sun kil moon?

I found deep discounted copies of the new Eitzel in two different record stores within 2 weeks of its release :(

I used to defend Koz but his laziness has just gotten to outsides to deny starting w/ Universal Themes and the worst of Benji

He needs a critical friend, doesn't he?

― djh, Wednesday, February 15, 2017 9:33 PM (nineteen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Or even a friend?

Seems to be friends with Steve Shelley:
Steve and I first played together on the Benji album. We just go into the studio and make music and eat Mexican food.

They probably go to Taco Truck in Hoboken. I've seen Steve there. Like Sun Kil Moon, started out great but the quality has gone downhill in the last couple of years.

how i feel about this is how i imagine most people on earth feel about lulu

I'm not sure it's that awesome

How long until his new song about record shops?

https://www.normanrecords.com/records/163483

that got me to relisten to the SKM parody EP which really is the fucking best

If only he changed his moniker for this phase, as it's more of its own distinct "project" at this point.

Is there a thread for artists that have released handfuls of albums in clusters that are polar opposites as distinct sets?

i'm not going to listen to this album

That's wise

yeah but then you'd miss the 12.5-minute song about the young lady found in a hotel rooftop water tank in 2013. it's got a subtle jet fuel/steel beams vibe

a recurring theme--the cover photo appears to be of the tanks

I could just post lyrics of the older material and we can pretend he retired after Benji (given that one and MK & Desertshore were the two arguably successful diary confessional rant albums)

xp that case has come up before in something i can't recall, i distinctly remember reading about it though

it's got a subtle jet fuel/steel beams vibe

I guess we should all be thankful Koz isn't an 1nfowars type...yet

It's a fairly big Internet thing ciderpress. Mainly due to the disturbing cctv footage of the deceased just before her death

there is an absolutely huge medium article by some weirdo regarding the death that goes through all the conspiracy theory stuff, and the official coroner verdict, and the writer went and stayed at the hotel and looked around etc. we talked about it on some thread that i will never remember when it happened

the young woman was from the metro van area so i def heard about it maybe more than others

I liked "Benji" a lot but man oh man this is hard going. Theres one track (songs doesnt really fit for a description) where he rants "IM NOT A FUCKING PUPPET!" over and over again

"i wish i could remember this in-depth defense of nü-sun kil moon an acquaintance of mine gave to me.. must not have been very convincing if i can't remember a single thing about it. he had thought about it quite a bit tho."

I have to confess that I've come up with arguments about it being impressive that he does different things, uses his voice differently, works with different people and is even prepared to look awkward/clumsy/uncool (as he did performing with Jesu) ... but all that counts for fuck all when you hear one of his dreadful tracks.

What went wrong with the Jesu performances?

Oh, nothing at all "went wrong" ... but in the clips I've seen he looks kind of awkward and exposed. I suppose if you're used to playing a guitar not having that prop must be really difficult. And there is definitely part of me that thinks "Good on him". Then I hear a record where he reads out a fan letter.

I'm willing to go on record that it's not as terrible as it's being made out to be. I mean, it's unlikely I'll ever wade through it again, but there are some really beautiful moments (in Phildelphia Cop, Window Sash Weights, I Love Portugal, Sarah Lawrence Song) that I'm glad I stuck out to hear.

where can I buy a perfectly tailored made to order puppet

Just listened to I Love Portugal which wasn't very good at all. I sort of think Kozelek is smart enough to be up to something, but I'm not sure what that something is. He strikes me as being a bit like late-period Hemingway, where you can almost see the dementia through the bones of the words.

perhaps this is the only way out of a bad contract that he signed with himself

he spends a lot of time alone and builds up a lot of resentment and he drinks a lot so he thinks he's funny and its funny to annoy people.

i dunno though, i kinda enjoyed this record, it's really weird,

It's really just him overcompensating in his attempt to / as a result of:

1. Avoid SKM music just progressively getting safer and more nuanced as he gets older, which happens with many artists as any youthful angst progressively disappears from their new music with time. Most artists seem to kind of fall into a role of feeling like they need to put their sound into a more measured and sophisticated filter as they age. This was his trajectory up until AFP.

2. Capture in his own music his renewed love for early Modest Mouse records

3. Exhaustion after putting all of his virtuosic try-hard into AFP (as well as everything leading up to that point), and just feeling more comfortable talking candidly about his experiences and observations through song (Among the Leaves results).

4. After experiencing some grief in his life, he gets very confessional and the style finally resonates better with audiences. (Perils, MK & Desertshore and Benji result).

5. Combine the above while also attempting to more desperately rebel against the first point but probably telling himself he's doing something super unique and interesting and pretending it isn't just giving up at trying to actually "write" music or words like he was once capable of motivating himself to do.

I don't think I could have formatted that any more confusingly, sorry. Just writing thoughts quickly.

In early Sun Kil Moon days he was saying his lyrics had become more ambiguous as opposed to RHP's diary style but that seems to have reversed in an extreme fashion.

Exhaustion after putting all of his virtuosic try-hard into AFP

Yeah there's just no way in hell he's putting in anywhere near as much time and effort these days as he did on the first three SKM records, why bother when he can get plenty of attention without bothering to actually compose

I mean, we run the risk of pretending that art is measured strictly by a show of objective proficiency in composition and execution, but there are plenty of context clues on a overall timeline to indicate that in his case he is probably killing 2 or 3 birds by taking the easy route AND satisfying some of those other points/theories I listed at once.

yeah I almost added for clarity that "effort" is obviously not a good yardstick of quality generally, I just think it's instructive/useful in this case

I wonder what he's 'working through'? He feels like a late Roth creation at times, stubbornly raging against the dying of the light. And, like Roth, sometimes maybe it just needs an editor to stand up and say 'edit, ffs'.

In short I think it's that he's sick of being a musician but is enjoying the newness of being a beat poet instead.

> Just listened to I Love Portugal which wasn't very good at all.

I dunno, the first three and a half minutes or so reminded me of mid-period Red House Painters, which I'm alright with. Wish it faded out after four minutes or so.

> I wonder what he's 'working through'?

Maybe he's working through making a living. He's putting these out himself, right? I wonder what his profit margin and sales are on something like this. Geez, he's also got an EP coming out in April and another Jesu collaboration in May.

this album is like someone took a bunch of Marc Maron's podcast intros, slowed them down and strumming a guitar over them.

This is one weird record.

To my horror, this is the most I've ever liked Mark Kozelek. It helps to really not listen to the lyrics, and just take it as weird repetitive synth-loops.

David J’s Impressionistic Take on Sun Kil Moon’s Sprawling New Record

Jesu / Sun Kil Moon "30 Seconds to the Decline of Planet Earth" now streaming here: http://www.sunkilmoon.com/30seconds/

Hoping he's grown tired of reading fan letters out mid song!

Quite enjoyed much of that.

anyone who gets through all of "wheat bread" deserves a medal imo

I gave up 4 (5?) songs in, when he started bragging about his humility and how many mates he's got. He may have been in character or just taking the piss, I'd lost track by then.

Weird. Played this last night, listening while ironing, and genuinely enjoyed it (to the point of pre-ordering it) but playing it again ... my god, there are some awful bits alongside the beautiful bits. He reads another fan letter.

Apparently, he's about to release his 4th album this year.

must have received more mail

That "Ben's My Friend" track was all right. Sports bar shiiiittt...

http://www.markkozelek.com/img/november10_2017_2.jpg

11/10/2017

Koz has, by my estimation, released 334 minutes of music this year.