Albums to watch

Benji

Sun Kil Moon

Benji

Sixth album of acoustic indie folk from singer-songwriter Mark Kozelek under his Sun Kil Moon guise

ADM rating[?]

7.9

Label
Caldo Verde
UK Release date
10/02/2014
US Release date
11/02/2014
  1. 10.0 |   The Independent

    One of the truest, wisest albums you’ll ever hear
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  2. 10.0 |   Pretty Much Amazing

    Heartbreaking and raw, Benji is Sun Kil Moon’s best album to date, and indisputably cements Mark Kozelek’s reputation as one of the finest storytellers in contemporary indie music
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  3. 9.2 |   Pitchfork

    There are 11 songs on Sun Kil Moon’s astonishing sixth LP Benji, and in nearly all of them, somebody dies... It’s actually Kozelek’s least depressing and most life-affirming record
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  4. 9.0 |   Uncut

    In many ways, Benji is a traditionally confessional singer-songwriter album that exposes more than most. Print edition only

  5. 9.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Mark Kozelek is at least as piercing and persuasive as in his best output over the last two decades
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  6. 9.0 |   No Ripcord

    His most intimate work yet, thoroughly documenting definitive moments that marked his past and continue to haunt his present
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  7. 9.0 |   The 405

    It scores highly because it weaves all these scenarios and tales over subtle yet richly varied music. For Mark Kozelek this is yet another career highlight
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  8. 9.0 |   Fact

    A record whose main theme may be death, but whose power comes from Kozelek’s vivid celebration of life
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  9. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Benji contains some of the most evocative songs about mortality and youth that have ever been written
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  10. 8.3 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Kozelek’s transparency never fails to disappoint or miss the mark, and his low delivery and wounded gutter poetry strike an even more personal chord this time around.
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  11. 8.0 |   Spin

    A gob-smacking collection of bare-bones, gut-punch, all-in songwriting
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  12. 8.0 |   PopMatters

    Benji is the sound of an artist giving his heart to his fans and saying, “Do with it what you will.” That kind of vulnerability is a rare quality in the music business and as such, should be revered
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  13. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Might well be this difficult artist's most direct work, possibly the most devastating this career melancholic has ever penned
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  14. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Yet another from the unstoppable Mark Kozelek. Print edition only

  15. 8.0 |   NME

    Kozelek's songs match a mordant sensibility with a wry wit that remains unblunted by the passage of time
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  16. 8.0 |   The FT

    Musically it’s downbeat and stripped back, with Kozelek delicately picking his guitar and delivering discursive vocals
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  17. 7.0 |   Rolling Stone

    Mark Kozelek's remarkable sixth album as Sun Kil Moon feels less like a collection of songs than a series of eulogies delivered in real time
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  18. 6.8 |   Paste Magazine

    The cumulative effect of Benji, is a weird sensory overload. There’s just so much packed into each song
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  19. 6.0 |   The Music

    Not really his strongest material, but still nothing less than a revolution for Kozelek, truth be told
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  20. 6.0 |   All Music

    It's so intimate, the listener is, by definition, a voyeur
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  21. 6.0 |   Q

    Not his most graceful, but certainly his most strikingly personal. Print edition only

  22. 6.0 |   The Quietus

    Benji is disorganised as hell, but that's okay; life isn't always prosaic. And no matter how plainly you put it, death doesn't often make sense
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  23. 5.5 |   Under The Radar

    Overall, your enjoyment of this album will depend on your patience and appreciation for Kozelek's idiosyncrasies. Sometimes he pulls it off wonderfully, and other times listeners might wish he'd left a little more to the imagination
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Sun Kil Moon: Benji

  • Download full album for just £7.99
  • 1. Carissa £0.99
  • 2. I Can't Live Without My Mother's Love £0.99
  • 3. Truck Driver £0.99
  • 4. Dogs £0.99
  • 5. Pray for Newtown £0.99
  • 6. Jim Wise £0.99
  • 7. I Love My Dad £0.99
  • 8. I Watched The Film The Song Remains the Same £0.99
  • 9. Richard Ramirez Died Today of Natural Causes £0.99
  • 10. Micheline £0.99
  • 11. Ben's My Friend £0.99
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