I was first exposed to Mark Kozelek's music and the music of Sun Kil Moon in 2014 with their incredibly popular Benji, a fact that Kozelek would probably sneer at. But hey, I stuck around, and even listened backwards to his Red House Painters stuff and the projects released under his own name. However, Benji is really where the stream of consciousness, hyper detail oriented storytelling started taking center stage. All of his releases after that have had this style, with varying instrumentation taking more of a back seat to intensely diary like stories, complete with any and all details. I Also Want to Die in New Orleans is probably the most indulgent on this front, totaling seven tracks but almost ninety minutes.
Originally, this album was meant to be released as a collaboration between Kozelek, drummer Jim White and saxophonist Donny McCaslin, with the name being changed relatively late into the album's rollout. The other two musicians' presence on the record is definitely noticed, as there is a little bit more of a bluesy sound at play here, with a lot of brushed drums and tasteful sax licks. Also to be noted here is the presence of a lot of electric guitar. Though very cleanly played and sometimes with a subtle reverb added, it's definitely not the nylon stringed classical guitar all the way through, though some finger picking sections pop up here and there. That's pretty much where my musical analysis in going to end, since the lyrics for Kozelek definitely seem to be the focus. I am once again going to take this track by track.
'Coyote'- A story about a broken fence and some moldy firewood quickly evolves into a greater narrative involving meeting a neighbor, remembering trying to but the empty lot next door so his neighbor would never exist, and then to hearing about the deaths of children from a friend on the phone. A TV story about a coyote suffocating from a jar on his head makes Mark change the channel to watch an unknown band perform. Somehow, this story mutates to smelling a skunk (or is it explosive gas?) and calling a guy in to determine what's happening. After determining the source and turning back on the TV, the coyote was saved. Seeing this written makes no sense, but Kozelek has a way of spinning a yarn.
'Day in America'- This song adds to the Kozelek school shooting songbook (why is this a thing?), this time referencing Parkland, Florida. A discussion of the event between his bandmates leads to a weird moment where they almost plagiarise Bill Evans. Kozelek makes a connection with Bob Evans and his restaurants, and then remembers going to one after failing to defend his friend's sister from a fight outside a concert. Mark later has a dream about singing into an AR-15 microphone, making the connection that an AR-15 was also the rifle used at Parkland. He wakes up to a voicemail from his keyboard player reflecting on the shooting and apologizing for all the Bill Evans confusion.
'L-48'- This is a song about a Gibson guitar that Kozelek owned but never really liked, until it was the closest guitar to him when writing this exact song (his songs get meta like that). He also reflects on living in a 3rd floor apartment overlooking an elementary school, and reminisces on all the memories of that apartment.
'Cows'- Mark Kozelek's ode to the cow, the animal he finds the most beautiful. After a rambling stream of consciousness narrative including listening to the Doors in the back of his mother's car, he eventually rests on the subject of cows, making a vow to only eat beef once a month, saying that going vegetarian at this point in his life would be too hard. He then goes on a little bit about other foods, as well as his proximity to the dairy industry in his life, before returning once again to cows.
'I'm Not Laughing at You'- Kozelek documents a conversation with a woman while on tour in Europe, in which he lets slip that he's from the US. She laughs and then lists reasons why other countries are critical of Americans. After going on a weird rant about American inventions, as well as quoting Bob Dylan, James Cavanaugh, James Baldwin, and Bill Clinton, Kozelek recalls an experience of trying to get lamb BBQ from a vendor, thinking they were insulting him by giving him the last pieces, but then being told the last pieces are good luck.
'Couch Potato'- Mark Kozelek recalls San Francisco in the 1990s, a simpler time. Amid slagging the younger generation (insert picture of Abe Simpson yelling at cloud), he points out the hypocrisy of criticizing the current institution's immigration policies while supporting roughly similar policies implemented under Obama. He ends the story about getting left on the side of the road by a drummer in his dreams.
'Bay of Kotor'- In his most ambitious story on this album (maybe ever), Mark shares a 23 minute account of his stay at the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro. This story is complete with feeding starving kittens (complete with Kozelek's impression of their meows), talking with hotel staff, swimming in the bay, feeding a stray dog at a cafe, and making up with the staff after a misunderstanding. They took offense to him saying they have a good life here, listing their hardships. He explained he meant no offense and he just enjoyed the area and thought they would like living is such a serene place.
All in all, it was fun to check with Mark and hear what he's been up to. This was quite a taxing listen (it took me 3 listening sessions to get through it each time due to sheer length and material to absorb) but you definitely gain a little perspective from every Sun Kil Moon record. While this record doesn't have nearly the replay value of something like Benji, I did enjoy it for what it is. Every song functions as a series of vignettes or even a short story and there's quite an art to it. Somehow, even with how overwritten each story is, they are quite evocative and really get you into Kozelek's mind, as well as getting you to think about your own experiences in a different way.
"Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational or personal use tips the balance in favor of fair use."
No comments:
Post a Comment