or someone who is very young, or sheltered...
― Simon H., Monday, 3 February 2014 18:07 (ten years ago) link
awesome
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Sunday, March 23, 2008 7:02 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
y'mean the new one, or just in general?
― dell, Sunday, March 23, 2008 8:18 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i meant in general
― i have the new brutal HOOS if you want it (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Monday, 3 February 2014 18:36 (ten years ago) link
Still true.
― Evan, Monday, 3 February 2014 18:38 (ten years ago) link
this is good but perils from the sea was much more in my wheelhouse songwriting-wise so it feels a bit of a comedown from that
― ciderpress, Monday, 3 February 2014 20:50 (ten years ago) link
Have you checked out the Kozelek/Desertshore album?
― Evan, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:01 (ten years ago) link
yeah that one's solid too, dude's on a roll lately
― ciderpress, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:03 (ten years ago) link
'i watched the film the song remains the same' is the highlight so far
lyrics on this are as good as the pfork review etc insist but he's given up on writing vocal melodies half the time which irks me a bit since that was a strength of April and last year's records
― ciderpress, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:07 (ten years ago) link
this got a 9.2 omg
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:10 (ten years ago) link
i dunno. i like kozelek a lot, and a guitar album about the sadness, desperation, regrets, and dignity of aging seems tailor-made for me. but i have a hard time imagining this is better than ghosts of the great highway, and that's after hearing about three or four songs from benji.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:12 (ten years ago) link
^ could not be more otm
― alpine static, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:16 (ten years ago) link
like i came here to basically post what you did almost word for word, except insert "one or two" for "three or four"
― alpine static, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:17 (ten years ago) link
Who said it's better than Ghosts?
― Evan, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:26 (ten years ago) link
its not better than his past successes, no, but it's also kind of evading comparison by doing something pretty different. his lyrics are more prose than poetry now and he doesn't really aim for catharsis
― ciderpress, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:31 (ten years ago) link
p4k review strongly implied it (and may have actually said it)
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:45 (ten years ago) link
Who gives a fuck about pitchfork reviews?
― nostormo, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:47 (ten years ago) link
http://i.imgur.com/ds80lOC.png?1?9390
literally no one good point
― i have the new brutal HOOS if you want it (BIG HOOS aka the steendriver), Monday, 3 February 2014 21:53 (ten years ago) link
wait you're saying that pitchforkmedia.com's numerical score isn't an objective and universal indicator of quality?
dammit.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:56 (ten years ago) link
yeah i meant it as yet another criticism about the phenomena known as people/hipsters still fascinated by an album getting a high score from Ian Cohen or whoever from pitchfork.
― nostormo, Monday, 3 February 2014 21:59 (ten years ago) link
no offense, Daniel, i know you are not one pf them.
― nostormo, Monday, 3 February 2014 22:00 (ten years ago) link
― nostormo, Monday, February 3, 2014 4:47 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
insound.com does.
I don't care what they give it. I linked it because it means higher sales from what I've seen.
― Evan, Monday, 3 February 2014 22:07 (ten years ago) link
still blown away pfork linked to his yes cover
http://www.dustedmagazine.com/features/836
"A journalist recently compared my playing to Steve Howe’s. It’s taken 15 years for that to happen."
― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 3 February 2014 23:01 (ten years ago) link
it's the sound of his newer stuff, more than the lyrics (but that, too), that makes me say ghosts of the great highway is better (from what i've heard so far). ghosts has this massive, hypnotizing wall of sound, and a menacing, dangerous undercurrent. the newer stuff -- while very good, don't get me wrong -- sounds smaller, less ambitious, intentionally more slight, and the focus on mundane, everyday subjects in the lyrics reinforces the idea that the songs are smaller. to be fair, that's largely me focusing on the last album, which had some high-points, but sounded really awkward to me at times. maybe it was a transitional album, leading to benji. i'm still excited to hear new kozelek, and this album in particular.
hard to imagine anything will ever equal this song, tho:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AKRA7weVyLs
Sorry that I could never love you back I could never care enough In these last days __________________________Can't count to All the lovers I've burned through So why do I still burn for you I cannot say
__________________________
Can't count to All the lovers I've burned through So why do I still burn for you I cannot say
my god, those lyrics still kill.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 00:14 (ten years ago) link
All true. Though I think the delivery and phrasing is what makes it seem more powerful lyrically. Themes of death should be more crushing but the compositions and conversational approach does make it feel much smaller.
