San Francisco musician Mark Kozelek began his career with the Red House Painters in the late eighties releasing their first album in 1992. In Manhattan at the venerable Town Hall on 43rd street, Mark Kozelek recently played for over two hours with his band Sun Kil Moon as part of his latest tour. Over two decades have passed between these two events. While Mr. Kozelek now appears visibly middle aged (with a substantial paunch and slightly receding hairline), he still sounds as vital as ever. His PhD level guitar work and seasoned vocals now emboldened with the confidence allowed by a mammoth back catalog of material. Arguments can be made as to the highlight of his expansive career, the 4AD years of RHP, his Bon Scott inspired records or maybe even his acting in Cameron Crowe’s Almost Famous or Steve Martin’s mojito endorsing Shopgirl. My vote goes to Sun Kil Moon’s debut album, Ghosts of the Great Highway, a haunting, beautiful and sometimes amusing album. There is no correct answer to this query- just opinion. The objective truth can only be found in the longevity and strength of his career.
Mr. Kozelek has taken anything but the straight and narrow path to stardom. The Red House Painters slowly dissolved in major label turpentine after their relationship with 4AD records ended. Uncertainty and label frustration resulted in Mr. Kozelek becoming a somewhat reluctant solo artist. With the encouragement of Badman Recording Co., Mr. Kozelek recorded and released the first albums of his life under his own moniker. The contents of which centered around original musical compositions matched with pre-Back In Black era AC/DC lyrics. These LPs quickly became critically lauded and fan approved. Writer/director Cameron Crowe entered the picture soon after by taking over for Badman and releasing Mr. Kozelek’s albums on vinyl via his vanity imprint aptly titled Vinyl Film Records. An arrangement that premiered with the first Sun Kil Moon LP and still holds true to this day. Mr. Crowe can also be thanked for seeing Mr. Kozelek’s untapped potential for a second career in the cinematic arts with screen time in his movies, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky. With Sun Kil Moon’s continued success, Mr. Kozelek then started his own record label Caldo Verde Records in 2005 to handle the non-vinyl releases of his own recording projects as well as a smattering of other hand picked bands such as Desertshore (which features ex-RHP alum not involved with SKM), Jesu, Advance Bass and Kath Bloom. A shrewd choice that left Mr. Kozelek in complete control of distributing his creative energies from that point forward.
It would appear that Mr. Kozelek has made a lot of these wise decisions regarding his career. Now, at forty-seven, he is not only the master of his musical domain with a successful label but he also has options in terms of touring. Depending on need, Mr. Kozelek can either play as a solo artist with just a microphone and guitar or as part of a band with longtime loyal musicians/friends always at the ready. The acting thing even seems to be a continuing venture with a new movie in post-production by Oscar winning director, Paolo Sorrentino, set for release sometime next year. Ambitious would not be an uncommon word to describe such a person with this resume. Which is surprising, as that descriptor would be far from the adjective of choice based on the observable information Mr. Kozelek offered while performing in New York City. His mannerisms, his permanently seated and slouched position (with two exceptions) and between song banter painted the picture of an exhausted and unmotivated loner just wandering through life.
As the night wore on, Mr. Kozelek proved his stage persona to be nothing more than an exaggerated version of himself. Due in large part to his innate sarcastic disposition, it became apparent his humor needed to thrive off of real or contrived pain and displeasure to be effective. His dry, even toned delivery ala Steven Wright would break from time to time to reveal full-bodied laughs and genuine camaraderie with his band which offered momentary glimpses behind his jaded mask of complaint. As prickly as he was trying to come off, it was consistently overshadowed by his ability to entertain. I honestly looked forward to the between song conversations as much as the music itself. Perhaps even more so, as my choice was to run to the men’s room during a song as not to miss his musings after it was over.
