If you love Benji you should really check out the Mark Kozelek/Desertshore album, as it is the direct lead up to Benji stylistically.
― Evan, Sunday, 16 March 2014 18:52 (ten years ago) link
Benji is quite a bit better, don't you think?
― MV, Sunday, 16 March 2014 20:45 (ten years ago) link
Than the Desertshore collab, I mean.
Yes I do! But it's definitely the closet to Benji over the rest of his discography.
― Evan, Monday, 17 March 2014 15:16 (ten years ago) link
It's kind of like the "warm up" record to Benji is what I mean.
― Evan, Monday, 17 March 2014 15:17 (ten years ago) link
It's interesting (well, slightly) how much more "chat" the Sun Kil Moon album has generated compared to the preceding two Kozelek related albums.
― djh, Monday, 17 March 2014 16:36 (ten years ago) link
It's not a side-project, it's much heavier lyrically, and I've got say though the Pfork BNM (esp with 9.2) forces new listeners to take notice (plus I have a little theory that many review sites tend to back whatever pfork backs in their own reviews)
― Evan, Monday, 17 March 2014 16:50 (ten years ago) link
oops didn't mean to word that so repetitively
― Evan, Monday, 17 March 2014 16:51 (ten years ago) link
I love the sound of the guitars on Benji. Don't know much other RHP or SKM stuff, but it's a good album. Played Micheline to my partner and she said it was one of the most affecting songs she'd ever heard, aaahhhh!
― 3kDk (dog latin), Friday, 4 July 2014 13:25 (nine years ago) link
I think about this album whenever I have soup in a bread bowl
― Sufjan Grafton, Friday, 4 July 2014 13:39 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, I must check out some more of this guys stuff. I've liked what I've heard of RHP ("Michael", "New Jersey") though.
― everyday sheeple (Michael B), Friday, 4 July 2014 13:58 (nine years ago) link
your first stop should be Ghosts of the Great Highway
― Number None, Friday, 4 July 2014 15:20 (nine years ago) link
I think the first two RHP albums is some of the best music I've ever heard. Third one (Bridge) and the first EP feels like part of that era though.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Friday, 4 July 2014 18:29 (nine years ago) link
Benji is slaying me...I feel choked up through the whole thing and that last song is like a huge relief when you get to it
― Iago Galdston, Friday, 4 July 2014 19:45 (nine years ago) link
I don't ever shut up about it but I really think Admiral Fell Promises, while initially sounding extremely same-y with the nylon string only + similar song structures throughout, is probably one of his most poetic, proficient and beautiful albums. I know proficiency is not a critical aspect of good art but there is just SO much craft in his compositions on that record both musically and lyrically that Benji in comparison is far to the other side of the spectrum for him (given his playing capabilities as evidence particularly on AFP, the guitar melodies on Benji were probably as quickly written as the lyrics were and he's so good that there is nothing wrong with that).
― Evan, Friday, 4 July 2014 20:03 (nine years ago) link
what robert adam said. the first two albums plus the shock me ep have never been topped by mark. after that he is still great but the returns are diminishing.
― it's the distortion, stupid! (alex in mainhattan), Friday, 4 July 2014 22:29 (nine years ago) link
"Moorestown" is one of the most heartbreaking songs I've ever heard.
― Gerald McBoing-Boing, Friday, 4 July 2014 22:44 (nine years ago) link
There's a level of post-work weariness and drunkenness where the Streets' "A Grand Don't Come For Free" sounds like the most poignant album ever made. I thought I'd capture some of that feeling with a bottle of white, some "sour cream lentil curls" from M&S and "Benji". But I didn't.
― djh, Friday, 4 July 2014 23:15 (nine years ago) link
(Big fan of Kozelek ... but somehow it just isn't doing it for me in the way you'd think it might.
― djh, Friday, 4 July 2014 23:16 (nine years ago) link
On relisten, I'm...really torn on Benji. On one hand I admire that many of the arrangements take a lot more chances than basically anything else in his whole discography, which has generally switched btwn various types of restraint, even when supposedly "cutting loose." The combination of the somewhat brighter and broader sonic palette with the off-the-cuff lyrics does work some of the time, resulting in some really primally accessible music like "I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love" and "I Watched the Film..." and a couple others, as well as a couple of refreshingly breezy portraits like "Ben's My Friend" that would have been unthinkable even a couple of years ago. But it does have a tossed-off quality that backfires more than I cared to admit at first. What worries me is that it was so much better-received than Perils and Admiral, which are both better records that he might feel compelled to pull away from in terms of approach. (Then again he might decide that critics and audiences are full of shit and pull a 180 of some kind - predicting what the Koz will do at this point is folly.)
― Simon H., Monday, 1 September 2014 04:00 (nine years ago) link
h8 this record but realistically simon h otm
― emo canon in twee major (BradNelson), Monday, 1 September 2014 18:53 (nine years ago) link
― Evan, Sunday, March 16, 2014 2:52 PM (5 months ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
Just want to add this point that I was very surprised when the writing style carried over into Benji- when MK/Desertshore came out I wasn't put off because that kind of lack of refinement was appropriate for a side project record. Like a jam session gained some momentum and suddenly they had enough songs to make a record, and lyrically Mark had an opportunity to vent about Tim Mooney and Jason Molina dying among other things in a quickly written fashion. Never expected that approach to continue into an official Sun Kil Moon release. But given the success of artist-as-character-in-back-story-infused-records like Bon Iver and Girls it's no surprise the drama of the content is carrying this beyond the success of anything else he's done even when it is also the most underwritten by miles.