― Evan, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 01:04 (ten years ago) link
I might suggest that part of the idea is that death IS small, which is one of the reasons it's frightening and devastating. It's here all the time, a bit of a paradox b/c its omnipresence both makes it mundane and possibly, when you think about that, more disturbing. Death is small because we're all small, here one moment and gone the next.
― Mark, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 01:25 (ten years ago) link
that's interesting, and there's a lot of truth to it. i'm going to think about that when i begin listening to this album.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 01:28 (ten years ago) link
I'm struggling to think of another rock album in which a comparable number of specific biographical details and banalities are included. You get an incredibly comprehensive picture of who Kozelek is and what he cares about. (I realize that many will not find this notion endearing or interesting.)
I still prefer Perils From the Sea, though.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 4 February 2014 02:02 (ten years ago) link
The idea that *this one* might be his late-career breakout is kind of hilarious, actually. It's a pretty strange album.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 4 February 2014 02:41 (ten years ago) link
It's a pretty strange album.
i've only sampled part of it, but i bet this is right.
I can live with the sky falling out from aboveI can live with your scorn, your sourness, your smugI can live growing old alone if push comes to shoveBut I can't live without my mother's loveI can live flying 'round at an impossible paceI can live with the bad ettiquette that's falling on this placeI can live with anything you've got to throw in my faceBut I can't live without my mother's embraceMy mother is seventy fiveShe's the closest friend I have in my lifeTake her from me I'll break down and bawlAnd wither away like old leaves in the fallYou can be cruel all you want talk bad on my brothersShoot me full of holes and I won't by botheredJudge me for my ways and my slew of my ex-loversBut don't ever dare say a bad word 'bout my mother.When she's gone I'll miss her how slowly she walksPlaying scrabble with the chimes of the grandfather clockI'll even miss the times that we foughtBut mostly I'll miss being able to call her and talk.I can live without watching the classical fightsI can live without a lover beside me at nightI can live without what you might call a charmedBut I can't live without my mother providing her lightMy mother is seventy fiveOne day she won't be here to hear me cryWhen the day comes for her to let goI'll die off like a lemon tree in the snowWhen the day comes for her to leaveI won't have the courage to sort through her thingsWith my sisters and all our memoriesI cannot bear all the pain it will bring.
I can live flying 'round at an impossible paceI can live with the bad ettiquette that's falling on this placeI can live with anything you've got to throw in my faceBut I can't live without my mother's embrace
My mother is seventy fiveShe's the closest friend I have in my lifeTake her from me I'll break down and bawlAnd wither away like old leaves in the fall
You can be cruel all you want talk bad on my brothersShoot me full of holes and I won't by botheredJudge me for my ways and my slew of my ex-loversBut don't ever dare say a bad word 'bout my mother.
When she's gone I'll miss her how slowly she walksPlaying scrabble with the chimes of the grandfather clockI'll even miss the times that we foughtBut mostly I'll miss being able to call her and talk.
I can live without watching the classical fightsI can live without a lover beside me at nightI can live without what you might call a charmedBut I can't live without my mother providing her light
My mother is seventy fiveOne day she won't be here to hear me cryWhen the day comes for her to let goI'll die off like a lemon tree in the snowWhen the day comes for her to leaveI won't have the courage to sort through her thingsWith my sisters and all our memoriesI cannot bear all the pain it will bring.
interesting in its hyper-confessional nature. when it's good, it has the power of neil young's best, most bracing, most direct lyrics.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 02:53 (ten years ago) link
gonna ruin somebody's day by saying this but when kozelek gets to near-rapping he sounds like the dude from Everclear
― da croupier, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 03:08 (ten years ago) link
you have dishonored the name of "kozelek."
― Daniel, Esq 2, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 03:09 (ten years ago) link
a lyric snippet out of this (otherwise edgy, interesting) richard ramirez song illustrates the highs-and-lows of kozelek's lyrics:
i don't like this gettin' older stuffhaving to pee 50 times a day is bad enoughgot a nagging prostate and i gotta bad backwhen i fuck too much i feel like i'm gonna have a heart attack
so, the overall theme about the scariness and dignity of aging is a good focus for a record, and an artist. and a lot of times, kozelek nails that feeling perfectly. but the laundry-list of ailments feels a little artless and kvetch-y. and trying to squeeze in the extra words in the last line ("i'mgonnahaveaheartattack") makes it awkward.
to some extent, this is over-complaining. the just out-of-sync vocal harmonies and the dark, heavy-sounding guitar lines give the song an evil vibe. and that, i love.
at 53 richard ramirez died; but in 83, he was very much alivehe was the scariest killer in the landhad a pentagram in the center of his hand
kozelek's songs sometimes drip blood, which is a good thing.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 03:28 (ten years ago) link
― da croupier, Monday, February 3, 2014 10:08 PM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
lol this is pretty otm
― call all destroyer, Tuesday, 4 February 2014 03:30 (ten years ago) link
It's not just the lyrics that are noteworthy for their oddness. Those backing vocals on "I Love My Dad" for instance are, uh, a choice. I guess. And I could have gone with more Will Oldham and less multitracked Koz.