Right from the start he had a comedian’s approach to the room, a large balconied venue that held well over a thousand people, asking “How’s everybody doin’ tonight? You feeling all right? Good. Ok.” after the first song. We, as an audience, not realizing this was the first of many times that night he would sarcastically ask the same question phrased in the same exact way with no interest in the answer. Throughout, his comedic mind attacked every subject that popped into his head. For once, making it apropos for his band to be named after South Korean boxer Moon Sung-kil. That night, Mr. Kozelek’s most pointed barbs were directed toward Town Hall’s unionized stagehands in charge of props and lighting. With equal parts aggression and glee, he continuously called them out for their stereotypical inefficiencies in everything beyond taking breaks. At one point, he even took credit for having one of them fired during soundcheck for sleeping on the job. While indie empire Pitchfork received just a glancing blow by declaring a new appreciation (unlike before) as they have been telling twenty-four year old girls he is a genius. Select artistic contemporaries were also called out when he roasted (or just bad mouthed) the actors Michael Caine and Harvey Keitel with whom he just spent three weeks on a movie set. Similar treatment was also given to early Cat Power and Brian Jonestown Massacre shows which were named as the worst concerts he had ever seen (the best- Bad Brains). Mr. Kozelek pulled no punches with the audience either when questioning the intelligence of those shouting out song names or by giving a fake apology to a younger man with a beard for not playing a show closer to the Portlandesque Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
His four-piece, accompanying band (drums, guitar, keyboard and occasional cello) also didn’t leave unscathed as Mr. Kozelek interjected his opinion of their performance in the middle of a song. He even openly laughed at their short improv piece while he was tuning his guitar stating it sounded like a bad cover of The End by The Doors. The songs themselves were not beholden either as he allowed a mock Nels Cline cello solo to take on comedic proportions and ordered the band to slow down the tempo during his two non-seated, guitar-free, front and center vocal performances (including one of the night’s best moments, the song Ceiling Gazing). Like any good comedian, he was also self-deprecating. At length, he laid into himself about how much weight he had gained on the road, admitted he was too lazy for sit ups or push ups and confessed he received a “mediocre handjob” from an extra on his last movie set who really just wanted to know about his co-star.
The atmosphere at Town Hall was thick with these remarks. Adding to the mix was a hefty dose of Mr. Kozelek’s heavy sighs directed into the microphone and mutterings about being “so tired” when each song was then counted off and brought to life. While his stage persona had a neurotic anxiousness and discomfort at the surface, the obvious contentment he felt could not be denied giving even his deepest sarcasm a lighthearted edge. This stood in contrast to his songs which radiated an overall loose yet confident vibe backed up by expert musicianship and undeniable melodies that betrayed the heaviness of the lyrical content. Thus creating a setting where the actual songs had to break through the mire to soar to the highest reaches of the room before their own weight brought them back down before thunderous crowd applause; each song needing to make that same journey which was incredibly compelling to witness. With so much experience playing his own work in a live setting, it stands to reason that this yin/yang, song/conversation contrast evolved over the years. Developing into a counterbalancing necessity given the raw honest emotion of his music.
The night’s setlist was comprised of selections exclusively from four of Mr. Kozelek’s latest offerings; Sun Kil Moon’s Benji and Among The Leaves, Mark Kozelek & Desertshore’s self titled collaborative album and Perils From The Sea which is Mark Kozelek’s album with Jimmy LaValle from The Album Leaf. Eighteen songs were played that night and not one was written before 2012. A testament to the faith and value he has placed on his most recent work, some of the bravest and bluntest pieces he has ever created.
Mr. Kozelek has crafted a career out of making albums with personal meaning and emotional power. As a long history of covering/reinterpreting songs by countless artists can attest, Mr. Kozelek also likes to take inspiration from other sources (his most recent examples being an entire LP of Modest Mouse songs titled Tiny Cities or the full length covers compilation Like Rats). On the latest albums it seems he may have blended his two strengths by applying this covers concept to his own written word. The lyrics of Benji and the Desertshore collaboration particularly possessing an off the cuff feel unlike other previous releases which is quite a left curve at first listen. Mr. Kozelek seemingly lifting passages directly from his old journals or personal family histories for the contents of his lyrics. His songs including tales of death and sickness with specific details like calendar dates and diseases. His albums full of therapy appropriate talk involving immediate and extended family (parents, sister, cousins, uncle, etc) mixed with tales of Led Zeppelin, first loves and lots of Ohio. The delivery of these lyrics is more like spoken word or poetry than outright song but still very musical. When he didn’t max out the reverb on his vocals, these lyrics and his distinctly smooth and emotive voice stole the show at Town Hall. It appears that Mr. Kozelek has found a new approach to his art resulting in inspired creations and releases at a near prolific rate.
In New York City, all this made for an engaging, time melting show that you hoped would never end. To all who witnessed it, the night was a spotlight on music that elicited both respect and enjoyment which is a rare feat to accomplish for any artist. As odd (and perhaps selfish) as it is to say, my hope is that Mr. Kozelek keeps a deep well of misery and misfortune in reserve. Tapped only when needed to satisfy his melancholic muse given the much deserved success and contentment surely to come his way.
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