the Color of Context

“A lot of the songs I write are very personal and introspective. But others are observational. I wrote a song recently about my cat … I was down in Mexico and I was missing my cat, so I wrote a song. That one, obviously, would have to be considered very personal.”

¾ Mark Kozelek, in a 1998 interview for The Press, in Atlantic City

Does a song have to be long to express longing? In this case, yes, it does, because this particular kind of longing¾ the Mark Kozelek kind¾ is one that lingers over a lifetime besotted with regret, long-lost friends, and the death of loved ones. Part of him wishes to return to childhood innocence, the other tries to move forward, and the tension in between creates a space where Kozelek can dwell, in more ways than one. His is a tale of love lost and spiritual renewal, told against the well-lit backdrop of his vast classic rock collection. In the past, Kozelek, formerly of Red House Painters, currently of Sun Kil Moon, has earned critical acclaim interpreting the likes of rockers who would surely be found in that collection: Neil Diamond, John Denver, Kiss, Yes, and AC/DC. (“Kozelek doesn’t cover tunes,” wrote one reviewer for the Winnipeg Sun, “he recovers them.”) Three years ago, he started his own label, Caldo Verde, so he could release an entire album of Modest Mouse covers, which other record companies refused to touch. But for all his recognition as a cover artist, his own songs, with such heart and sincerity, are that much more emotionally wrenching. “A lot of the songs I write are very personal and introspective,” he has said. Indeed, his pain and his solace shine through in descriptions of sunlit meadows and starry skies almost as poignantly as he must have felt them. The hypnotic reprisals echo back a longing and desire that is as massive as the song lengths themselves. And as the mood begins to set, we can see why some of his tracks verge on 10 minutes long. In any case, a man obsessed does not pen three-minute ditties. Read the rest of this entry »