― Simon H., Tuesday, 4 February 2014 03:32 (ten years ago) link
so, lyrically, here's where sun kil moon is at its best. there's this hazy, hypnotic guitar-driven song, with kozelek singing about loving mundane things, like watching late-night cable and debates over which old pro-boxer was more hated or more loved, and nostalgic things, about behaving like his dad before him. it's wistful, a little sad, a little sweet, and makes me think about what it means to grow older. then, bam.
I buried my first victim When I was nineteenWent through her bedroomAnd the pockets of her jeansAnd found her letters That said so many thingsThat really hurt me badI never breathed Her name againBut I like to dream About what could have beenI never heard her calls againBut I like to dream
I never breathed Her name againBut I like to dream About what could have beenI never heard her calls againBut I like to dream
now maybe this is a metaphor for kozelek breaking up with a girlfriend. that's a possible reading. but it seems too literal to me for that. and what a swerve. most of his lyrics i love for the reasons appearing above the block-quote, but kozelek has the ability to really surprise.
by the way, setting aside the serial-killer lines, the rest of the song today made me think of how much i miss my maternal grandfather (died when i was 10) and grandmother (died when i was in my 30s), how much i'd give to speak to them, even one more time, again, and how much they'd love my daughter.
― Daniel, Esq 2, Thursday, 6 February 2014 22:15 (ten years ago) link
I'm loving this:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejBfyKd3WSs
― Burt Stuntin (Hurting 2), Thursday, 6 February 2014 23:05 (ten years ago) link
Daniel I've had pretty much the exact same feelings about that song. The murder angle is jarring but so well done. And the nostalgic imagery just before it has always grabbed me in the same way.
― Evan, Thursday, 6 February 2014 23:23 (ten years ago) link
the live version of "I Love My Dad" on the bonus disc is hilarious
Kozelek - "Do you guys get that reference or not? Edgar Winter was an albino..."
Lone audience member - "woo!"
Kozelek - *annoyed grunt*
― Number None, Friday, 7 February 2014 18:20 (ten years ago) link
Hahaha! Picking this up today at the shop I used to work at.
― Evan, Friday, 7 February 2014 18:41 (ten years ago) link
this album is really fucking good
― Burt Stuntin (Hurting 2), Friday, 14 February 2014 05:00 (ten years ago) link
can't stop listening to this
― Burt Stuntin (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 18 February 2014 04:20 (ten years ago) link
iiiii haaaaate thissss recorrrrd
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Tuesday, 18 February 2014 04:21 (ten years ago) link
lol
― Burt Stuntin (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 18 February 2014 04:23 (ten years ago) link
why
is the nels cline hating a joke?
― akm, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 08:24 (ten years ago) link
What do you have against Nels Cline? This is the second time you’ve brought him up in one of your albums. Has he tried to retaliate? Do you secretly like him?Honestly, I don’t know anything about him. I saw Wilco live only once, in New Orleans, and on TV once. I decided to name off a bunch of guitarists I liked, in the chorus of “Bramble,” but then thought it would be more dynamic if I named a few I hated. The thing is, I don’t hate anybody. His name just rhymed with whatever came before it, and people laughed. So on Benji, I did it again. I do things twice, sometimes, like how I did “UK Blues” and “UK Blues 2.”
Honestly, I don’t know anything about him. I saw Wilco live only once, in New Orleans, and on TV once. I decided to name off a bunch of guitarists I liked, in the chorus of “Bramble,” but then thought it would be more dynamic if I named a few I hated. The thing is, I don’t hate anybody. His name just rhymed with whatever came before it, and people laughed. So on Benji, I did it again. I do things twice, sometimes, like how I did “UK Blues” and “UK Blues 2.”
― Number None, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 09:04 (ten years ago) link
i dont understand why someone would hate this record, unless you dont like mark kozelek's music. and if thats the case, then why the fuck are you listening to it?
― everyday sheeple (Michael B), Tuesday, 18 February 2014 16:24 (ten years ago) link