| Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | November 4, 2014 | |||
| Genre | Christmas, folk rock | |||
| Length | 41:55 | |||
| Label | Caldo Verde | |||
| Producer | Mark Kozelek | |||
| Mark Kozelek chronology | ||||
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Mark Kozelek Sings Christmas Carols is a Christmas album by American singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek. It was released on November 4, 2014, through Kozelek's own record label, Caldo Verde Records.
All songs were recorded by Mark Kozelek in November–December 2013 in San Francisco. The album was announced in December 2013. [1]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 76/100 [2] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Exclaim! | 8/10 [3] |
| The Independent |   [4] |
| NME | 7/10 [5] |
| Pitchfork | 6.8/10 [6] |
| PopMatters | 7/10 [7] |
Upon its release, Sings Christmas Carols received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 76, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 9 reviews. [2] Exclaim! critic Cam Lindsay wrote: "While Sings Christmas Carols could provide any miserable person some relief at Christmastime, it also works nicely for anyone who loves these songs to hear someone other than Michael Bublé or Justin Bieber sing them." [3] Andy Gill of The Independent stated that "it's the gap between his character and the songs’ sentiments that gives this album its curious appeal." [4]
Barry Nicolson of NME commented: "The Sun Kil Moon frontman may revel in the role of indie-rock’s great white grinch, but as Sings Christmas Carols proves, he’s no more immune to the spirit of the season than his furry green counterpart was." [5] Pitchfork critic Mark Richardson noted: " It’s just voice and guitar throughout, but Kozelek’s nylon string work is consistently engaging, even as he falls back on some of his go-to fingerpicking patterns." [6] Maria Schurr of PopMatters compared the album to Sun Kil Moon's 2014 album, Benji , describing it as "an album that operates in places and moods we may not always feel comfortable venturing into or putting on, but works wonders for personal and spiritual growth." [7]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Christmas Time Is Here" | Lee Mendelson, Vince Guaraldi | 3:58 |
| 2. | "Do You Hear What I Hear?" | Gloria Shayne Baker, Noël Regney | 2:46 |
| 3. | "2000 Miles" (The Pretenders cover) | Chrissie Hynde | 2:50 |
| 4. | "O Come, All ye Faithful" | Traditional | 2:07 |
| 5. | "O Christmas Tree" | Traditional | 2:56 |
| 6. | "Away in a Manger" | Traditional | 1:58 |
| 7. | "O Little Town of Bethlehem" | Traditional | 2:54 |
| 8. | "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen" | Traditional | 3:11 |
| 9. | "Silent Night" | Franz Xaver Gruber, Joseph Mohr | 2:58 |
| 10. | "The First Noel" | Traditional | 4:53 |
| 11. | "I Believe in Father Christmas" (Greg Lake cover) | Greg Lake, Peter Sinfield | 2:46 |
| 12. | "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" | Traditional | 2:06 |
| 13. | "What Child Is This?" | Traditional | 2:44 |
| 14. | "The Christmas Song" | Bob Wells, Mel Tormé | 3:48 |
Sun Kil Moon is an American folk rock act from San Francisco, California, founded in 2002. Initially a continuation of the defunct indie rock band Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon is now the primary recording moniker of vocalist and guitarist Mark Kozelek. The project is named after the Korean super flyweight boxer Sung-Kil Moon.
Ghosts of the Great Highway is the debut studio album by San Francisco quartet Sun Kil Moon, led by Red House Painters' founder Mark Kozelek, who composed all of the lyrics and music on this album. The other members are Anthony Koutsos, Geoff Stanfield, and Tim Mooney.
Mark Edward Kozelek is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and occasional actor. He is known as the vocalist and primary recording artist of the indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, and founding member of the indie rock band Red House Painters, with whom he recorded six studio albums from 1989 until 2001.
Tiny Cities is the second studio album by American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, released November 1, 2005 on Caldo Verde Records. The album features the same lineup as the band's debut, Ghosts of the Great Highway (2003). This album was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.
