| Artist |
Sun Kil Moon |
| Album Title: |
Universal Themes |
| Album Cover: |
 |
| Primary Genre |
Alternative & Punk: Indie |
| Format |
CD |
| Released |
06/02/2015 |
| Label |
Caldo Verde Records |
| Catalog No |
CV036 |
| Bar Code No |
634457690226 |
| Packaging |
Digipack |
| Tracks |
| 1.
|
The Possum (8:59)
|
| 2.
|
Birds Of Flims (9:05)
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| 3.
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With A Sort Of Grace I Walked To The Bathroom To Cry (9:47)
|
| 4.
|
Cry Me A River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues (7:28)
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| 5.
|
Little Rascals (7:47)
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| 6.
|
Garden Of Lavender (10:12)
|
| 7.
|
Ali/Spinks 2 (6:45)
|
| 8.
|
This Is My First Day And I'm Indian And I Work At A Gas Station (10:10)
|
|
| Date Acquired |
07/11/2015 |
| Personal Rating |
 |
| Acquired from |
Electric Fetus - Minneapolis |
| Purchase Price |
17.29 |
Web Links |
All Music Guide Entry:
Discogs Entry:
MusicBrainz Entry: |
Notes |
Bass – Alex Schwartz
Design – Brian Azer
Drums – Steve Shelley
Guitar, Vocals, Percussion [Additional], Producer [Produced By], Written-By, Photography By – Mark Kozelek
Keyboards – Chris Connolly (tracks: 8)
Recorded By – Nathan Winter
Recorded By [Additional Recording] – Aaron Mullan, Jack Kertzman
Recorded By, Mixed By – Will Chason
Copyright (c) – Caldo Verde Records
Designed At – Et Cetera
================================================================================
foobar2000 1.3.6 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2015-07-13 21:19:20
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Sun Kil Moon / Universal Themes
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR13 -0.62 dB -17.54 dB 8:59 01/08-The Possum
DR12 -0.15 dB -14.89 dB 9:05 02/08-Birds of Flims
DR13 -0.00 dB -16.71 dB 9:47 03/08-With a Sort of Grace I Walked to the Bathroom to Cry
DR10 -0.05 dB -13.00 dB 7:28 04/08-Cry Me a River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues
DR11 -0.80 dB -13.19 dB 7:47 05/08-Little Rascals
DR13 -0.00 dB -16.53 dB 10:12 06/08-Garden of Lavender
DR14 -0.20 dB -16.15 dB 6:45 07/08-Ali/Spinks 2
DR12 -0.14 dB -15.40 dB 10:10 08/08-This Is My First Day and I'm Indian and I Work at a Gas Station
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of tracks: 8
Official DR value: R12
Samplerate: 44100 Hz
Channels: 2
Bits per sample: 16
Bitrate: 675 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================
|
|
| Reviews |
All Music Guide Review:
AllMusic Review by Paul Simpson
Universal Themes is the follow-up to Sun Kil Moon's 2014 album Benji, which unexpectedly became one of the most critically acclaimed albums of that year. Like that album, Universal Themes is extremely autobiographical, with songwriter Mark Kozelek spinning yarns about friends, family, his childhood, and other life experiences, with frequent references to boxing, music, films, television, and food. Lyrically, Universal Themes isn't as heavily fixated on death as Benji; instead, there are more songs like "Ben's My Friend," wherein Kozelek sings about his experiences traveling and playing shows. Opener "The Possum" does both, intertwining a story about an old dying possum with an anecdote about hanging out with Justin Broadrick before witnessing an incredible concert by his band Godflesh. "Little Rascals" and "Garden of Lavender" reference previous Kozelek songs by name, as well as fans' reactions to his lyrics, such as a heckler who asks if he really hates Nels Cline (he doesn't; his name just happened to rhyme). The album doesn't contain any references to Kozelek's notorious one-sided media feud with the War on Drugs, but it does include "Cry Me a River Williamsburg Sleeve Tattoo Blues" (complete with text message notification sounds), which starts out from the point of view of a jaded fan who complains that Kozelek won't play his old material, before going into several grim short stories about early deaths and tortures, in order to drive home the first-world-problems message. There's also plenty of lighter, more joyous recollections, such as Kozelek's memory of receiving his first guitar, and a multitude of stories about the best times of his life spent with family and friends. Most of the album's eight songs hover around nine or ten minutes in length, and there are stretches of spoken monologue rather than singing. Musically, Kozelek plays almost all of the instruments himself, other than drums from Steve Shelley and guest appearances by bassist Alex Schwartz and keyboards by Chris Connolly on one track each. A few of the songs rock out more aggressively than any of Kozelek's previous work, and he practically barks out "With a Sort of Grace I Walked to the Bathroom to Cry." As with all Sun Kil Moon albums, Kozelek produced the album himself, and his arrangements remain inventive and gorgeous; the lengthy songs are layered, multi-part suites that frequently switch tempos, drifting off into ethereal passages or graceful tarantellas before snapping back to the driving rhythm framing the story at hand. Like Benji, Universal Themes is a challenging listen, and some might view it as Kozelek's most indulgent album yet. But his brilliant musicianship and guitar playing combined with his fascinating storytelling skills ensure that his music is as poignant and life-affirming as ever, and the album is yet another success in his remarkable catalog.
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| Cover 1 |
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| Cover 2 |
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| Cover 3 |
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| Cover 4 |
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| Cover 5 |
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