― Evan, Monday, 1 September 2014 20:22 (nine years ago) link
he was already doing this kind of stuff on Among The Leaves
― Number None, Monday, 1 September 2014 20:35 (nine years ago) link
Never gotten anywhere near all the way through AtL.
― Simon H., Monday, 1 September 2014 20:54 (nine years ago) link
no surprise the drama of the content is carrying this beyond the success of anything else he's done even when it is also the most underwritten by miles.
I must again remind everyone that he just recently did the flagrantly autobiographical thing better on Perils, which he did none of the music for. An acquired taste I guess but the combo of simple electronic accompaniment with Koz's drifting travelogues really clicks for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7yYMfjVNJc
― Simon H., Monday, 1 September 2014 21:44 (nine years ago) link
as I said, it's not a new development
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqV9ilyiWK4
― Number None, Monday, 1 September 2014 22:02 (nine years ago) link
It took Panera bread to connect with the people
― post...aftermath (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 1 September 2014 22:29 (nine years ago) link
Fair enough. Among the Leaves was the literal first time he changed his approach in the autobiographical way, but MK/Desertshore and Benji seem directly from a diary and entirely unedited beyond a first draft. To me they differentiate that way. AtL and Perils both have the conversational feel yet sound to me like he worked on the songs a bit more. "Young Love" for instance wouldn't even be that out of place on AFP (though I admit it isn't the best representation of AtL on the whole).
― Evan, Monday, 1 September 2014 22:31 (nine years ago) link
AtL literally has one that goes
Well I wrote this one and I know it ain't greatI'll probably sequence at track number 8And pick up some water at 7/11On my way to the mastering session
It's called Track Number 8
― Number None, Monday, 1 September 2014 22:36 (nine years ago) link
Plus as far as why Benji resonated more is clear- people don't emotionally connect to funny stories about touring the same way they do about the relatable accounts of family members tragically dying in their mundane hometowns between visits to mundane Panera Breads, reflections of parents much like theirs, growing up, etc.
― Evan, Monday, 1 September 2014 22:37 (nine years ago) link
xpost OK, OK, fair. Benji is still farther down the rabbit hole of quickly written and patched together songs though. His choice of guitar lines plays a big part as well.
― Evan, Monday, 1 September 2014 22:40 (nine years ago) link
I like to imagine that he laid down some really complicated and overwritten tracks before switching to chords + blue crabcakes
― post...aftermath (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 1 September 2014 22:44 (nine years ago) link
blue crabcakes + sports bar shit are my favourite moments on the album
― Number None, Monday, 1 September 2014 22:48 (nine years ago) link
otm
― post...aftermath (Sufjan Grafton), Monday, 1 September 2014 23:15 (nine years ago) link
always read Panera bread as Pantera bread.
― charlie h, Tuesday, 2 September 2014 02:33 (nine years ago) link
I'd eat a dime bag of chocolate croissants
― post...aftermath (Sufjan Grafton), Tuesday, 2 September 2014 02:44 (nine years ago) link
LOL
― charlie h, Tuesday, 2 September 2014 03:04 (nine years ago) link
I just realized that Koz must be looking at post-divorce Ben Gibbard w/ dollar signs in his eyes
― Simon H., Tuesday, 2 September 2014 03:14 (nine years ago) link
Does anyone know who the female vocalist on Songs For A Blue Guitar is? I remember trying to find out a few times with no luck.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Tuesday, 2 September 2014 23:48 (nine years ago) link
Stephanie Finch
― Number None, Wednesday, 3 September 2014 00:12 (nine years ago) link
"I just realized that Koz must be looking at post-divorce Ben Gibbard w/ dollar signs in his eyes"
why? Koz didn't get a divorce
"Stephanie Finch"
she's Chuck Prophet's wife and sings with him as well.
― akm, Wednesday, 3 September 2014 00:37 (nine years ago) link
Thank you! Looks like she had a solo album a few years ago.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 3 September 2014 01:12 (nine years ago) link
Can someone please tell the dude he is NOT funny?
― nostormo, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 08:23 (nine years ago) link
he has his moments. funnier than most people, i think.
― charlie h, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 09:16 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, like his funny songs
― nostormo, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 09:37 (nine years ago) link
With regard to "beer commercial lead guitar music" or whatever, I used to see Red House Painters perform in San Francisco in the mid-90s. Kozelek was playing mostly electric guitar in those days. He would launch into a noodly, 20-minute guitar solo at least once during every set. It used to bore the piss out of me.
― Bloody Pelt Found Near the Scene of the Crime (Skrot Montague), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:01 (nine years ago) link
there's a point in OLD MAN YELLS AT CLOUD reportage where you stop laughing at the old man and start laughing at the reporter
― da croupier, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:07 (nine years ago) link
i could except this sort of criticism from a band like Swans or something.not from Kozelek, which is closer to the mainstream maybe even more than War On Drugs are
xpost
― nostormo, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:11 (nine years ago) link
accept
― nostormo, Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:13 (nine years ago) link
'Make Like Paper' is fucking awesome, and I would listen to 90s kozelek's neil young impression all night long with a smile
― GhostTunes on my Pono (Sufjan Grafton), Wednesday, 1 October 2014 19:28 (nine years ago) link