Admiral Fell Promises is the fourth studio album by American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, released on July 13, 2010 on Caldo Verde Records. Despite being released under the Sun Kil Moon moniker, the album features Mark Kozelek performing solo on acoustic nylon-string guitar. Along with the standard CD release, the album was also released on vinyl in October 2010, which includes liner notes, lyrics, and two bonus tracks recorded live in Saint-Malo, France.
Among the Leaves is the fifth studio album by American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, released on May 29, 2012 on Caldo Verde Records. Similar to Sun Kil Moon's previous studio album, Admiral Fell Promises (2010), the album is predominantly performed by founding member Mark Kozelek on a nylon-string guitar.
Mark Kozelek & Desertshore is a collaborative studio album by American singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek and indie rock band Desertshore, released on August 20, 2013 on Caldo Verde Records. The album was Kozelek's third studio album of 2013.
Benji is the sixth studio album by American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, released on 11 February 2014 on Caldo Verde Records. Self-produced by primary recording artist Mark Kozelek, the album shares its name with the 1974 film Benji, and was recorded between March and August 2013 at Hyde Street Studios in San Francisco.
Barragán is the ninth studio album by American alternative rock band Blonde Redhead. It was released on September 2, 2014 by Kobalt Label Services. The album was produced, engineered and mixed by Drew Brown, and was recorded at Key Club Recording in Benton Harbor, Michigan and the Magic Shop in New York City.
Viet Cong is the debut studio album by Canadian rock band Viet Cong. It was released on January 20, 2015, by Flemish Eye in Canada and Jagjaguwar internationally. Viet Cong is the only album released by the band under this name, as they changed their name to "Preoccupations" in 2016.
Rips is the debut studio album by American indie rock band Ex Hex. It was released on October 7, 2014 by Merge Records.
Live at Biko is a live album by American singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek. It was released on July 1, 2014, through Kozelek's own record label Caldo Verde Records.
Universal Themes is the seventh studio album by American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, released on June 2, 2015 on Caldo Verde Records.
Jesu / Sun Kil Moon is a collaborative studio album by American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon and British experimental act Jesu, released on January 21, 2016 on Caldo Verde Records and Rough Trade. The album also features guest musicians Will Oldham, members of Low, Rachel Goswell of Slowdive, and Isaac Brock of Modest Mouse. Jesu and Sun Kil Moon including drummer Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth played six shows in February and March 2016 to support the album.
Wetdog is a London-based all-female post-punk trio, formed in the spring of 2007. The band released their first album, "Enterprise Reversal", in 2008 on Angular Records. It was followed by their second album, "Frauhaus", which was released on both Angular and on the Captured Tracks label. The first single from "Frauhaus" was "Lower Leg". The band released its third album, "Divine Times", on 4 May 2015 on Upset the Rhythm.
Night Thoughts is the seventh studio album by English alternative rock band Suede. Produced by long-time collaborator Ed Buller, the album was released through Warner Music UK on 22 January 2016 to widespread critical acclaim. It was accompanied by a feature film, directed by Roger Sargent. During their 2016 tour the band performed from behind a screen on which Sargent's film was projected during the first half of their set. The album is considered by many critics to be the band's finest work since 1994's Dog Man Star.
Minor Victories are a British alternative rock supergroup formed in 2015. The band members are vocalist Rachel Goswell (Slowdive), guitarists Stuart Braithwaite (Mogwai) and Justin Lockey (Editors), and film-maker James Lockey of Hand Held Cine Club.
Mutant is the second studio album by Venezuelan electronic music producer Arca. It was released on 20 November 2015 via Mute.
Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood is the eighth studio album by the American indie folk act Sun Kil Moon, self-produced by primary recording artist Mark Kozelek. The album was released on 17 February 2017 on Caldo Verde Records. It is a double album and comprises 16 tracks in total, being Sun Kil Moon's longest album to date.
Yellow Kitchen is a collaboration album between American musician and singer Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon and Sean Yeaton, bassist of Parquet Courts, released on June 30, 2017 by Caldo Verde Records, though available for streaming shortly prior to that. Kozelek and Yeaton met at a Dutch festival in summer 2016, and recorded and self-produced Yellow Kitchen from December 2016 to May 2017 in the United States. Guest appearances on the album include Steve Shelley and Jim White on drums and Holly Throsby and Will Oldham on vocals.
